THE CURRENT TRENDS AMONG THE JUNIOR STUDENTS AT SOFL
Introduction
This report is aimed at describing the current trends concerning the three major tracks that School of
Foreign Languages provides for its undergraduates. The sources for the report are the two graphs which
demonstrate the results of the two recent principal polls in this area. Finally, some recommendations to
make intercultural communication yet more favourable an option will be laid in the conclusion part of
the report.
Results of the polls
The first diagram demonstrates the preferences of junior students in their future major tracks on the
study programme “Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication”. Unsurprisingly, the
overwhelming 63%, or 150 out of 240 students in total, point out that they would like to study
intercultural communication, while the rest of their fellow classmates are divided between teaching and
translation in the proportion of 2/1 respectively (60 and 30 students per track).
The second graph indicates the more specific preferences as long as the mentioned 150 students are
taken into account. The most popular reasons to opt for intercultural communication appear to be the
evident variety in future career opportunities (roughly 80%) and chances to work abroad (around 75%).
10% less is the frequency of the third option, which is the interrelation of linguistics and business
environment. The least popular variant is prospective to enhance one’s communication competence,
accounting for less than 30% of the poll results.
Recommendations
My recommendation for further promotion of the major track of our study programme would be the
following:
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Make subtle alterations to the Introduction to the Major Tracks course in order to
clearly define the practical use of the study programme at hand
Respond to the biddings and wishes of the undergraduates about the content of the
major track in a sensible manner
Hold more extracurricular activities devoted to intercultural communication every
month.