Irina Sergeevna Oblova is an Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Foreign Languages at Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University in Saint Petersburg, Russia. She graduated a specialist from Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia in Saint Petersburg, in 1997. She received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in pedagogical sciences from Leningrad State University (Russia) in 2007. Her areas of research interests relate to content and language integrated learning and teaching English for specific purposes. She teaches English to mining Bachelor’s, Master’s and postgraduate students.

Irina Gennadyevna Gerasimova is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Foreign Languages at Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University in Saint Petersburg, Russia. She graduated a specialist of foreign languages teaching from the Pedagogical University in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, and attained a Doctor of Philosophy in pedagogical sciences from Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg in 1999 and 2010, respectively. The areas of her research interests relate to English for specific purposes, cross-cultural communication and EFL teacher professional development. She teaches English to mining, and oil and gas Bachelor’s and Master’s students, and other postgraduate students, as well as being involved in oral and written English-Russian translations.