The Russian students admitted to their nation's first university program in public relations speak English as their second language. During their four-year course of study they learn at least one other language, most likely German, French, Swedish, or Finnish. Consequently, these students are learning to communicate as public relations practitioners in three or more languages. The program is designed to give students a variety of opportunities to obtain knowledge and develop competencies needed in public relations- including speaking, writing, and critical thinking skills appropriate for interpersonal, small group, and mass communication situations. The focus is not only on teaching English as a structured system of grammatical patterns but also as a means to communicating.
Writing is an essential skill in public relations.
The purpose of the writing activities in the public relations program at the Electrotechnical University is to give students a variety of experience in writing and producing not only business letters but also press releases, public service announcements, speeches, and other public relations materials. Most liberal arts programs at Russian universities include courses on writing. But too often such courses are very general. Similar to ESL students in other countries, Russian students are not taught practical business letter-writing skills. Rather, students are taught to write compositions and essays with no particular reader in mind except the instructor.