Synergy

7

Authors: Ken COLLINS7

This is a new type of language–learning activity which can be done online in class or at home by students. Within a 50-word limit, students are encouraged to tell a story which can be fact, fiction, poetry or prose in the target language (English). The competition is judged internationally, with the active encouragement of a teaching institution which then has to develop new links with business to provide prizes. In an appropriate ceremony for prizewinners, it can publicise itself through the students’ use of English. Reference is also made to methodology available to stimulate the learning of English in the classroom. Keywords: language-learning competition, corpora for research, host institution, further teaching material

8

Authors: Ruxandra CONSTANTINESCU-ŞTEFĂNEL

The present development of science and the globalization of information have resulted into an increase of the number of concepts and terms denominating the same, as well as into strengthening the importance of terminology and terminography. This article presents a project which is part of this trend, answering the need of the beneficiary and of the whole target audience to possess a reliable instrument enabling them to have access to international accounting standards, to increase the Romanian researchers’ international visibility and to reinforce their connections with professional accountants all over the world. The project consists of a bilingual English-Romanian and Romanian-English dictionary of financial accounting, accompanied by a glossary in French, German, Russian, Italian and Spanish. Drawn up according to the methodology prescribed by the specialised literature, based on the most significant bibliography in the field, it is meant for all the specialists who wish to apply cutting-edge accounting methods in their work, and wish, personally or by their works, to strengthen their relationships with experts from various countries or to present to the world their scientific vision of accountancy. Keywords: bilingual dictionary,multilingual glossary, financial accounting, term, special language

10

Authors: Mariana SĂNDULESCU

It is a well-known fact that the dimension patemica our research is focussed on is vital in daily newspapers, especially in nowadays newspapers. In many cases feelings constitute news, thus becoming the very object of the journalistic information. In the following study we propose a general analysis, valid for any economic page or daily newspaper in order to underline the diffusion and pervasive dimension of love level in the journalistic discourse, even if each and every feeling is not nominated; it is extremely important to stress that neither isolated lexemes nor isolated news are the only issues discussed in this article - but also a level of meaning going over the entire significance of the journalistic text - in various ways and in different modulations. Keywords: dimension patemica, euphoria, dysphoria, involvement timica, tension of information, model-reader

13

Authors: Carmen PEREZ-LLANTADA AURIA

This article reports on an innovative practice entailing the use of an EAP literacy portfolio as a pedagogical tool for initiating adult language learners in higher education into a language/competency-oriented learning while building up a supportive environment and setting off a culture for learning. The rationale underpinning this integrated language/competency oriented approach was double-fold: firstly, to stimulate the students’ competence in a repertoire of academic literacies and, secondly, to formulate appropriate instructional interventions regarding curricular design, classroom methodology and language assessment system. The article describes the procedures carried out for implementing this integrative approach – namely, designing a coherent instruction and teaching materials, planning classroom work, introducing on-line learner management systems for monitoring progress, assessing student performance and supporting on-going, measurable progress of linguistic, metacognitive and interpersonal competencies. On pedagogical grounds, the article discusses how the ELP becomes a suitable tool to make the course content and pedagogy stay true to the linguistic and generic communicative skills that lie at the heart of academia. In addition, it assesses the advantages of the ELP in helping diagnose each student’s conceptual and competency-oriented progress, organise, control and support the learning process and make students move from the reactive into the proactive. Keywords: language learning, EAP (English for Academic Purposes), ELP (European Language Portfolio), EAP literacy portfolio, academic literacies, TEFL (Teaching of English as a Foreign Language)

6

Authors: Irina CHURSINA

Alongside the formation of the English national language in the Middle English period the formation of the anthroponymical system of the English language continued. The information presented below gives an analysis of some morphonological changes in the structure of the Middle English anthroponyms caused by the adaptation of the name stock brought after the Norman Conquest to the Middle English language. Keywords: anthroponyms, morphonological structure, phoneme, elision, reduction,syllable, borrowings, Old English names, Norman - French names,hypocoristics, name stock, compound name

7

Authors: Mariana NICOLAE and James MOULDER

If being ranked below 500 in the international rankings suggests the crisis, then all Romania's universities are in crisis. First, we explain why this situation calls for crisis management rather than for a theory about this crisis. Then we argue for two practical steps. A long term response based on what we know about mentoring and coaching and a short term response based on what we know about creating cultures that encourage creative thinking. Throughout we state and illuminate ideas that can be implemented immediately if an institution or an individual has the will to do so. Keywords: higher education, university rankings, crisis management, leadership, creativity

7

Authors: Monica CONDRUZ-BĂCESCU

Being enterprising involves being prepared to take risks and to 'think out of the box' in order to develop solutions to problems. The term culture refers to the typical way of behaving within an organisation or in society as a whole. An organisation therefore with an enterprise culture is one where people are imaginative and creative, rather than reluctant to take risks. This applies to a range of small and large enterprises. In big companies there is sometimes a danger that the organisation develops a structure that discourages enterprise. However, one way of getting round this has been to organise people into teams where they are encouraged to make decisions for themselves providing they keep in line with the overall objectives and targets of the organisation as a whole. Keywords: enterprise culture, organization, corporate culture, business, values, society

8

Authors: Ruxandra CONSTANTINESCU-ŞTEFĂNEL

This is the last article of a series meant to provide important clues for less experienced instructors engaged in teaching the main oral communication situations in business English. It focuses on teaching negotiation and is divided into three main parts: What to teach? How to teach? How to asses? The article provides information about textbooks where instructors may find materials connected to teaching meetings to foreign students, as well as a scale, devised by the author, to asses students’ oral productions in this specific speech situation. Keywords: assessment scale, business English, negotiation, teaching, textbook

13

Authors: Juan Carlos HENNESSEY and Virginia Mihaela DUMITRESCU2

The present article sets out to identify the weaknesses of the education system of a Latin American country and the means by which that system can be “revolutionized” in such a way as to bring about a much needed paradigm shift for the benefit of society as a whole. In Colombia, a country plagued with poverty, inequality and their consequences (violence,insecurity, etc.), the education system is not preparing the new generation to face the various social, political and economic challenges that will determine the nation’s quality of life in the future, hence the urgent need for an “academic revolution” using leadership and effective communication skills as primary tools, and teachers and their educational environments as agents of change. In a developing country like Colombia, students’ education can no longer be reduced to assimilating tons of information, but should consist in “learning for life”, in preparing to meet the requirements of an increasingly demanding labour market and face the challenges of real life both within the context of globalization,and against the backdrop of Colombia’s specific problems. That is why it is imperative to educate future leaders that understand their context and can fit into the world’s scenario without losing sight of their country’s variables. Keywords: learning for life, leadership skills, communication skills, effective class

16

Authors: Raluca ŞERBAN and Mihai ŞERBAN

The article deals with one of John Barth’s most recent novels, Where Three Roads Meet,which revolves around the symbolism of “Y”, of crossroads, of trivium. Its most interesting connotation is that of indecisiveness leading to impasse – an impasse that the author would like us to read as the deadlock of literature itself, or at least of the novelistic genre. The solution that Barth explores and, its viability proven at the end of the novel, the solution that he proposes is metafiction taken to its ultimate consequences. The reader of this highly self-reflexive book is offered embodiments of the Story, dramatic vehicle, reader and Teller as the main characters of this new Barthian story, who literally keep the ball rolling by chatting about storytelling. Keywords: crossroad, trivium, self-reflexiveness, Story’s story