THE IMPACT OF A SHORT-TERM PHONETICS COURSE ABROAD ON STUDENTS' ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

The paper presents the study which evaluates the effect of a short-term course in English phonetics held at University College London on tertiary-level students' academic progress in the Theory of Phonetics class at their home university. The study also examines the evaluations of the students of the impact of the phonetic course abroad on the development of their phonological competence. The research questions were: 1) to investigate the students' experience with the short-term course in English phonetics held at University College London; 2) to evaluate the impact of this course on phonological competence perceived by language learners; 3) to assess the students' academic progress in the Theory of Phonetics class at their home university after their short-term study abroad and compare these results with the academic progress of the students who had studied the Theory of Phonetics only at their home university. The methods employed in the current research combined a questionnaire study and a pre- and post-experiment tests to assess students' phonological competence. The experiment was conducted at Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University (Russia) in which two groups participated with the total of 96 students. 28 students in addition to their study of phonetics at their home university attended at least once the short-term course in English phonetics in London in the period from 2012 to 2014, while 68 students studied phonetics only in their home university. The questionnaire included demographic questions and research questions. Research questions addressed the respondents' experience with phonetic course abroad, their attitudes to this course, and the perceived impact of the course on their phonological competence. Pre- and post experiment tests were chosen as the second research method to assess the students' academic progress in the Theory of Phonetics. The results of the study showed that most participants were interested in having more experience with short-term phonetic courses abroad in the future and gave high ranking to the impact of the course on their phonological control. The research confirmed our hypothesis that short-term phonetic courses abroad as part of academic mobility program had a positive impact on students' academic progress, developed students' phonological competence and thus should be integrated into Russian academic system.