Dr. Luísa Campos

Biographical note: My current position is Associate Professor at the Guarda Polytechnic Institute (IPG), Portugal, where I teach English for Specific Purposes to undergraduate students of Management Studies, Marketing and Accounting, Technical English to students of Nursing and Portuguese as a Foreign Language to students on the Erasmus programme. I also teach English Children’s Culture for Young Learners to students taking a Master’s degree in Teaching English Language at the Primary School level.

My areas of interest for research purposes include cultural studies, intercultural studies and English literature. As an extension activity I am part of the group who welcomes and follows the process of integration of foreign students in my Institute (IPG).

My doctoral degree, completed in 1990, is from the University of Rhode Island, U.S.A., with a thesis on the narrative organization of the mock epic poems of Pope and Byron.

Samuel Walter Best

Biographical note: My current position is Associate Professor at the Guarda Polytechnic Institute, Portugal, where I teach English Language for Specific Purposes to undergraduate students of Management Studies, Marketing and Accounting. I also teach Technical English to students of Pharmacy and Advanced Communication Skills to students taking a Master’s degree in Teaching English Language at the Primary School level.

My areas of interest for research purposes include cultural studies, intercultural studies, interculturality and English and American literature.

My Doctoral degree, completed in 1990, is from the University of Rhode Island, U.S.A, with a thesis on the interart analogy in nineteenth century British literature.

What they think about the visit

We spent one week at the Private University College of Economic Studies, Prague, from April 24 to 28 of April, 2017, on an Erasmus Mobility Programme. A protocol between the host institute in Prague and our institute in Portugal, Guarda Polytechnic, has existed for several years and we decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Our time was divided between teaching, meetings with Erasmus students and taking part in a one-day international conference. The teaching was shared with two professors at the Prague private university and we taught both undergraduate and graduate students. The format of the classes was collaborative. Together with one of our two Czech colleagues, Prof. Vladimír Prech and Prof. Karel Helman, at a time, we began the week with a “meet and greet” strategy as a first step towards getting to know the students, as well as their skills in English, before moving on to more specific language tasks later in the week. When working alone with the students, we concentrated on strategies for speaking in public which is a transversal skill for all students and particularly for those we met as they are all from the areas of economics, management and marketing. A film about the economic development of today’s Portugal was shown.

The international conference which gathered professors from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine, took place on the final day of our week-long stay. This conference allowed us to share our experience in the area social work, currently underway at Guarda Polytechnic Institute, Portugal, on the integration of students coming from African Portuguese-Speaking Countries (PALOP). We were able to exchange experience on professional and European issues and to gain valuable insight into issues that are relevant to this specific group of countries.

We were extremely well received and would recommend a teaching mobility at this University College to all our colleagues. Our hope is that this invaluable opportunity has opened doors to future endeavours and cooperation between the Private University College of Economic Studies, Prague, and Guarda Polytechnic Institute, Portugal.