anca maican | Transilvania Brasov (original) (raw)
Papers by anca maican
IGI Global, 2024
Career adaptability is a soft skill that allows people to cope with professional tasks in an unpr... more Career adaptability is a soft skill that allows people to cope with professional tasks in an unpredictable labor market. Today's global labor market also requires language skills to facilitate employees' collaboration across linguistic boundaries. The chapter is built around a quantitative study with participants from a large public university in the southeastern part of Central Europe, and it aims to analyze the connection between career adaptability, foreign languages, and personal traits. The results show significant gender differences regarding adaptability and the perceived role of foreign languages for employability and in one's career development, all in favor of girls. Concerning students' status as employed/unemployed, the tendencies regard only unemployed students' stronger confidence in and lower concern with the future. Career adaptability is predicted by foreign language anxiety, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and self-perceived FL proficiency. Some implications for teachers are presented at the end of the chapter.
Advances in educational technologies and instructional design book series, Jun 23, 2023
Advances in educational technologies and instructional design book series, Jun 23, 2023
Computers in Human Behavior
The present paper focuses on teaching business English at university level, given the place of th... more The present paper focuses on teaching business English at university level, given the place of the English language in the European Union and the general objective to have a common European higher education area. The paper is divided into four parts: the first part presents some aspects related to foreign languages in Europe and the advantages they offer on an increasingly dynamic labour market, the second part gives an overview of business English in some Romanian and European universities offering programmes of study in economics, the third part makes reference to the competences that students in economics should develop during their undergraduate and graduate studies and to the challenges involved, while the last part presents some conclusions.
Starting from the assumption that writing is an invaluable tool in business communication, the pr... more Starting from the assumption that writing is an invaluable tool in business communication, the present paper aims at looking into ways of enhancing business writing skills in English for economics undergraduates. The paper is divided into three main parts: the first part introduces the challenges of teaching Business English; the second part focuses on additional challenges brought about by teaching writing in a foreign language, while the last part presents the characteristics of a writing course currently piloted on undergraduate students of the Faculty of Economic Sciences, Transilvania University of Brasov.
The paper aims at giving an overview of the Romanian prose at the beginning of the 1960's, a ... more The paper aims at giving an overview of the Romanian prose at the beginning of the 1960's, a period which exhibits both socialist-realist features and neo-modernist ones. Focus is given to the concept of literary generation, the political climate of the period and the peculiarities of the first wave of the resurrection of the Romanian prose.
The present paper aims at providing an insight into the benefits that content and language integr... more The present paper aims at providing an insight into the benefits that content and language integrated learning (CLIL) can bring to the teaching of business English in higher education, given the place of the English language in the European Union and the competitive advantages it offers on the international labour market. The first part of the paper puts emphasis on some historical facts related to CLIL, presents the EU position with respect to this teaching approach and introduces its characteristics. The second part shows how, in the absence of the dual-focus CLIL, this methodology can be adapted and successfully integrated in business English classes, by applying the four elements of the CLIL conceptual framework: content, communication, culture and cognition.
The present paper aims at offering an overview on the dialectic relationship author-reader in the... more The present paper aims at offering an overview on the dialectic relationship author-reader in the 7 th decade of the last century, a period in which the Romanian literature began to outwit the compulsions of socialist- realism, as a new literary paradigm was progressively gaining ground, i.e. the neo-modernism. Drawing on bibliographical sources belonging to established narratologists, but also to outstanding Romanian literary critics and historians, we intend to synthesise the main features underlying four important elements of any prose fiction, i.e. the concrete author, the abstract author, the concrete reader and the abstract reader, as well as their relationship with the main subversive strategies prose writers resorted to during the aforementioned period.
The present paper aims at giving an overview of the particular features of teaching English to st... more The present paper aims at giving an overview of the particular features of teaching English to students in tourism, a field which has seen a considerable development over the recent period. The paper is divided into four parts: the first part offers an introduction to the importance of English in this field and an overall presentation of the target population; the second part focuses on the four categories of competences that teachers should develop during the foreign language class; the third part makes reference to the teaching materials to be used with a view to enhancing students’ language proficiency; the last part presents some possible challenges language teachers and their students have to cope with to successfully accomplish the learning objectives.
Journal of Organizational and End User Computing
Over the recent years, online communication and collaboration applications have been extensively ... more Over the recent years, online communication and collaboration applications have been extensively used in teaching, learning, and research. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the attitudes and perceptions of higher education students concerning these applications and their use in learning activities. The research was conducted on 748 Romanian students. The findings have revealed that social networks represent the main category of communication and collaboration applications used for learning purposes. Additionally, gender-induced differences have been found, as well as variances among undergraduates and graduates by several dimensions of the unified technology acceptance model, while students' learning engagement proved to mediate the relationship between personality traits, technology self-efficacy, and the use of collaboration tools. The paper also offers a comparative analysis between the students' and the academics' responses to the use of online communicatio...
Sustainability
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the online learning of foreign languages at higher education level ... more During the COVID-19 pandemic, the online learning of foreign languages at higher education level has represented a way to adapt to the restrictions imposed worldwide. The aim of the present article is to analyse university students’ behaviours, emotions and perceptions associated to online foreign language learning during the pandemic and their correlates by using a mixed approach. The research used the Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) scale and tools developed by the authors, focusing on task value, self-perceived foreign language proficiency, stressors and responses in online foreign language learning during the pandemic. Some of the results, such as the negative association between anxiety and FLE, are consistent with those revealed in studies conducted in normal times. Other results are novel, such as the protective role of retrospective enjoyment in trying times or the higher level of enjoyment with lower-achieving students. Reference is made to students’ preferences for certai...
Children and Youth Services Review
Abstract The ownership of smartphones has become usual, research showing associations between sma... more Abstract The ownership of smartphones has become usual, research showing associations between smartphone usage, addiction, and the users' individual characteristics. Our first objective is to examine the short form of Smartphone Addiction Scale. We also aimed to examine the relationships between smartphone addiction and the use of various smartphone applications. The findings show that the Smartphone Addiction Scale has good psychometric qualities. The number of hours spent using the smartphone, its general use, the positive attitudes towards it and the anxiety without technology mediate the relation between personality traits and the risk for addiction. Neuroticism, openness and conscientiousness predict the risk for smartphone addiction negatively. Although the present research is conducted in a new cultural context, the findings confirm several privious studies. The usefulness of technology cannot be challenged, but we believe it is necessary to pay more attention to the young people in lower educational cycles to prevent the excessive use of smartphones.
SERIES V - ECONOMIC SCIENCES
The purpose of the present paper is to offer an overview of the language policies proposed by the... more The purpose of the present paper is to offer an overview of the language policies proposed by the Council of Europe and the European Commission and implemented at European level over the last decades. In this context, reference is going to be made to the language competences that students are expected to have at the end of the cycles of education, with emphasis on higher education, as well as to teaching methods which have proven to be particularly efficient as regards languages for specific purposes.
IGI Global, 2024
Career adaptability is a soft skill that allows people to cope with professional tasks in an unpr... more Career adaptability is a soft skill that allows people to cope with professional tasks in an unpredictable labor market. Today's global labor market also requires language skills to facilitate employees' collaboration across linguistic boundaries. The chapter is built around a quantitative study with participants from a large public university in the southeastern part of Central Europe, and it aims to analyze the connection between career adaptability, foreign languages, and personal traits. The results show significant gender differences regarding adaptability and the perceived role of foreign languages for employability and in one's career development, all in favor of girls. Concerning students' status as employed/unemployed, the tendencies regard only unemployed students' stronger confidence in and lower concern with the future. Career adaptability is predicted by foreign language anxiety, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and self-perceived FL proficiency. Some implications for teachers are presented at the end of the chapter.
Advances in educational technologies and instructional design book series, Jun 23, 2023
Advances in educational technologies and instructional design book series, Jun 23, 2023
Computers in Human Behavior
The present paper focuses on teaching business English at university level, given the place of th... more The present paper focuses on teaching business English at university level, given the place of the English language in the European Union and the general objective to have a common European higher education area. The paper is divided into four parts: the first part presents some aspects related to foreign languages in Europe and the advantages they offer on an increasingly dynamic labour market, the second part gives an overview of business English in some Romanian and European universities offering programmes of study in economics, the third part makes reference to the competences that students in economics should develop during their undergraduate and graduate studies and to the challenges involved, while the last part presents some conclusions.
Starting from the assumption that writing is an invaluable tool in business communication, the pr... more Starting from the assumption that writing is an invaluable tool in business communication, the present paper aims at looking into ways of enhancing business writing skills in English for economics undergraduates. The paper is divided into three main parts: the first part introduces the challenges of teaching Business English; the second part focuses on additional challenges brought about by teaching writing in a foreign language, while the last part presents the characteristics of a writing course currently piloted on undergraduate students of the Faculty of Economic Sciences, Transilvania University of Brasov.
The paper aims at giving an overview of the Romanian prose at the beginning of the 1960's, a ... more The paper aims at giving an overview of the Romanian prose at the beginning of the 1960's, a period which exhibits both socialist-realist features and neo-modernist ones. Focus is given to the concept of literary generation, the political climate of the period and the peculiarities of the first wave of the resurrection of the Romanian prose.
The present paper aims at providing an insight into the benefits that content and language integr... more The present paper aims at providing an insight into the benefits that content and language integrated learning (CLIL) can bring to the teaching of business English in higher education, given the place of the English language in the European Union and the competitive advantages it offers on the international labour market. The first part of the paper puts emphasis on some historical facts related to CLIL, presents the EU position with respect to this teaching approach and introduces its characteristics. The second part shows how, in the absence of the dual-focus CLIL, this methodology can be adapted and successfully integrated in business English classes, by applying the four elements of the CLIL conceptual framework: content, communication, culture and cognition.
The present paper aims at offering an overview on the dialectic relationship author-reader in the... more The present paper aims at offering an overview on the dialectic relationship author-reader in the 7 th decade of the last century, a period in which the Romanian literature began to outwit the compulsions of socialist- realism, as a new literary paradigm was progressively gaining ground, i.e. the neo-modernism. Drawing on bibliographical sources belonging to established narratologists, but also to outstanding Romanian literary critics and historians, we intend to synthesise the main features underlying four important elements of any prose fiction, i.e. the concrete author, the abstract author, the concrete reader and the abstract reader, as well as their relationship with the main subversive strategies prose writers resorted to during the aforementioned period.
The present paper aims at giving an overview of the particular features of teaching English to st... more The present paper aims at giving an overview of the particular features of teaching English to students in tourism, a field which has seen a considerable development over the recent period. The paper is divided into four parts: the first part offers an introduction to the importance of English in this field and an overall presentation of the target population; the second part focuses on the four categories of competences that teachers should develop during the foreign language class; the third part makes reference to the teaching materials to be used with a view to enhancing students’ language proficiency; the last part presents some possible challenges language teachers and their students have to cope with to successfully accomplish the learning objectives.
Journal of Organizational and End User Computing
Over the recent years, online communication and collaboration applications have been extensively ... more Over the recent years, online communication and collaboration applications have been extensively used in teaching, learning, and research. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the attitudes and perceptions of higher education students concerning these applications and their use in learning activities. The research was conducted on 748 Romanian students. The findings have revealed that social networks represent the main category of communication and collaboration applications used for learning purposes. Additionally, gender-induced differences have been found, as well as variances among undergraduates and graduates by several dimensions of the unified technology acceptance model, while students' learning engagement proved to mediate the relationship between personality traits, technology self-efficacy, and the use of collaboration tools. The paper also offers a comparative analysis between the students' and the academics' responses to the use of online communicatio...
Sustainability
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the online learning of foreign languages at higher education level ... more During the COVID-19 pandemic, the online learning of foreign languages at higher education level has represented a way to adapt to the restrictions imposed worldwide. The aim of the present article is to analyse university students’ behaviours, emotions and perceptions associated to online foreign language learning during the pandemic and their correlates by using a mixed approach. The research used the Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) scale and tools developed by the authors, focusing on task value, self-perceived foreign language proficiency, stressors and responses in online foreign language learning during the pandemic. Some of the results, such as the negative association between anxiety and FLE, are consistent with those revealed in studies conducted in normal times. Other results are novel, such as the protective role of retrospective enjoyment in trying times or the higher level of enjoyment with lower-achieving students. Reference is made to students’ preferences for certai...
Children and Youth Services Review
Abstract The ownership of smartphones has become usual, research showing associations between sma... more Abstract The ownership of smartphones has become usual, research showing associations between smartphone usage, addiction, and the users' individual characteristics. Our first objective is to examine the short form of Smartphone Addiction Scale. We also aimed to examine the relationships between smartphone addiction and the use of various smartphone applications. The findings show that the Smartphone Addiction Scale has good psychometric qualities. The number of hours spent using the smartphone, its general use, the positive attitudes towards it and the anxiety without technology mediate the relation between personality traits and the risk for addiction. Neuroticism, openness and conscientiousness predict the risk for smartphone addiction negatively. Although the present research is conducted in a new cultural context, the findings confirm several privious studies. The usefulness of technology cannot be challenged, but we believe it is necessary to pay more attention to the young people in lower educational cycles to prevent the excessive use of smartphones.
SERIES V - ECONOMIC SCIENCES
The purpose of the present paper is to offer an overview of the language policies proposed by the... more The purpose of the present paper is to offer an overview of the language policies proposed by the Council of Europe and the European Commission and implemented at European level over the last decades. In this context, reference is going to be made to the language competences that students are expected to have at the end of the cycles of education, with emphasis on higher education, as well as to teaching methods which have proven to be particularly efficient as regards languages for specific purposes.