Характеристика человека как культуроведчески ориентированный текстовой материал для обучающей работы (продвинутый этап в освоении РКИ)

Author(s): Irina Tayanovskaya / Language(s): Russian Issue: 2 (3)/2012

Methods of speech work during the studies of Russian language as foreign are discussed basing on material of different types of portrait characteristic of human (using visual demonstrativeness means). The descriptions of Russian linguists, famous people of Russian culture, literature, heroes of Russian literary and artistic works were used. Examples of usage of culturally oriented information at the organization of this work with the Polish students studying the Russian language are considered in the article.

RAČUNARSKI PODRŽANO UČENJE ENGLESKOG JEZIKA

Author(s): Edita Klimenta / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 08/2009

Činjenica je da je nastava engleskog jezika zanimljivija i efikasnija ako je računarski podržana. Čas može biti iskorišćen puno racionalnije. Sve jezičke veštine i jezički elementi podjednaku korist mogu izvlačiti iz pedagoškog blaga koje leži u računarima. Učenicima se pružaju mogućnosti ostvarenja aktivne, raznolike i kreativne komunikacije sa drugima kojima je engleski maternji jezik i sticanja novih saznanja o zemljama čiji jezik se uči, bogaćenje opšteg znanja i kulture. Sve nastavne aktivnosti – bilo da se radi o aktivnostima slušanja, govora, čitanja ili pisanja, osim što su efikasnije one su i individualizovane, učenicima zanimljivije i motivacione ako su računarski podržane. U našem okruženju se računari u školama nalaze još uvek samo u učionicama za informatiku. Retki su slučajevi da su i ostale učionice opremljene računarima. Samo u jednoj od devet osnovnih škola u Novom Pazaru, učionica za strani jezik je opremljena računarima. Ništa nije bolja situacija ni u srednjim školama.

Tandeminis kalbų mokymasis: elementai, principai ir perspektyvos

Author(s): Jurgita Cvilikaitė / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 4/2014

The article describes the method of tandem learning and defines its key elements – the roles of tandem partners, the form of learning sessions and learning material. Tandem language learning takes place between two native speakers who are learning each other‘s language. Based on the principles of autonomy and reciprocity, the method provides a different way of learning a foreign language, where the process is organised and planned solely through collaboration between tandem partners. While learning in tandem, they improve foreign and native language knowledge and develop intercultural communication, learning in collaboration, learning to learn and other important competences. The article presents the results of a survey which was designed to find out whether tandem learning is known in Lithuania. The survey also reavealed the apeal of tandem learning to the respondents. It was interesting to know how many respondents would be motivated to improve foreign language skills or to start learning a new language via tandem learning. The results of the survey show that only one fifth of the respondents knows the concept of tandem learning and more than a third doubts that this method could become popular in Lithuania. However a majority of the respondents would agree to learn in tandem. The most acceptable learning methods for the respondents are learning in groups or privately. Individual learning was mentioned only by a minority of the respondents. Lack of time and money were the most popular among the factors hindering learning languages. The survey established that tandem learning is not well known in Lithuania and is rarely employed. Although it is claimed that tandem learning is more an auxilliary method, it would be useful both for language learners and scientists researching learners‘ behaviour in various situations, motivation, learning achievements and other areas.

In Search for Good Practices in Multilingual Education: Comparison of Multilingual Universities’ Models

Author(s): Katri Raik,Nina Raud / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2014

Multilingualism in European higher education is closely connected with issues of quality and attractiveness of tertiary education in many European countries, especially in the countries and regions whose geographical locations and historical backgrounds have greatly shaped their multilingual and multicultural identities. Universities in such regions may be considered as effective examples of how multilingualism can be supported at the higher education level administratively, academically, socially, etc. Multilingualism is viewed broadly – it does not only imply the knowledge of a mother tongue and mastery of the English language but also the knowledge of languages of neighbouring countries and languages of ethnic minorities. Hence, today universities’ concerns are connected with implementing multilingual educational models not limited to bilingual programmes focused on English medium teaching. The aim of this paper is to present the trilingual educational model of Narva College of the University of Tartu in comparison with other European multilingual universities’ models (Switzerland, Finland, Italy, and Luxembourg) and to discuss nowadays tendencies in their development. The Narva College’s model pays special attention to the support of multiculturalism and national identity, to students’ counselling and creating necessary pre-conditions for achieving language mastery at higher levels in three languages, it also values the role of cooperation with the community at all possible levels and in a variety of forms and formats.

Vokiečių kalbos mokymo(si) per anglų kalbą ypatumai daugiakultūrėje aplinkoje: mokymosi motyvacijos ir mokymosi aplinkos reikšmė

Author(s): Gintarė Gelūnaitė-Malinauskienė,Nemira Mačianskienė / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 4/2014

In the age of globalization, when the scope of human migration is rapidly increasing and boundaries between countries and regions are losing their significance, the ability to communicate effectively in a few foreign languages with people from different cultural backgrounds is becoming crucial. Nowadays a considerable number of students studying in Lithuanian universities come from abroad. Some of them settle in Lithuania, others, however, move to other countries for studies or work. Therefore, the demand to learn foreign languages alongside specialization subjects is growing. Responding to students’ needs, the Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL) at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) offers students an opportunity to learn foreign languages through English as a lingua franca. The article presents the findings of part of the research performed at IFL which aims at identifying peculiarities of learning German through English as a medium of instruction in classes of representatives of different countries. The research identified the students’ foreign language competence, their German language motivation and impact of learning environment upon teaching and learning German as a foreign language in a multicultural context. It was found that extrinsic integrative motivation prevails among the students studying German as a foreign language. The students’ psychological well-being, impact of teacher’s personal qualifies upon the learning environment, different students’ expectations regarding learning process organisation were also identified. The research results indicate that language teaching and learning in multicultural environment is inextricably related to the development of students’ intercultural competence, as it requires attention to intercultural differences, teacher and student cooperation and tolerance.

Peculiarities of Foreign Language Learning at LUHS, KTU, and ASU: The Students’ Attitude

Author(s): Sigita Stankevičienė,Liudmila Kirikova,Irmantas Ramanauskas,Dalia Kačergienė,Edita Latvelienė / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2014

An increasing significance of science, a rapidly growing stream of information, and new cultural and business relationships with foreign countries are but a few factors that affect the education and training of specialists; therefore, providing practical ability to communicate in several foreign languages is one of the major components of today’s education. Continuous updating of specialist knowledge, access to the most recent literature in foreign languages, possibilities for participation in various international conferences and joint projects with foreign partners, and the associated need for foreign languages highlight the relevance of the education and training of specialists who would not limit their activity to work in a concrete sphere, but rather – on the basis of the concept of life-long learning – would be able to cooperate in science and business, communicating in at least one foreign language. The aim of the study was to reveal students’ attitudes to foreign language learning at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LUHS), Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), and Aleksandras Stulginskis University (ASU). The objectives of the study were to discuss the theoretical aspects of foreign language learning and to reveal the students’ attitude towards the process of foreign language learning: the teachers’ competence; the climate of studies and the application of the elements of problem based learning. The following methods were applied in the study: analysis of scientific literature and a questionnaire survey. The results of the study showed that most students thought that their foreign language competence was sufficient, while the teachers’ competence was seen as deficient. The main problems about the climate of studies that the respondents indicated were inconvenient schedules and insufficiently interesting studies. Meanwhile, the students’ opinion about the application of the elements of problem-based learning in foreign language studies was favourable.

Quelles langues appren dre? Choix des langues étrangères à l’université Vytautas Magnus

Author(s): Jūratė Andriuškevičienė,Daina Kazlauskaitė / Language(s): French Issue: 4/2014

“The main role of a language is to enable communication among people, i.e. to perform the communicative function. The language of each nation is the means to create its culture and literature (the aesthetic function), as well as to express the nation’s self-awareness and values – character, customs and thinking.” Every culture invites to respect and promote the national language and learn foreign languages in order to develop trade and different kinds of exchange, as well as intercultural communication. So which language should be chosen bearing in mind the variety? Could one language be more useful? These are the questions posed in this article. The answers will be based on the data from Euro barometer on “Europeans and their languages”, “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages” and many other European Council documents promoting multilingualism. The article will also touch upon language choice tendencies in the Institute of Foreign Languages at Vytautas Magnus University over the past 11 years, illustrated by graphs and tables. The number of languages offered by our institution has reached 30 but the analysis of language preferences shows that some languages are more popular than the others. It is well known that English has already become the lingua franca, so we will focus more on the languages that students choose as second, third, fourth etc. The map of the world according to Calvet barometer presents five most popular languages – English, Spanish, French, German and Russian. It is only logical that they appear in the same order in our tables. Europeans find English, Spanish, French, German and Russian the most useful. Over the past 11 years, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Polish, Russian and Norwegian languages (except English) have been among the top five at VMU. Spanish, French, German and Italian have always been in the top five. The Russian language was included in this group in 2008 and its demand is growing. The most popular language is Spanish – it was in the first position nine times and only twice it gave the position over to the French language (in 2009 and 2010). Italian is not among the first five either in the world or in Europe, but at VMU it is in great demand. Students episodically demonstrate exceptional interest in Norwegian and Japanese. Oddly, Polish, the language of our neighbours, was included in the group of the top five only once over the period of analysis (in 2004). In summary, it can be stated that the comparison of language popularity in Europe discloses similarities, as well as differences. The focus of the article is to call teachers’, lecturers’ and society’s attention to the demand of life-long language learning, to invite them for discussion to compare the tendencies of foreign language preferences in Europe and Lithuania and to promote multilingualism.

Teacher-Learner: An Effective Partnership. Teaching from the Learner's Perspective

Author(s): Monica Marin / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2005

The launch of the European Language Portfolio represents a breakthrough that will change the teaching-learning approach. It is designed according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CERF) concerning the core idea of language use for various communicative activities and situations. The Portfolio contains more than one set of descriptors because it takes into account both linguistic competencies - such as the linguistic, socio-linguistic and pragmatic levels – as well as general competencies like the speaker’s knowledge of the world, social and practical skills, cultural awareness, attitudes, motivation.

Role of the English Class in Preparing Students to Live in the EU

Author(s): Alexandra Anca Codreanu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2005

This article looks at the ingredients that make communication successful in international contexts. First hand, as well as reported experience seem to point to the need for more than learning the words and the grammar of one or other foreign language in order to make yourself understood or get to the bottom of what your international communication partner is trying to convey to you.

Evaluating Communicative Competence

Author(s): Maria Enache / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2005

Testing language has traditionally taken the form of testing knowledge about language, usually the testing of knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. However, there is much more to being able to use language than knowledge about it. Dell Hymes, who proposed the concept of communicative competence (1972), argued that a speaker can be able to produce grammatical sentences that are completely inappropriate. In communicative competence he included not only the ability to form correct sentences, but to use them at appropriate times. Thus for Hymes the term competence covers more elements than Chomsky's narrow use of it (1965), ranging from grammatical competence to sociolinguistic competence. The notion of sociolinguistic competence is much larger than Chomsky's pragmatic competence, as it includes societal factors as well. Since Hymes proposed the idea in the early 1970s, it has been expanded considerably, and various types of competencies have been proposed. However, the basic idea of communicative competence remains the ability to use language appropriately, both receptively and productively, in real situations.

The Teaching of Collocates - Some Proposals

Author(s): Yolanda Mirela Catelly / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2005

The emphasis of the present article is placed on the main issues related to the teaching of collocates. Firstly, the theoretical concept of collocation is briefly reviewed, as well as the 'lexical approach'; then, certain pedagogical implications are discussed, while the final section is devoted to presenting a variety of both existing and original tasks meant to enhance students' awareness of the importance of collocations and to diversify the teaching/testing of vocabulary.

Zwischen fachsprachlichem Deutschunterricht und fremdsprachigem Fachunterricht

Author(s): Lora Constantinescu / Language(s): German Issue: 1/2005

With this article we look again into the business letter writing and its multifaceted communication, which involves specialist knowledge (marketing) and ESP-related issues (language acquisition, text genre-specific argumentation and discourse). The paper describes a teaching project for students of Economics (level A2-B1) with focus on simulations. In this complex type of didactic game-like combination of text reception and text production (in so called chains of communicative activities), learners engage in blended FLL-activities, where writing skills go together with oral communication. The project was meant to show how the students can prepare for future professional tasks.

Participants' Evaluation of the "English for the World of Work" Project

Author(s): Gabriela Chefneux / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2005

The "English for the World of Work" project aims at bridging the gap between the education that vocational students obtain in school and the practical employment requirements that they are going to face after graduation, particularly in terms of English language training.

Politeness in Business Letters

Author(s): Alexander Hollinger / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2005

Business letters are mostly persuasive, that is the writer wants to convey a certain message to the recipient and thereby make him take a certain course of action. To supply an example, an offer is written in the hope of convincing the offeree to place the order with the offeror. One of the persuasion strategies used by writers of business correspondence is politeness. Authors of correspondence books have referred to the rule of the 3C's, implying that a business letter should be clear, concise and courteous (Eckersley and Kaufmann 1970: 14-27). This article deals with the significance of politeness as it comes out from works on pragmatics and illustrates different aspects, especially the language choices for expressing polite requests, making polite complaints, as well as writing courteous adjustments.

Cross-Cultural Aspects of Teaching English for Business Communication

Author(s): Roxana-Elisabeta Marinescu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2005

I will refer to the context of teaching English for business communication at the Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, at both undergraduate and Master's level. A few questions are the starting point: to what extent is language teaching culture teaching? What language do we teach in business English classes? Which'‘English'? Whose culture? How much do the textbooks and materials that we teach take into consideration the cultural/cross-cultural elements that affect international communication? How relevant culturally are the materials that we teach for the Romanian context? How much do our students benefit from them as students and as future professionals?

A Theoretical Approach to the "English for the World of Work" Project

Author(s): Liliana Coposescu,Gabriela Chefneux / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2005

This article aims at presenting an on going British Council English for Specific Purposes (ESP) project, which involves a number of vocational schools in the country. The article is structured in two parts: a brief presentation of the project followed by a theoretical part, which defines ESP and genre, relating them to the practical side of the project.

Title

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2005

POVRATNA ZAMJENICA KAO ZAMJENICA IDENTITETA U NJEMAČKOME I HRVATSKOM JEZIKU

Author(s): Senka Marinčić / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 4/2008

Das Reflexivpronomen als Ergänzung zum Verb im Deutschen und Kroatischen kommt nach seinen syntaktischen Funktionen sowie der Valenztheorie als Identitätspronomen und Prädikatspronomen vor. Das Reflexivpronomen als Prädikatspronomen bei echten reflexiven Verben ist immer als ein Bestandteil des Prädikats anzusehen und als solcher für eine syntaktische Analyse semantisch irrelevant. Im Unterschied dazu hat das Reflexivpronomen als Identitätspronomen bei unechten reflexiven Verben einen semantischen Wert im Satz und demzufolge zieht es das linguistische Interesse an sich. Es gibt auch einen wichtigen syntaktischen Grund, um den Unterschied zwischen Identitäts- und Prädikatspronomen aufrechtzuerhalten: unter gewissen syntaktischen Bedingungen kann (wie z. B. im Infinitiv- oder Partizipialsatz) eine Konkurrenz zwischen Identitäts- und Personalpronomen entstehen, nur wenn das Reflexivpronomen Identitätspronomen ist. Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert kontrastiv morphologische, semantische und syntaktische Eigenschaften des Reflexivpronomens, das als Identitätspronomen bei unechten reflexiven Verben im Deutschen und Kroatischen vorkommt.

SLOŽENICE TIPA “IMENICA + IMENICA” U NJEMAČKOME JEZIKU PRAVNE STRUKE I NJIHOVI PRIJEVODNI EKVIVALENTI NA HRVATSKOME JEZIKU

Author(s): Ružica Zeljko-Zubac / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 4/2008

Im ersten Teil der Arbeit wird die Bildung von Substantivkomposita bearbeitet und auf die Bedeutung, die sie in der deutschen Rechtssprache haben, hingewiesen. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit wird den Komposita des Typs “Substantiv + Substantiv”, die durch Komposition von mehreren Lexemen auf eine einfache Art und Weise bestimmte Rechtsbegriffe präzise definieren, gewidmet. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit wies die Autorin aufgrund eines begrenzten Corpus auf einige Besonderheiten in der Bildung von Rechtsbegriffen mittels Substantivkomposita in der deutschen Sprache hin und untersuchte wie diese in die kroatische Sprache übersetzt werden. Aufgrund der durchgeführten Analyse nahm sie wahr, dass die Mehrheit der deutschen Komposita in der Rechtssprache mit einer Wortgruppe ins Kroatische übersetzt werden, und nur wenige deutsche Komposita haben ihr Übersetzungsäquivalent in einem kroatischen Komposita.

De la joc la activităţile ludice de Adina Curta. Alba Iulia: Editura Aeternitas, 2006

Author(s): Teodora Popescu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2008

The book review "From Play to Ludic Activities" by Adina Curta analyses the book published by Editura Aeternitas in 2006.