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A focused project, involving initial material-collection and analysis in Bulgaria, was initiated in 1 September 2007 with British Academy funding. Colleagues from three Bulgarian universities are collaborating in this: St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, St Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Turnovo, and the Paissiy Hilendarski University of Plovdiv. The following kinds of material are within the remit of this project, and are in the process of being collected and researched:

• Existing scholarly research and publications addressing the development and condition of English Studies in Bulgarian higher education;
• Documents and records relevant to existing and past courses/curricula/programmes related to English Studies in Bulgarian higher education institutions, including curriculum descriptions and textbooks;
• Documents and records relevant to the condition of the discipline in Bulgaria apart from the above, such as are: relevant to the activities of professional bodies, funding bodies, external institutions supporting teaching and research; indicative of the legislative and legal environment for higher education and scholarship within Bulgaria; indicative of the organisation and condition of the discipline on a wider-than Bulgarian scale but including Bulgaria (at European or international level); relevant to scholarly exchanges and collaborations at a national and international level;
• Interviews with persons knowledgeable of the development and practices of the discipline: academics and administrators, education officials, employers and professionals with English Studies qualifications, officials overseeing cultural and pedagogical exchanges;
• Surveys of student experience and expectations, at different levels of English Studies in Bulgarian higher education institutions;
• Observations of face-to-face teaching and learning practices in English Studies in Bulgarian higher education institutions.

The resources of this project at present only allow for this material-gathering and analysis exercise to be undertaken to a limited extent. The coordinators expect to be able to undertake this on a wider scale in due course. In 2008-2009 a series of workshops, in Bulgaria, Romania and the UK respectively, will enable further discussion of this project and its future. The workshop in Bulgaria in October 2008 (see events) will be coordinated by Milena Katsarska, Paissiy Hilendarski University of Plovdiv. In May 2008, an Interdepartmental Meeting to take stock of this project was organised at the St Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Turnovo (see events), coordinated by Ludmilla Kostova.

From the menu alongside, you will be able to get further information on the methodologies followed and a sense of some of the results obtained in this project so far.