Tips to Advance Business Writing Skills at EFL Classes (Through the Example of "Letter of Complaint")

Writing is a creative communicative skill to express thoughts. It is cognitively complex, requires much practice and is best learned through experience. Writing is one of the most challenging, time-consuming tasks in acquiring a foreign language. To improve students’ writing skills and accuracy, a teacher should encourage writing-thinking, provide instructions and examples of good writing in the target language, and give feedback focusing both on error correction (cohesion) and organization of writing (clarity, idea development, coherence). This paper explores difficulties of the development of business writing skills and gives recommendations on writing a letter of complaint at English as a foreign language classes

Some benefits of extracurricular musical education for primary schoolchildren

Participation in extracurricular activities allows students to get involved in diverse activities. These activities promote social and academic success, foster a sense of commitment to a cause or purpose, and enhance life skills. This paper studies the effects of extracurricular musical education on primary school children. It also provides observations and the results of a brief survey of teachers. The findings reveal the benefits of extracurricular musical education in the development of schoolchildren as it enhances memory, augments creative and cognitive skills, improves imagination and increases emotional understanding and expression

Some Benefits of Extracurricular Reading in Foreign Language Teaching

Reading is one of the major sources of information and knowledge. It is an essential element to succeed in the fast-moving world of today and tomorrow. Extracurricular reading in the target language complements academic subjects and develops a well-rounded, socially skilled, empathic and independent student. It empowers students with a high level of information culture, makes them able to interpret, analyze and systematize the obtained information. The article studies the role of extracurricular reading in foreign language teaching, offers criteria for the text selection and exercises to work with texts, and presents the positive results of introducing extracurricular reading to the development of foreign language skills

Recommendations on the work with authentic video materials in foreign language teaching

Video is one of the most appreciated language teaching materials and well-liked by both teachers and learners. It brings variety and flexibility to the language classroom, gives a wide range of communicative situations, makes meaning clearer by providing visual clues (environment, dress, posture, gesture, facial expression, etc.) and communicates with viewers on an emotional as well as a cognitive level. Authentic video motivates learning interest and enthusiasm, improves students’ language skills, and enhances comprehension and discussion. This paper discusses benefits, drawbacks, criteria for video selection and strategies to work with video. The authors give examples of exercises that can be used at foreign language classes

Patterns of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystallization in complex biological systems

The paper presents the features of calcium oxalate crystallization in the presence of additives revealed through experimental modeling. The patterns of phase formation are shown for the Ca{2+} – C[2]O[4]{ 2–} – H[2]O and Ca{2+} – C[2]O[4]{2–} – PO[4]{3–} – H[2]O systems with the components and pH of the saline varying over a wide concentrations range. The effect of additives on crystallization of calcium oxalate monohydrate was investigated. It was found that the ionic strength and magnesium ions are inhibitors, and calcium oxalate and hydroxyapatite crystals are catalysts of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystallization. The basic calcium phosphate (apatite) was found to be most thermodynamically stable, which indicates its special role in kidney stone formation since it is found in virtually all stones

A new approach to produce calcium-phosphate coatings on titanium

In the study, hydroxyapatite-gelatin composite powders were synthesized from simulated body fluid (SBF) with gelatin content ranging from 1 to 3 wt. %. It was established that all the samples were single-phase and represented hydroxyapatite. The surface and morphological characteristics of the produced hydroxyapatite-gelatin (HAG) based coatings were studied. Uniform deposition of the composite on the titanium substrate surface (VT1-0) was found to occur on etched titanium samples. It is shown that exposure of titanium substrates with hydroxyapatite-gelatin (HAG) based coating to powerful ion beam can stimulate further growth of crystals and regeneration of the surface

Information and Communication Technologies in Engineering Education

In the emerging digital era it is difficult to train highly-skilled, competent specialists without the use of information and communication technology (ICT). The use of ICT in education increases the motivation to learn, stimulates cognitive activity and independent work, facilitates information exchange, enables interactive communication between teachers and students, and improves learning outcomes. This paper reviews the literature regarding the use of ICTs in education, explores their advantages and challenges, and surveys first-year students at the Institute of Non-Destructive Testing, National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University to determine their attitude toward ICT in foreign language learning

Study of the effects of heat-treatment of hydroxyapatite synthesized in gelatin matrix

In the study, the isothermal thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of hydroxyapatite synthesized in gelatin matrix (HAG) has been performed. 3 wt.% HAG samples were synthesized from the solution simulating the human extracellular fluid (SBF). X-ray diffraction and IR spectroscopy were used to determine the composition. During the experiment, increase in the calcination temperature up to 200°C–800°C was found to cause weight loss. The study of phase composition revealed that heat treatment does not affect the phase composition of the solid phase, which is composed of hydroxylapatite (HA). The prepared HAG (3 wt.% gelatin) samples are shown to have low thermal stability; the degradation of the samples occurs at 400° C

Advantages of extracurricular drama activities in foreign language teaching

Culture is a very valuable part of society. The study of a foreign language not only teaches the language itself, but it also introduces information on another culture, moral values and attitudes. Improving the quality of foreign language education is important. Demanding course content, low proficiency and foreign language learning anxiety discourage students from learning. Difficulty in communicating in the target language reduces their self-confidence. The use of drama could be one of the possible means to increase motivation and self-esteem and to improve foreign language skills and cultural awareness. The authors share their experience in using drama in extracurricular activities with students studying English as a foreign language at the Institute of Non-Destructive Testing, National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University

Use of methods of wave processes modeling for control of defectiveness of non-metallic materials

The paper presents theoretical and experimental research of an electrical response to the elastic impulse excitation of concrete samples. The authors describe three-dimensional modeling and 3D visualization of wave processes and calculate the parameters of an electrical signal from defect-free and defective samples. The research demonstrates the comparison of design data with experimental outcomes; good precision of data was obtained