Synergy

7

Authors: Anca CODREANU

This article looks at Vijay K. Bhatia’s book, Analysing Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings, which had a powerful effect on genre research in the period following its publication, for significant researchers in the field, and which has retained its full relevance to ESP practitioners owing to the innovative ideas put forward by the author. It is therefore an attempt to prove how the concept or rather the instrument of genre, as defined and demonstrated by Bhatia, can be used with rewarding results in the teaching / learning of Business or Legal or Academic English.

8

Authors: Alexander HOLLINGER

Metaphor is a figure of speech based on association between two elements which are essentially different: one used in a certain sphere of human life, whose meaning is then transferred through association to another sphere of human life. According to P. R. Wilkinson (1993:VIII), “metaphor is a means of expressing a thing in terms of something else”. In the same source, distinction is made between “vehicle”, that is the meaning of the initial word/concept and “tenor” – the concept to which the meaning is being transferred.

8

Authors: Mihaela PARPALEA

Wir wollen hier einige Fragen, die mit der sogenannten Fehlerproblematik zusammenhängen, vor dem Hintergrund neuerer Fremdsprachenerwerbstheorien diskutieren. Fehler zu machen ist untrennbar mit dem menschlichen Wesen verbunden, denn auch das Sprichwort behauptet: "Irren ist menschlich". Wenden wir diese Sentenz ins Alltägliche des Lernens im Allgemeinen und des Fremdsprachenlernens im Besonderen, so können wir feststellen, der Mensch macht Fehler so lange er eine Fremdsprache lernt, er bemüht sich auch Fehler zu vermeiden, weil sie störend wirken. Fehler sind vor allem ein psychisches Phänomen. Sie entstehen, wenn Mechanismen der Sprachproduktion oder Sprachaufnahme unzureichend funktionieren. Aus Untersuchungen geht hervor, dass der Großteil aller Fehler universalen Charakter haben, d.h. unabhängig von der Muttersprache des Lerners, von der Lernmethode und typisch für bestimmte Stufen der Sprachbeherrschung sind.

8

Authors: Lucia GROSU

Recently translated into Romanian, The God of Small Things, the Indian writer Arundhati Roy’s novel, has surprised readers with a story about love and loss, about boundaries and transgressions, about small things that suddenly become central events in the characters’ destinies. The writer herself states in one interview that the novel is not concerned with the vast Indian themes, but that her main interest is the depiction of “insect life” which accidentally takes place in Ayemenem-Kerala, and could as well be happening in any other corner of the world. Roy writes a novel about the small detail in human existence, yet she cannot escape her cultural and social roots which eventually help shaping the plot of the book into a narrative regarding the big Indian issues. Roy makes use of a local scenario in order to elaborate a greater representation of the post-colonial Indian setting. Her novel can be considered a hybrid text since it is simultaneously contaminated by the two contexts, the Indian and the British. By choosing to express herself in English, Arundhati Roy is in an advantageous position. According to Braj Kachru.

9

Authors: Doina Irina SIMION

This article is an attempt to explore e-learning and management culture in search of analogies which could be used by English Language teachers for the purpose of strengthening the teacher’s grasp over the students’ learning process. If one accepts the analogical approach as a possible theoretical basis, one may come across findings regarding the student-computer interface that could be taken into consideration by the teachers themselves, to the extent teachers replicate such computer functions as resource providers or evaluators.

11

Authors: Roxana CIOLĂNEANU

An area that has attracted increasing interest and awareness in the last decades, Business English must be seen in the larger context of ESP, as it shares needs analysis, syllabus and course design, materials selection and development with all other fields of ESP. However, Business English relies on a specific language corpus and a particular kind of communication in a specific context. Hence, any Business English teacher must not only be an expert in teaching the specific language of business, but also develop awareness of the needs and concerns of Business English students and become flexible enough to respond to those needs.

12

Authors: Tony LUXON

Many of us have experienced initial teacher training, a period in which we are required, in a structured way, to explore methods and approaches to teaching in our subject area. Although this is certainly a tough time (I can remember teaching only a couple of hours a day during teaching practice during my initial teacher training, then coming home and sleeping for twelve hours as I was so exhausted by the sheer nervous effort involved), we learn an enormous amount from it. However, this in itself is not sufficient for our professional development. It is only when we enter the profession as a certified teacher or academic that we really begin to develop professional practices based in the reality of the situation, and we undergo (some might say endure) a period of hopefully, continuing professional development. Lave and Wenger (1991) refer to the early period of professional activity within a particular community of practice as ‘legitimate peripheral participation’. That is, we enter into this community of practice at its borders and learn from others, and from our own experience, and this is a necessary and unavoidable process if we are to become part of the profession. It can be argued however, that this process never ends, even when we are no longer in a sense ‘peripheral’, and we have emerged from our apprenticeship, we are in a continuing process of ‘becoming’, and we never stop learning. This may sound a slightly disturbing concept, in that we may never reach wholeness, but I would suggest that it is rather an exciting process of continuous change and development, and even though we are teachers, we are also permanently learners, gaining new experiences, experimenting with new techniques and approaches, encountering different students. This paper is concerned with ways that we, as teachers, can develop our own practice through a continual process of reflection and investigation as part of our day to day teaching activity. It suggests that professional development, especially that aspect in which we are investigating our own teaching and learning, wrestles with the same, or very similar epistemological and ontological issues as research in this area.

14

Authors: Roxana MARINESCU

In order to analyse some instances of violence in today’s global context, more specifically in the South-Asian postcolonial space, I will try to (re)define the study object of anthropology. For this I would like to look first into the concept of ‘culture’. By ‘culture’ I understand, as Ernest Gellner, whatever is transmitted nongenetically in an on-going human community, through a system of constraints, applied to a very wide range of situations. These non-genetic features turns a population into a community, separated from the species that genetically shares the same equipment (Gellner, 1995: 45-50). But how difficult or easy is it to distinguish between genetic and non-genetic traits? According to Clifford Geertz, it is very difficult, as what is innately controlled and what is culturally controlled in human behaviour is ill-defined and wavering. Culture is directly connected to human nature: we are “incomplete or unfinished animals who complete or finish ourselves through culture – and not through culture in general, but highly particular forms of it” (Geertz: 50).

6

Authors: Monica MARIN

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. The main advantages of the Portfolio are its reporting and pedagogic functions. The former focuses on results, summative assessment, transparency and comparability, while the latter focuses on the learning process, formative assessment, learning incentives and learning occasions. Its key components are self-assessment grids based on CERF in twenty-six languages and self-assessment checklists. Therefore, the Portfolio has practical applications such as: raising perspective 47 awareness of individual language competencies and needs (this is to be found in the Portfolio), encouraging non-judgemental self-assessment (Language Biography activities), and adapting and creating activities and worksheets at all levels that clearly ‘fit in’ with can-do statements.

7

Authors: Cristina PRELIPCEANU

It is my prerequisite that the marketing vocabulary is part of the general English vocabulary and consequently the laws governing the formation of vocabulary in English are common to both General English and English for Marketing. However, certain types of word combinations and their use are more frequent and typical of the language of marketing. The aim of this article is to examine the meanings of some figures of speech frequently used in the language of marketing in English. Defined as "forms of expression deviating from the normal order of use of words, used to give variety or force" (The Oxford Illustrated Dictionary, 1978: 309), figures of speech, although properly belonging to the field of stylistics, are also studied by lexicology, as they are frequently apt to enrich the vocabulary of a language with new meanings - a process which is based on man's power of association, which determines numerous changes of meanings in different words.

9

Authors: Adriana CHIRIACESCU

The present article stems from my preoccupations related to British cultural studies, a direct consequence of my optional course on British Culture and Civilization delivered for the students of the Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest. The students’ interest in some acute problems of today’s world has prompted my concern with such topics, as well as with the way they are regarded in cultures different from ours. One of these topics is the issue of the global environment and its preservation. The way in which its different aspects have been approached, the reactions which they have produced in Great Britain over the years and, sometimes, even over centuries, are worth paying attention to, representing a source of reflection and a direction to be considered.

10

Authors: Lora CONSTANTINESCU

Angesichts ständiger sprachwissenschaftlicher Debatten um die Komplexität des Kommunikationsmittels Fachsprache erkennt Schleyer (1986:178) eine Relativierung der vorher behaupteten Sonderstellung des fachsprachlichen Fremdsprachenunterrichts (FSU) und spricht sich aus für eine Neugewichtung der Lernziele des FSU, welche die fachliche Sprachverwendung beinhalten. Die wachsenden Fremd- und Fachsprachenbedarfe der letzten 20 Jahre haben auch den altbekannten Begriff Wirtschaftsdeutsch um weitere Facetten bereichert. Mit den “Denk-und Mitteilungstrukturen“ wird laut Buhlmann und Fearns (1987) heutzutage das logisch-kommunikative Gerüst einer Vielfalt fachsprachlicher/berufssprachlicher Ebenen (Sprach-Sparten) gemeint, was auf verschiedenen (zum Unterschied vom technischen Fachsprachenbereich niedriegeren) Abstraktionsstufen und in mehreren Sozialisierungs- und Interaktionskontexten manifest werden. Fachsprachliche Erscheinungen sind als Erscheinungen des Sprachsystems der natürlichen Sprache betrachtet und ihr Lehren/Erlernen lässt sich nicht mehr vom Nährboden des allgemeinen Spracherwerbs loslösen. Die bisherige kritische Überprüfung widerspiegelt weitgehend realwirtschaftliche (in erster Reihe unterschiedlicher unternehmenseigener Kommunikationssituationen (Kommunikationsbedarfe). Immer wieder wird in diesen Jahren behauptet, Deutsch sei zu einer unerlässlichen Verkehrsprache in Europa geworden. Daher die öfter anerkannte Möglichkeit, in gewissen Grenzen allgemeine berufsbezogene Kenntnisse schon auf unteren Könnensniveaus (Grundstufe) zu vermitteln (Quetz, 2002: 47).

11

Authors: Mirela BARDI

This article will present a selective reading of the research methodology literature, focusing on the issues and ideas that may guide academics involved in researching the value of educational projects. I will discuss primarily issues related to qualitative research.

12

Authors: Zorica HENŢEŞ

Kundenorientierung, Kundenzufriedenheit und Kundenbindung sind Schlagworte, die die heutige Marketingwelt prägen. Die Pflege von Kunden wird von Managern wichtiger eingestuft als die Schaffung neuer Märkte (Fuchs und Schüller, 2002: 13). Der Top-Trend auf dem Gebiet der Kundenbeziehungen ist die Kundenloyalität. Denn nur loyale Kunden sichern den Erfolg eines Unternehmens. Es stellt sich die Frage: Wie können wir unsere Kunden loyalizieren? Wie können wir die Beziehungen zum Kunden auf - und ausbauen? Die Antwort ist: durch Kommunikation, durch aktives “Zuhören”, das bedeutet auf den Kunden zugehen, ihn verstehen, mit ihm “mitfühlen”! Bei jeder Kommunikation lassen sich 2 Ebenen unterscheiden: Sach- und Beziehungsebene (Deutscher, 2004: 43). Und leider wird die Beziehungsebene oft unterschätzt. Wortwahl, Satzbau und Texgestaltung beeinflussen die Stimmung des “Empfängers” / also des Kunden positiv oder negativ! Die Beziehungsebene bestimmt eigentlich, wie der Empfänger die Informationen der Sachebene auffasst und versteht. Es ist also wichtig, den richtigen Ton zu treffen. Das “Wie” ist also wichtiger als das “Was” – denn man will nicht nur informieren man will ja mit dem Kunden in der Geschäftskorrespondenz kommunizieren. Und das ist entscheidend für den Erfolg.

13

Authors: Ruxandra CONSTANTINESCU-ŞTEFĂNEL

This article focuses on the differences between the French and the British business presentations and attempts to explain them in relation to the different characteristics of the national cultures of these countries. After stating the reasons of my interest in this topic, I will define culture, point out its various levels and present French and British cultures by means of some of the most comprehensive anthropological models. I will then discuss the differences between the two types of presentation as far as role, audience, structure and tone are concerned. After a brief outline of some similarities between the two discourses, I will end with an overview of the main difficulties Romanian students face when learning to give presentations in English and French.