International Student Conference: ‘The Modern Paradigm of Foreign-Language Business Communication: Leading International Practices and Intercultural Integration’
The staff of the Department of Foreign Languages and ICT at West Ukrainian National University, in collaboration with its partners—Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Marmara University (Turkey), the Vienna University of Teacher Education (Austria), the B2 Ljubljana Business School (Slovenia), WSB Academy in Dąbrowa Górnicza (Poland), the Georgian-American University (Georgia) and the University of Rzeszów (Poland) — organised an international scientific and practical student conference entitled ‘The Modern Paradigm of Foreign-Language Business Communication: Leading International Practices and Intercultural Integration".
Uliana Koruts, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Research at WUNU, and Lyudmyla Havrylyuk-Yensen, Director of the Bohdan Havrylyshyn Education and Research Institute of International Relations of WUNU, addressed the participants with a welcoming speech.
In her address, prof. Koruts said: ‘I would like to welcome everyone to the opening of this conference, which has become a tradition thanks to the efforts of the Department of Foreign Languages and ICT. This conference is particularly important, as it brings together young people and students who are studying during one of the most challenging periods in our country’s history. In memory of those who are no longer with us, you must become the voice of Ukraine. You have wonderful prospects, opportunities and knowledge of foreign languages. Today, a foreign language is much more than just an academic subject. It is part of everyday working life and study. This conference is symbolic: it is dedicated to the 60th anniversary of West Ukrainian National University's founding, as well as to the memory of an outstanding Ukrainian and a wonderful person — Bohdan Havrylyshyn. A man who devoted his entire life to building international understanding and who had his own values and guiding principles. Thank you to all participants for your perseverance and dedication to the cause.”
The goal of the conference was to engage students in academic and practical activities, to develop their skills in business communication in foreign languages, to foster intercultural competence, to boost motivation for learning foreign languages, and to strengthen international cooperation in researching pressing contemporary issues. The working languages of the event were Ukrainian, English, German, French and Polish. Over 200 students from universities in Ukraine, Austria, Greece, Belgium, Spain, Germany and other countries took part in the conference.
As has become tradition, for the fifth year running, the conference began with presentations by first-year students of the Business Communication and Translation programme. They presented a media and translation project entitled ‘Translation of Russian-Ukrainian War Stories’, in which they recounted the stories of Ukrainian civilians and military personnel who lost their lives as a result of Russian aggression. The project was moderated by Svitlana Rybachok, PhD in Philology and Associate Professor of the Department. The first-year students also presented a linguistic and cultural studies project on Ukraine — its geography, the origins of its language, national heritage, symbols, identity, prominent figures in culture and literature, as well as the role of our country in the modern global context.
Lecturers from the Department of Foreign Languages and ICT moderated panel discussions in the following fields: economic sciences (management, marketing, international economics, finance and accounting), natural resource management and agronomy, law and state-building, computer and information technologies, as well as the humanities (psychology, pedagogy, philology, philosophy, political science, sociology) and translation studies.
The staff of the Department of Foreign Languages and ICT of WUNU would like to express their sincere gratitude to all participants for their active involvement and significant contribution to strengthening the university’s international cooperation. It is extremely gratifying that the conference brought together such a large number of like-minded people, serving as a shared research space for students from different parts of Ukraine and the world.
