The Department of Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies is involved in a number of activities in addition to teaching its two post-graduate courses.
Projects in language education
Staff of the department have been involved in several projects, some focusing on research, others on teaching.
Completed projects are the Nyelvkaland (Language Adventure) project, which works with bringing experiential or inquiry-based learning opportunities into secondary school foreign language (English and German) classrooms. These classes are led primarily by students from the University of Miskolc who are training to become language teachers. Many of the participating secondary schools have a high proportion of disadvantaged students and the aim is to encourage them to engage with foreign languages and to see higher education as an option in their lives.
A
nother important project, named ENGaGE, is an international project to develop inclusive language teaching tasks and online materials for dyslexic learners of English and German in primary school settings.
Student support for learning another language
The department coordinates a “study group” system for students majoring in English or German to assist them in acquiring a second language, either German or English, to the standard needed to pursue the Master in Translation and Interpreting program. Students are encouraged to choose their own tasks, identify learning strategies that work for them and search for materials that interest them, while working together (which is both fun and motivating) to strengthen their language skills. Teachers act as resource persons.
Student research
Students are encouraged to do independent research in a topic of their choice. One option is within the Student Research Society system, where they must present their work in written form and also in front of an audience. Local award winners can go on to a national conference/competition. A high proportion of our full-time students take advantage of this opportunity to begin researching topics related to translation studies, and several have gone on to the national level. Another opportunity is as a member of the New National Excellence Program, which offers a scholarship for research for outstanding applicants — including students of the department!
Applied Linguistics annual conference
The department organizes a one-day conference each January that is associated with MANYE (the Hungarian Association of Applied Linguists and Language Teachers). Teachers and researchers gather to share their findings and experiences on a variety of topics related to Applied Linguistics, language teaching and translation studies. Conferences since 2021 have been held online.
Social responsibility
The department is a sponsor of the Universities Fighting World Hunger (UFWH) campus food drives. Collections of donations (food and/or cash) are held twice yearly, with distribution being managed by the local branch of the Red Cross. The University of Miskolc is one of the few participating European universities. See this page for more information.
CAT courses
Beginning-level courses in Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) are offered (also to the general public) on occasion. Some experts state that up to 90% of work in translation agencies involves CAT. The course provides an opportunity to try out CAT software (we introduce the software STAR Transit NXT) and to experience its advantages.