WITH CONSTANTIN NOICA, ON LITERATURE AND LITERARY CRITICISM

Author(s): Magda Wächter / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

With Constantin Noica, On Literature and Literary Criticism. This study analyses the views expressed by Constantin Noica in the articles he published on literature and literary criticism during the interwar period. Somewhat reserved towards the literary-artistic phenomenon in general, the philosopher proved nonetheless to be an avid critic, an excellent essayist and a brilliant polemicist. In fact, his entire work was to be appreciated, both by literary critics and by philosophers, for its literary qualities, at a time when philosophical discourse itself displayed a penchant for literariness.

ANCA PEIU, ROMANTIC RENDERINGS OF SELFHOOD IN CLASSIC AMERICAN LITERATURE. BUCUREŞTI: C.H. BECK, 2017, 380 P.

Author(s): Andrada Danilescu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

Anca Peiu connects eleven essential American writers under the central theme of self and its expressions, seen as rejecting the anxiety of influence and constructing profoundly original, characteristic modes of expression. Peiu focuses on the theme of selfhood "in/or poetry" for five of the trademark figures and "in/or story-telling for other six in an attempt to investigate the thematic as well as the foundational pillar of the American literature. Aware of her markedly ex-centric, East European position, the author decides to reiterate her standing as an advantage which offers her the opportunity to read and interpret these canonical, widely discussed and analyzed figures from a novel point of view. Peiu insists on the highly selective and subjective nature of the process, the final products serving as a guide for both students and American literature novices eager to expand their vision of the world literature and its continuum which spans continents and centuries.

FLORIN ONCESCU, JURNALUL LUI SAKE [SAKE’S DIARY]. CLUJ-NAPOCA: LIMES, 2017, 224 P.

Author(s): Monika Koșa / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

Florin Oncescu’s most recently published novel, Jurnalul lui Sake [Sake’s Diary], is a delightful and humorous piece of writing that playfully thematizes contemporary issues such as the complex articulations of relocation and bicultural identities. Florin Oncescu is a prominent and idiosyncratic contemporary Romanian writer, who was born in 1960 in Constanța. He has graduated from Polytechnic University of Bucharest in 1985 and permanently moved to Canada in 1995. He has been living in Montréal ever since, with short periods spent in the United States. Nevertheless, he is a well-known and active writer in the Romanian literary landscape. Florin Oncescu has published several volumes of fiction so far: Dispoziție depresivă (Ramuri, Craiova, 1994), La umbra unui enciclopedist (Omniscop, Craiova, 1999), Întoarcerea (Ramuri, Craiova, 2003), Ilustrate din America (Limes, Cluj-Napoca, 2007). He is a member of the Romanian Writers’ Union and regularly publishes in Pagini românești.

CRISTINA CHEVEREȘAN, ADINA BAYA. CELULOZĂ VS. CELULOID – DESPRE CĂRȚI ȘI ECRANIZĂRI. TIMIȘOARA: EDITURA UNIVERSITĂȚII DE VEST, 2015, 240 P.

Author(s): Nóra Máthé / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

Celuloză vs. Celuloid – Despre cărți și ecranizări is a collaborative effort by Cristina Chevereșan and Adina Baya. The two authors come from different backgrounds: Chevereșan’s main research interests include American studies, while Baya’s academic formation revolves around media studies. Both of them, however, show interest in a comparative approach. In an interview with Richard Martin for the British Association for American Studies, Chevereșan describes her own teaching method for American studies as interdisciplinary, which means she applies varied tools to understand American literature and culture. Baya focuses on the intersections of journalism, cinematography, and literature. Her article titled “Relax and Enjoy These Disasters”: News Media Consumption and Family Life in Don DeLillo’s White Noise (Neohelicon, June 2013) examines representations of media in a work of fiction. The collaboration between the two authors results in a special synthesis of different perspectives.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, SONNETS/SONETE: O NOUĂ VERSIUNE ROMÂNEASCĂ, TRANSLATED BY CRISTINA TĂTARU. CLUJ-NAPOCA: LIMES, 2011, 315 P.

Author(s): Diana Melnic,Vlad Melnic / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

To translate poetry of any kind always takes a certain amount of courage on behalf of the translator. Indeed, some argue that the poetry itself is precisely what is lost in the process, yet, as Allen Tate once famously stated, translation remains “forever impossible and forever necessary.” This is particularly the case with Shakespeare’s sonnets, a kind of poetry riddled with rhetorical devices, powerful imagery, as well as figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, and synecdoche, all of which confer to it its aesthetic quality, but are, at the same time, nearly impossible to isolate from their source language. Furthermore, while Shakespeare did write about ageless themes, including love, lust, the brevity of life, or the impermanence of beauty, his sonnets are nevertheless deeply rooted in their time by means of clever uses of intertextuality and the nuances of a sixteenth century, rural Stratfordean parlance.

VASILE MUSCĂ, ILUMINISM ȘI ISTORISM [ENLIGHTENMENT AND HISTORICISM]. CLUJ-NAPOCA: GRINTA, 2008, 191 P.

Author(s): Amelia Precup / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

What is the Enlightenment?” is one of the most significant questions ever asked, a question that, in many ways, has shaped the world we live in. Either blaming or celebrating the movement, the answers to this question have attempted to contribute to the understanding of the modern world for more than two centuries now. The question started to infiltrate the European political and philosophical thought in the seventeenth century , although it received full articulation only in the late eighteenth century, when it engendered a spirited discussion about what had already been perceived as a decisive shift in Europe’s sense of itself.

SIMONA JIȘA, BUATA B. MALELA, SERGIU MIȘCOIU, LITTERATURE ET POLITIQUE EN AFRIQUE – APPROCHE TRANSDISCIPLINAIRE. PARIS: ÉDITIONS DU CERF, COLL. « PATRIMOINES », 2018, 368 P.

Author(s): Mădălina Timu / Language(s): French Issue: 1/2019

L’ouvrage Littérature et politique en Afrique – approche transdisciplinaire paru aux Éditions du Cerf, recueille vingt-cinq articles qui proposent au lecteur des réflexions sur les réalités sociales, économiques, politiques et artistiques du continent africain.

Idioms with the Lexemes MOUTH in English and USTA in Serbian: A Cognitive Approach

Author(s): Jelena Lj. Biljetina / Language(s): English Issue: 18/2018

This paper explores the idioms in the English and Serbian language, which contain the lexemes mouth and usta. The idioms are analysed from the perspective of cognitive linguistics, with the main aim of finding the cognitive mechanisms that underlie these idioms and make it possible to understand them. The idioms are grouped according to the concepts they express and are compared and contrasted in order to find similarities and differences among the idioms in the two languages. The analysis results show that there are not many similarities in the way the idioms are lexicalised in English and Serbian, but that there is significant overlapping in their conceptual­isation, which leads to the conclusion that these two languages share universality in conceptualising the world around us.

Една адаптирана разработка на урок по български езикв V клас

Author(s): Irina Boteva-Vladikov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2015

С грижа за съдбата на българистиката

Author(s): Magdalena Kostova-Panayotova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2019

Лятна школа за изучаване на румънския език, култура и цивилизация

Author(s): Dimitar Vesselinov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5/2016

Съвременни перспективи в класическите и нови филологии

Author(s): Raya Zhivkova-Krupeva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5/2016

Дискурсът на българската диаспора в Украйна: етноезиков, социолингвистичен и комуникативен аспект

Author(s): Svetlana Kornienko / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

Although the language of Bulgarian ethnos in Ukraine functions separately from the literary one, it not only survived but remains the main means of communication of six generations – from the time of migration up to present day. The article shows three aspects of the problem: ethnolinguistic, sociolinguistic and communicative aspects of theBulgarian language functioning in Ukraine. Most attention is paid to the communicative aspect because it is the basis of language teaching.

За четенето и езиковото образование на утрешния ден (I – IV клас)

Author(s): Mariana Mandeva,Penka Kaneva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2015

A common belief, popular in school practice, is that after the initial literacy stage students read mainly/only in literature classes. This is unacceptable if a teacher wants to achieve educational goals and outcomes, adequate to the challenges of the modern world and to the children’s needs. Students read not only in literature classes but in language classes (first language, foreign language classes), in other classes, and out of school. Problems of teaching reading skills are considered beyond the context of literary classes – in Bulgarian language classes and in English language classes in primary school.

FROM CLILiG TO DIGITAL TOOLS: DEVELOPING READING STRATEGIES AND COLLABORATIVE SKILLS FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Author(s): Dana Conkan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

From CLILiG to Digital Tools: Developing Reading Strategies and Collaborative Skills for University Students. The article sets out to investigate how language awareness strategies found in the didactics of CLILiG (Content and Language Integrated Learning in German) can support, develop and train reading strategies and collaborative skills for university students. As a didactic concept, CLILiG is, on the one hand, the direct result of language policies. On the other hand, it is a natural response to the multilingual learner of today. The first part of the article focuses on CLILiG, its variants, main features (micro- and macro-scaffolding) and how digital tools for learning can be integrated in class, in order to make use of both language and specific content. The second part discusses two didactic examples designed for students studying in German Institutional Communication in the European Union at the Faculty of European Studies, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The article offers a look into digital tools like Coggle and Padlet and how they can be used in class to train reading strategies and collaborative skills with university students. Students’ interaction with challenging texts in a foreign language and digital tools supporting a learning outcome can improve reading skills and allow students to find creative ways of understanding specialized content, especially because of the features digital apps like Coggle and Padlet have to offer.

LE WEBINAIRE OU LA CLASSE VIRTUELLE DANS L’APPRENTISSAGE DES LANGUES

Author(s): Alina-Lucia Nemeş / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2019

Webinar or Virtual Class in Language Learning. Currently, with the development of the new technologies that have revolutionized the world, language learning has also changed. Webinars or virtual classes or online seminars are increasingly present and appreciated for reduced cost and better time management. But are they as efficient as the traditional classroom? Webinars are an excellent solution for distance learning education and for foreign language learning. The webinar is an interactive seminar, conducted via the Internet, in real time. Not being required to attend the traditional classroom, students are able to follow the course from the comfort of home and, especially, are given the possibility of consulting later the teacher’s explanations, which offers more flexibility to the learning process, while the objectives pursued are the same as in the traditional classroom. The interaction remains similar to that of a face-to-face meeting and the learner is given immediate feedback, which helps him/her to discern strong and weak points, which is a very good modality of improving language skills. In the article entitled "Webinar or Virtual Class in Language Learning", we will present how to set up the webinar, the conditions of use, the succession of the training, the benefits and risks involved and examples and recommendations of good practice, so that teachers could make an informed choice when organizing a language class, whether traditional or virtual.

A REVIEW OF SCREEN CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY FEEDBACK RESEARCH

Author(s): Russell Stannard / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

A Review of Screen Capture Technology Feedback Research. Screen capture technology (SCT) is one of the most widely used technologies in teaching and learning. SCT allows the user to record the screen of their computer as if a video camera was pointed at it. Anything the user does on the screen is recorded as a video and their voice is also recorded. It is principally used to create learning assets. For example, a teacher can record themselves talking over a PowerPoint presentation or a graph and then share the resulting video with students. However, the same technology can be used to provide feedback on student’s written work. It is possible, for example, for a teacher to open a student’s written work onto the screen of their computer, mark the errors and problems with the work, turn on the SCT and record themselves working through the student’s work and providing feedback. The resulting video can then be sent to the student. The students can play back the video and see their teacher correcting their paper and they can also hear their teacher’s commentary. This idea has been quite extensively researched and has been enthusiastically received by both students and teachers. This paper attempts to summarise some of the findings from the growing body of research, much of which have been connected to the topic of English Language Learning. It also suggests possible directions for future research.

NEEDS ANALYSIS AND ENGLISH FOR LEGAL PURPOSES COURSE DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY ON AN ELP SYLLABUS DESIGN FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Author(s): Bianca Doris Bretan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

Needs analysis and English for Legal Purposes Course Development: A Case Study on an ELP Syllabus Design for University Students. The present paper investigates the connection between students’ learning needs as reflected in the initial needs analysis and ELP syllabus design. Initiated at the beginning of the academic year the study investigates solutions to bridge the gap between the linguistic and professional needs of students attending legal English classes and their course syllabus. A typical challenge for the students’ instructor is the fact that they have little, typically no prior experience with the profession for which they hope to qualify during their studies. The fact that compulsory language courses are often placed in the students’ first year of bachelor study programmes makes the intention to offer relevant course content even more difficult. The structure of the article is the following: first is given a scope for the study, then needs analysis is presented in relation to teaching ESP for the general public and university students; finally, the findings are interpreted in the context of changes in teaching strategies and course design. The article concludes by pointing out that taking into consideration students’ expectations and needs is strongly correlated with the quality and the relevance of the course.

ECONOMICS AND THE HUMANITIES. A SWOT ANALYSIS

Author(s): Ioana-Gabriela Nan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

Economics and the Humanities. A SWOT Analysis. According to some authors, economists and humanists have nothing in common, given the diametrically opposed intellectual approaches. In this article, I wish to probe the validity of that opinion by seeing whether “humanomics” departments (understood as the outposts of the humanities inside a field populated by economists) can make any positive contribution that both research areas may benefit from. In my description of the present state of the humanities in relation to economics, I will adopt a specific technique usually employed to analyse the state of a business organisation: its current strengths and weaknesses, but also the opportunities it should take advantage of and the threats it should try to avoid, in an attempt to see my own field with the clarity allowed by this particular economic research tool.

DESIGNING AN ESP COURSE ACCORDING TO WHAT STUDENTS WANT AND NEED. AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

Author(s): Roxana Maria Nistor / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

Designing and ESP course according to what students want and need. An analysis of students’ needs and expectations. Starting from the premise that, in designing a course of English for Specific Purposes, the language instructor should also check and take into account what students want, the purpose of this article is to present information about the proficiency and diagnostic test and the needs analysis questionnaire applied to some first-year students enrolled at the Faculty of European Studies within Babeș-Bolyai University. The findings of our study showed the needs and the problems of our students, and revealed that they want to improve their communication, grammar, and writing skills, but they also want the English course to be enjoyable and to focus on various specialised topics, not only on their specific field of study.