Vol. 7 No. 7 (2023): ROMANIAN STUDIES TODAY VII, 2023

View Vol. 7 No. 7 (2023): ROMANIAN STUDIES TODAY VII, 2023

The main domains include: the positioning of Romanian studies as integrating part of contemporary social and humanities subjects, issues related to Romanian as a foreign/non-native language. Romanian Studies Today is a journal for specialists, researchers and instructors in Romanian studies in all universities and research centres, and also for specialists, researchers and instructors in regional studies, history, anthropology, political studies or researchers in other domains with an interest in Romanian language, literature, culture and civilisation.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62229/rst7
Published: 2024-02-26

Full Issue

Articles

  • RSTVII-1

    Contactul româno-slav: efecte convergente în sintaxa românei vechi și a istroromânei

    Adina Dragomirescu (Author)

    Abstract

    In this paper I present two cases of Romance-Slavic contact: direct contact in bilingual context (Istro-Romanian and Croatian), and indirect contact via translations (old Romanian and Old Church Slavonic). After briefly presenting the syntactic features attested in Istro-Romanian and in old Romanian (but which have disappeared from modern
    Romanian), I focus on two features: the prenominal position of relational adjectives and auxiliary inversion, features explained by convergence (as they are attested both in Latin/ Old Romance and in the Slavonic contact languages, Croatian and Old Church Slavonic).  Finally, I make some theoretical remarks on the consequences of contact in syntax.

  • RSTVII-2

    Aspecte privind predarea limbii române ca limbă străină studenților care provin din zone de conflict

    Ionuț Geană (Author)

    Abstract

    This article deals with the analysis and interpretation of some aspects on teaching
    Romanian to students coming from conflict zones. The applications will be based on the
    author’s experience at the so-called Preparatory Year organized by the Faculty of Letters
    at the University of Bucharest. The main objective of this article is, on the one hand, to
    provide instructors of Romanian as a foreign language with a new approach, and, on the
    other hand, with reinterpreted methods already existing in the didactics and pedagogy of
    foreign language teaching, so that the teaching process be as efficient as possible, and the linguistic and cultural integration of these students coming from conflict zones be as
    natural as possible. At the same time, we admit and reaffirm that the learning-teaching
    process involves permanent adjusting and readjusting to certain realities that go beyond
    the classroom, and latest pedagogies from a certain point in time can become inapplicable and noncompliant with the reality at a really fast pace.

  • RATVII-3

    Metadata design for the first electronic learner corpus of Romanian

    Carmen Mîrzea Vasile, Elena Irimia (Author)

    Abstract

    This paper introduces an ongoing work of collecting, annotating and documenting the first digital Romanian Learner Corpus (LECOR), focusing on its metadata. We shortly describe the institutional context of the project, the current state of the art in the field, the objectives in terms of structure, dimensions and annotations and what work has already been done at this stage of the project. Then we present the modular structure of the metadata scheme and a detailed  account of all the metadata fields and their possible values, from general metadata concerning the whole corpus (Section 3.1), to metadata organised around the student/learner (Section 3.2) and text/composition (Section 3.3). We
    will also give some examples of how metadata has been dealt with in various researches (including based on LECOR corpus). 

  • RSTVII-4

    Mircea Anghelescu. Note de subsoldespre posibilitățile istoriei literare

    George-Florian Neagoe (Author)

    Abstract

    In an era of overqualification, Mircea Anghelescu chose to be a philologist, keeping his call on a continuous organic growth. His profile was defined with no stages skipped, as he was, chronologically, a lower education teacher, a librarian, a researcher, and finally a professor. The four stages were defining in the metamorphosis of an intellectual who, regardless of the technical opportunities of the last twenty years, stayed true to bibliographical notes. Mircea Anghelescu was interested in the endoderm of literary texts, deeming literary history as the sovereign subject in getting to know the world. Most of his work start from the belief that writers include epistemological fragments. Hence it can be claimed that reading involves a socio-literary perspective, searching for contexts, yet without overexposing them, to the detriment of an artistic vein. Thus, the interpreter has the task to remedy, like a restoring painter, all warped paintings and to rehydrate the frescoes drowned in incense and candle smoke. To take out from a book depository an anthology of literary works, while also taking a close look at all cultural dimensions, is an audacious undertaking.

  • RSTVII-5

    Un flux de activități didactice pentrudezvoltarea competenței pragmaticeîn limba română ca limbă străină

    Cristina Nițu (Author)

    Abstract

    The following article discusses various strategies on how to develop L2 pragmatics in a classroom setting. Drawing on the importance of developing learners’ pluricultural
    repertoire raised by the Companion Volume of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (Council of Europe 2020), we will argue in favour of developing the pragmatic competence together with the intercultural communicative competence (Byram 1997). In the study case we suggest – ordering at the restaurant – we put forward a string of didactic activities as a possibile teaching resource for teachers of Romanian as a second language in multicultural environments. The article is divided into six sections, as follows: 1) Introduction; 2) CEFR on the pluricultural repertoire; 3) On the intercultural competence and the intercultural communicative competence; 4) Case study – teaching a directive speech act (how to order at a restaurant) in Romanian; 5) Conclusions; 6) Annex 1 to the article consisting in the transcripts used for the case study.

  • RSTVII-6

    Refugees in Romania: A New Paradigm in Romanian Language Education

    Luis Javier Pentón Herrera (Author)

    Abstract

    This paper explores the transformative role of Romanian language education in the context of the recent influx of refugees into Romania. Focusing on the integration of Ukrainian refugees, the study delves into the necessity of  adapting Romanian language education to meet the unique needs of this population. It underscores the pivotal role of
    culturally responsive teaching, trauma-informed pedagogies, and community engagement strategies in facilitating refugee integration. The analysis is segmented into key areas: defining the refugee experience, examining Romania’s response to the refugee crisis, and proposing innovative reforms in Romanian language teacher preparation  programs. The paper advocates for the incorporation of multicultural education principles and a comprehensive, empathetic approach to language teaching. It highlights the potential long-term societal benefits of effectively integrating refugees through language education, including cultural enrichment and social cohesion. The study concludes by emphasizing the urgent need for educational reforms in Romania and suggests directions for future research to evaluate the impact of these changes. 

  • RSTVII-7

    Perechi accentuale în română și în engleză. Dificultăți în utilizarea lor de către studenții străini

    Carmen Răriș-Fierbințeanu (Author)

    Abstract

    The present paper aims to highlight distinctive characteristics related to teaching and learning Romanian as a foreign language, specifically focusing on two categories of words: false-friends and identical-meaning pairs, where primary stress shifts between Romanian and English. We focus on describing the stress system in these two languages, with both differences and similarities. The proposal presents an analysis of words falling into these two categories and illustrates the nuances of stress variation. Being aware of the difficulties experienced by foreign students while learning Romanian, we suggest a series of didactic methods and activities that can be integrated into Romanian as a foreign language course. 

  • RSTVII-8

    Distanțe și interferențe – Ființe umane șianimale în literatura română contemporană

    Lavinia Tache (Author)

    Abstract

    Animals have been portrayed in world literature, taking various forms: anthropomorphized, through authors' voices conveying moral messages, or as anchors of vulnerability and power. Animals represent more than a human counterpart, since they appertain to an heterogenous category which is an essential part of the world we all find ourselves in creating a web of interdependent existences. Thus, recent theoretical approaches are divided according to the stringent need to reevaluate the relationships between man and animal. In this paper, I will focus on four studies: in Dominance and Affection (1984), Yi Fu Tuan is stressing the unequal connection between domestic animals and their owner; the vulnerability of humans who become prey for animals is described by Val Plumwood in The Eye of the Crocodile (2012); Matthew Calarco’s approach (2015) is inherited in two concepts – ‘identity’ and ‘difference’, that lead to ‘indistinction’, which proposes a greater degree of acknowledgment of the diversity that defines both human and animal worlds; the human condition is questioned by Roberto Marchesini in Over the Human. Post-humanism and the Concept of Animal Epiphany (2017). Therefore, the aim of the paper is the attempt to investigate whether contemporary Romanian literature can be correlated with an animal-oriented approach, by analyzing prose excerpts of writers such as Mircea Cărtărescu, Florin Lăzărescu, Veronica D. Niculescu, and others.

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