Biography
Dr. Alla Kourova is an associate professor at the University of Central Florida, United States since 2007. She graduated from Moscow State University with a Doctor of Philosophy in Teaching Foreign Languages. For more than 10 years Alla Kourova worked as a director of the International Linguistic Center at the Regional In- Service Teacher Training Institute in Penza Russia. With over 30 years of teaching experience globally and at various institutional levels, Dr. Kourova knows that there is more than one approach to language study, and constantly promotes dynamic and multifaceted techniques as well as cross-cultural dialogue in her publications and teaching practice. In 2002 Dr. Kourova was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Montana Sponsored by the American Council and Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs U.S. Department of States. She is the author of more than 50 publications on language teaching and cross-cultural communication. Dr. Kourova is also a recipient of the University Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, the Scholarship for Teaching and Learning Award, the Teaching Incentive Program Award, the Excellence in Research and the Most Valuable Teacher of Florida Award. As a Principal Investigator during last several years Dr. Kourova has received six external grants: US –RUSSIA DIALOGUE PROGRAM, STARTALK and the FULBRIGHT-HAYS GROUP PROJECTS ABROAD PROGRAM. For many years, she has also collaborated with prestigious organizations such as the Peace Corps, the Fulbright Institution of International Education, FLEX, and Open World Foundation. Her pedagogical credo is teaching language through culture.
Education
- Ph.D. in English as a Second Language from Moscow State University, Russia
Research Interests
- Cross-Cultural Projects in Foreign Language Teaching
- The Impact of Cultural Awareness on the Acquisition of the Russian/English Language, Culture in Foreign Language Teaching
- The Role of Intercultural Competence in Foreign Language Teaching
Recent Research Activities
External Grants
- Principal Investigator of a new two-year STARTALK grant “How Words Shape People: Understanding Business Russian Through Proverbs” (The National Security Agency’s National Cryptologic Institute) US Department of Defense. May 2023 - May 2025 ($306,500).
- Principal Investigator of a new two-year STARTALK grant “How Words Shape People: Understanding Business Russian Through Proverbs” (The National Security Agency’s National Cryptologic Institute) US Department of Defense. May 2022 - May 2024 ($359,970.86).
- Principal Investigator for STARTALK grant (STARTALK is the newest of the component programs of National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) US Department of State. February 2019-2021 ($89.547)
- Principal Investigator for STARTALK grant (STARTALK is the newest of the component programs of National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) US Department of State. February 2018-2019 ($88.778.28)
- Principal Investigator of the US Department of Education, the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program “Building Bridges with Language and Culture in Russia”. July 2017-December 2018 ($91.795)
- Principal Investigator for STARTALK grant (STARTALK is the newest of the component programs of National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) US Department of State. February 2017-2018 ($88.778.28)
- Principal Investigator for STARTALK grant (STARTALK is the newest of the component programs of National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) US Department of State. February 2016-2017 ($ 92,778.28)
- Principal Investigator for STARTALK grant (STARTALK is the newest of the component programs of National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) US Department of State. February 2015-2016 ($90,000)
Principal Investigator of the US Department of State grant the US- Russia Dialogue Program “Getting Closer: A Cross-Cultural U.S.-Russian Project Focusing on Teaching Foreign Languages to U.S. Students and Blind/Visually Impaired Students in Russia.” Fall 2014-Spring 2015 ($ 99,203).
Internal Grants
- UCF In-House Faculty-Led Study Abroad Research Grant (2016—$3,000).
- LIFE at UCF Program Development Grant, (2015—$300)
- UCF In-House Research Grant,
(2014-$7,500)
Professional Activities
- Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program “Building Bridges with Language and Culture in Russia”.
- STARTALK grant. (STARTALK is the newest of the component programs of National Security Language Initiative (NSLI).
- The U.S. Department of State grant of the US- Russia Dialogue Program “Getting Closer: A Cross-Cultural U.S.-Russian Project Focusing on Teaching Foreign Languages to U.S. Students and Blind/Visually Impaired Students in Russia.
- The University of Central Florida Research project “Picturing Russia.”
- International Project " Connecting Classrooms."
Publications
Books
- Kourova, A. (2024, July). Bridging Cultures in Business Russian through the Research-Based Approach. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.
- Kourova, A.V. (2024). Journey through the Russian Language: A comprehensive Reading Textbook. (1st ed.). USA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.
-
Kourova,
A. (August, 2016). Picturing Russia: A
Research Guide to Russian Culture. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company,
Dubuque, IA. The book was nominated for the prize in the Best Contribution to Language Pedagogy category, AATSEEL, January 2020
-
Kourova, A. (2013).Using cross-cultural projects in teaching foreign languages: A research- based approach to design and implementation. Smolensk, Russia: Universum Press, “University of Smolensk.”
Articles/Essays
- Kourova, A. (November 2021). From Orlando to Russian Through Cultural Projects” CARTA Research Journal (Central Association Russian Teachers of America)
- Kourova, A.& Mihai, F (May 2021). Fulbright Hays Group Project Abroad: Building Bridges through Language and Culture in Russia. Journal of the American Council of Teachers of Russian
- Kourova, A. (January 2021). Let’s songs help us. Journal of the National Association of English Teachers in Russia.
- Kourova, A. (September 2020). Technology and Cross-Cultural Communication in Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. 18th International Conference on Education and Information Systems, Technologies in the context of the 14th International Multi-Conference on Society, Cybernetics and Informatics (IMSCI 2020) proceedings indexed by SCOPUS (Paper ID: EA504XB)
- Kourova, A. (August 2020). Creativity in Teaching Russian: Challenges, Prospects, Methods CARTA Research Journal (Central Association Russian Teachers of America)
- Kourova, A., Salter, A., Pidberejna, I., & McDaniel, R. (September, 2016). From Orlando to Russia: Cross-cultural communication through gamemaking. In Proceedings of the 34th Annual International Conference on the Design of Communication. New York: Association for Computing Machinery. Arlington, Virginia.
- Kourova, A., & Mikhanova, O.P. (2015). International exchange programs: a brief historical overview. Penza State University Press “University Proceedings in Volga Region” sponsored by Russian Ministry of Higher Education and Science, 4, 146-156.
- Kourova, A. (2014). Dialogue of Culture as collaboration between people in the 21st century Philosophy of Education: History and Present Time, Sponsored by Russian Minister of Higher Education and Science, Penza, Russia, 11, 32-34.
- Kourova, A. (2013). Connecting classrooms: Russian language teaching project at UCF. Journal of the American Council of Teachers of Russian, 63, 79-91.
- Kourova, A. (2013). The integration of the Bologna process in Russia. Florida Foreign Language Journal, 9, 52-60. http://www.ffla.us
- Kourova, A., & Modianos, D.T. (2013). Inter-cultural awareness and its role in enriching students’ communicative competence. The International HETL Review Special Issue https://www.hetl.org/publications/
- Kourova, A., & Modianos, D.T. (2013). Cross-cultural projects in the in-service teachers training programs. Philosophy of Education: History and Present Time, Penza State University Press, Russia, 10, 208-212.
- Kourova, A. (2012). Teaching culture: strategies for cultural understanding. Journal for Teachers of English as an International language, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, Printed by the University Press, 1, 64-70.
- Kourova, A. (2012). Corpus linguistics: translation of the English texts into Russian language. Philosophy of Education: History and Present Time, Penza, Russia, 8, 310-315.
- Kourova, Alla. (2011). The Role of Russian as a Foreign Language in America and Issues of Curriculum Design. Florida Foreign Language Journal, 7(1).
Book Sections/Chapters
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Kourova, A. (2012). Multimedia programs and cross-cultural communication in teaching English – new way of interdisciplinary approach. Using Humanities Courses to Prepare Non-language Major for Effective Intercultural Communication (pp.82-93). Kiev, Ukraine: National Aviation University.
Book Reviews
-
Kourova, A. (2014). [Review of the book The Texture of Culture: Introduction of Yuri Lotman’s Semiotic Theory, by A. Semenenko]. The American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages ( AATSEEL) Journal, Fall 2014
Awards
- Awardee, 2017 University of Central Florida, Distinguished Faculty Member at UCF by students living on campus, Department of Housing and Residence life.
- Awardee, 2016 National AATSEEL’s 2015 award for Excellence in Teaching (Post-Secondary). AATSEEL is the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, an affiliate of the Modern Language Association of America.
- 2015 University of Central Florida Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- 2015 University of Central Florida College of Arts & Humanities Excellence in Research Award.
- 2015 University of Central Florida College of Arts & Humanities Excellence in Professional Service Award.
- 2014 University and College Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, University of Central Florida
- 2014 Teaching Incentive Program Award (TIP), CAH, University of Central Florida
- 2013 Research and Mentoring Award with Russian Minor student Irina Pidberejna, Office of Undergraduate Research, University of Central Florida
- 2007 Honored as one of America's Most Respected Teacher.
Courses
| Course # | Course | Title | Mode | Days/Times | Syllabus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82553 | RUS1120 | Ele Russian Language & Civ Ⅰ | Mixed Mode (M) | M,W 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM | Unavailable |
| 82733 | RUS2200 | Int Russian Language & Civ Ⅰ | Mixed Mode (M) | M,W 12:30 PM - 1:20 PM | Unavailable |
| 83607 | RUS3760 | Advanced Russian Oral Com | Mixed Mode (M) | M,W 1:30 PM - 2:20 PM | Unavailable |
| Course # | Course | Title | Mode | Days/Times | Syllabus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11898 | RUS1121 | Ele Russian Language & Civ Ⅱ | Mixed Mode (M) | M,W 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM | Unavailable |
| 12138 | RUS2201 | Int Russian Language & Civ Ⅱ | Mixed Mode (M) | M,W 12:30 PM - 1:20 PM | Unavailable |