Lyn Steyne

Linda (Lyn) Steyne holds a PhD and is a lecturer and teacher educator at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, where she teaches at the Department of British and American Studies. Apart from teaching ELT methodology courses, she is also responsible for teaching practicum placements at schools across Slovakia as well as mentor development and training. She is passionate about teacher collaboration to improve the lives of all students, both now and in the future.

Eva Reid

Eva Reid holds a PhD and is an associate professor at the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. My pedagogical and research interests are methodology of teaching English as a foreign language, specifically development of intercultural communicative competences in English language education, teaching English to gifted pupils and teaching English pronunciation. I have published numerous monographs, journal articles and course-books all reflecting my research and my research is reflected in my pedagogical practice.

Ivan Lacko

Ivan Lacko is an assistant professor at the Department of British and American Studies, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. He teaches courses in American literature, theatre, performance, and popular culture, as well as courses in creative writing and dramatic/performative creation. He has published a number of articles on political aspects of contemporary theatre, the use of theatre in pedagogy, the role of the arts in higher education, and on classical American literature.

Currently, the department is experiencing a revival of sorts in regard to ELT training with more students interested in the profession entering both the bachelors and masters programmes with the clear intent of becoming English teachers, both at state and language schools. Students in both the BA and MA programs are involved with colleagues at local secondary, primary, and language schools, both observing and teaching, as well as being mentored.

The department was foundational to the founding of the Slovak Chamber of English Language Teachers (SCELT), with two faculty members on the Executive Committee and one on the Advisory Board. Working with SCELT, the department has hosted conferences, put on local workshops, and engaged current students in those professional development training activities in order to initiate them into the community of ELT professionals. In 2013 and 2014, we organised our students to both volunteer and be actively involved in Slovakia’s largest international ELT conference, ELT Forum. In September 2015, March 2019, and September 2019, our students were instrumental to the organisation and running SCELT’s international conferences. In March of 2020, several current MA students will be involved as volunteers and participants at IATEFL Slovenia’s international conference in Slovenia. A current instructor and a few graduates will also be doing workshops at the conference.

The Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava also strongly believes in active civic duty. With the state of public affairs being what it is in Slovakia at this time, the Department of British and American Studies holds high the value of truth in this regard. One project built on this is our U.S. Embassy small grant project English for Journalists run by one of our instructors, Linda M. Steyne, PhD, at our department and which has been running for since 2016. The students are journalists who rank among the best in their profession in Slovakia.

The department employs between 15-18 full-time assistant and associate professors and lecturers who teach in two study programs (teacher training and translation/interpreting) at both bachelor’s and master’s levels. Approximately 60 students graduate in the BA programs each year, and about 50 in the master’s programmes.