LINGUISTIC WELL-BEING (BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER THE PANDEMIC) (click to view)
Volume 2021-2(6), 116 pages
* Intro
* Contents
* Authors
* Reviewers
Linguistic well-being as tantamount to educational welfare
Students that do not engage linguistically in classroom activities â for whatever reasons – do not benefit from their education as much as they could. They miss out on numerous developmental opportunities, which frequently occurs at the cost of other students and also teachers themselves, too, since, as a result of such reticent studentsâ silence, numerous clever ideas and thoughts are lost. The COVID-19 pandemic has been the time during which the aftermath of studentsâ verbal absence has been experienced on a global scale. It has clearly shown that students lacking in linguistic well-being and remaining consistently speechless throughout their classes and lectures, being hidden behind their deactivated cameras, practically disappear and, subsequently, become likely to fall out of education altogether. In those situations when teachers managed to keep their students linguistically engaged (which tends to imply the latterâs emotional involvement, too), language has served as a kind of glue securing studentsâ contact with their school settings. However, in all these circumstances where the âglueâ in question was missing, students have become passive listeners often preoccupied with other online activities, in the light of which they gradually changed into passive outsiders, taking âadvantageâ of the fact that they could not be seen. Hence, at the end of the line lack of language and linguistic well-being have meant lack of education altogether.
This heavy reliance of education on language and linguistic well-being has caused teachers to ponder pedagogical phenomena and to reflect on affective and axiological issues much more than they normally do, with the typical focus being on the cognitive and psychomotor aspects of language. From this perspective it can be argued that the pandemic has had its âsilver liningâ in that it has the potential to mark something of a Copernican turn in how most teachers see the educational role of language and in what facets of language use teachers have come to emphasize in their attempts to maximize their studentsâ linguistic well-being, which can be presented by the following graph:
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As the pandemic has left no-one completely unaffected, under ERL Framework (within which ERL Journal is developed) we have sought our linguistic well-being, too. One of the new ways of keeping its members and other participants mentally sane is productive is the recently introduced (monthly) event called ERL Strokes, the idea of which is to exchange 2-minute âstrokesâ between different nations, professions, races, or ages, and in this way to foster interpersonal communication and good (but nearly forgotten) old practices of telling stories, jokes, riddles, and sharing interdisciplinary and/or everyday discoveries. The event has served to maintain and boost the participantsâ (âstrokersââ) linguistic well-being and has been attended by academics and university students, with the two groups sharing the need to communicate and experience new content through all kinds of social occasions. (The term âstrokesâ has been derived here from Eric Berneâs transactional analysis,, whereby strokes are defined as fundamental units of social action, and used in a wider sense as referring to different types of âverbal piecesâ which have something educational and/or entertaining in them and which can be easily be passed from mouth to mouth (and thus t exploit the educational role of language).
Accordingly, ERL Journalâs Volume 6 presents a pool of texts, which jointly constitute a reflection of which conceptual notions have remained in focus throughout the pandemic and how the search for linguistic well-being has proceeded. Specifically, we find papers addressing the emotional facet of online education, pedagogical aspects, preparedness, technological challenges, etc. The reading of papers indicates that the pandemic has come to constitute something of a pedagogical awakening in causing linguists to view reality in pedagogical terms (as well as the other way round). The volume is composed of two parts relating to the linguistic well-being of students and teachers, which is meant to emphasize that fact that issues relating to the eponymous concept pertain to all educational âplayersâ. The papers are complemented by two reports, one written by an academic and one by a student (again â for the sake of balance), both addressing spoken language as the medium particularly meaningful throughout the pandemic. Volume 6 follows Volume 5 (COVID-19 â A Source of Threat or Opportunities for Linguistic Education) in its focus on the pandemic and its educational implications. We do advise our readers to study the content of the preceding volume in order to see the progress of our knowledge and conclusions concerning the impact of pandemic on linguistic education, with Volume 6 offering, as opposed to Volume 5, more questions and viable solutions.
RECOGNIZING THE LINGUISTIC WEL-BEING OF STUDENTS
1. Milena Sazdovska-Pigulovska – Impact of online education on student emotional well-being
3. Thoralf Tews – EFL studentsâ reluctance to speak in the classroom â a lesson not learned?
APPRECIATING THE LINGUISTIC WELL-BEING OF EDUCATORS
5. Adrienn Fekete – Examining teachersâ well-being during the pandemic: a mixed methods study on teachersâ psychological, emotional and identity responses to online education
6. Ervin KovaÄeviÄ – Systems fail, technology disappoints, and relying on optimism is not enough: A short analysis of teacher wellbeing and digital learning solutions
7. Elena Kovacikova and Jana Hartanska – Preparedness of future English teachers as a prerequisite of their professional well-being
8. Zoi Apostolou and Konstantinos Lavidas – Greek preschool teacherâs views about language activities in early childhood education during Covidâ19. A chance for change?
9. Tijana Hirsch and Orly Kayam – âWhy are you here?â A hearing instructorâs journey into a deaf community of practice and discussions of family language policies
List of Volume 2021-2(6) Authors
List of Volume 2021-2(6) ReviewersÂ
Zoi Apostolou orcid.org/0000-0003-4359-397X: GREECE, University of Patras, Department of Educational Science and Early Childhood Education. Zoi has a PhD in Pedagogy of Literacy at the University of Patras. She is currently a kindergarten teacher and a researcher who holds a Master of Science degree in Educational Theories and Practices from the University in Patras and a second one in Models of design and development of educational units from the University of Aegean. Her research interests include literacy, educational programs, educational practices, language and methodology. apostolo@upatras.gr
 Adrienn Fekete orcid.org/0000-0003-1805-2426: HUNGARY, University of PĂ©cs, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Institute of English Studies. Dr. Fekete is an assistant professor at the University of PĂ©cs and holds a PhD degree in English Applied Linguistics and Teaching TESOL/TEFL. Her research interests include linguistic and cultural identity construction in SLA, the language learnerâs individual differences, and the study of complex dynamic systems theory in SLA and education. Her courses focus on teaching methodology, intercultural communication, individual differences in SLA, research methodology, educational drama, and translation studies. fekete.adrienn@pte.hu
 Jana Hartanska orcid.org/0000-0003-3335-1096: SLOVAKIA, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Faculty of Education. She is a teacher trainer and researcher at the Department of English Language and Culture with long experience in training English teachers. She is an author and co-author with a number of scientific papers and publications focusing on teaching and learning English as a foreign language, English language methodology and teaching practice. jhartanska@ukf.sk
 Tijana Hirsch orcid.org/0000-003-3492-778X: ISRAEL, Wingate Academic College. Tijana works in the Language and Literacy Department and focuses on family language policy and development of knowledge across online spaces. Her work is interdisciplinary in nature, bridging sociolinguistics and internet studies through online ethnographic work. She is particularly interested in transnational family language experiences and the aspect of temporality in language planning, management, and practices within the family. She is involved in numerous transnational projects focusing on language within the family domain, language education, and language socialization as traced within different online, usually communal spaces. tijana-h@wincol.ac.il
 Orly Kayam orcid.org/0000-0001-6422-0773: ISRAEL, Wingate Academic College. Orly works at the Language and Literacy department as a senior lecturer (Ph.D.) and an expert in language and rhetoric. Her primary research focuses on the rhetoric of contemporary world leaders, family language policy, and language use in social media networks. Her main goals are to reveal new trends in political and persuasive rhetoric, to examine the changes in contemporary political rhetoric and to explore the influence of social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. orly-ka@wincol.ac.il
 Elena Kovacikova orcid.org/0000-0002-3302-7141: SLOVAKIA, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Faculty of Education. She is a teacher trainer and researcher at the Department of English Language and Culture. She has been dealing with TEFL methodology, CLIL, mindfulness and creativity in teaching and learning English as a foreign language. She is an author and co-author of nine books, including the textbook Cool English School used at Slovak primary schools. ekovacikova@ukf.sk
 Ervin KovaÄeviÄ orcid.org/0000-0003-1262-071X: BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, International University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Ervin is a professor of applied linguistics in the English Language and Literature Program at the International University of Sarajevo. His major publications explore the relationships between language learning beliefs, strategies, and measures of linguistic complexity. His current research focuses on the principles, which underlie personal foreign language teaching models. He is the author of Teaching Adult Language Learners: Enhancing Personal Methodologies available at Amazon.com. ekovacevic@ius.edu.ba
 Konstantinos Lavidas orcid.org/0000-0003-2225-1137: GREECE, University of Patras, Research and Laboratory Teaching Staff at the Department of Educational Science and Early Childhood Education. He holds a PhD in mathematics education and teaches methodology educational research and statistics. His research interests focus on methodology in educational research, statistics education, ICT use in the teaching and learning of mathematics, and STEM education. lavidas@upatras.gr
 SlaÄana MariÄ orcid.org/0000-0002-9270-7016: SERBIA, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Philosophy. SlaÄana graduated in Music Pedagogy and English Language Philology and completed her doctoral studies in Teaching Methodology. She has working experience in music subjects and English language teaching in professional music and ballet educational settings. Her main research interests are teaching methodology, second language teaching and learning, English in Professional Music Education (EPME), multilingualism, educational technology, and specialized translation of texts in music and opera. She presented research in international conferences in Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Malta, Poland, and Serbia and published more than twenty articles in peer-reviewed journals and international publications. She contributed with research within the national project entitled âDigital Media Technologies and Socio-economical Changesâ (III47020, 2014 – 2019) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. SlaÄana speaks Serbian, English, Italian and Greek language. She is an editorial board member of the Educational Role of Language Journal (2019-2021) and a member of EDEN Digital Learning Europe: Europe (2021). sladjana.maric@ff.uns.ac.rs
 Luisito Nanquil orcid.org/0000-0001-8501-0731: THE PHILIPPINES, Bulacan State University. Dr. Nanquil is an associate professor who has been teaching language and literature for many years. His research interests are TESOL, educational leadership, language and culture, curriculum and instructional design, and educational linguistics. He holds doctorate degrees in Educational Leadership and English Language Studies. Furthermore, he obtained TESOL Diplomas from London Teacher Training College and Concordia International College. luisito.nanquil@bulsu.edu.ph
 Milena Sazdovska Pigulovska orcid.org/0000-0001-9227-4815: NORTH MACEDONIA, Ss. Cyril and Methodious University, Faculty of Philology. Milena works at the Department of Translation and Interpreting as an associate professor. She holds a Ph.D. degree in Translatology. Her key interests involve translation and interpreting, contrastive linguistics, terminology, English for specific purposes, emotional intelligence for translators and interpreters, translation tools and experiential learning. Her key projects involve âPossibilities for Fostering Emotional Intelligence as a Generic Competence for Translation and Interpreting Studentsâ (2016-2018) in cooperation with âKarl Franzens UniversitĂ€tâ – Graz, Austria, âModernization of Teaching Methods and Techniques for Terminology Courses at Interdisciplinary Translation and Interpreting Studiesâ (2020-2021) supported by UKIM. milena.sazdovska@flf.ukim.edu.mkÂ
Thoralf Tews orcid.org/0000-0002-3921-187: GERMANY, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University of Hannover. After obtaining his Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science, Thoralf is currently working on his Master of Education in English and Politics-Economics. He is looking forward to a career in secondary education and is mostly interested in educational studies, especially practical didactics, socio-economic influences on educational outcomes and philosophy on the organization of education. In 2020, he volunteered in the German project #LernenVernetzt, hosting an introduction to a web conferencing system for primary school teachers. thoralf.tews@gmail.com
Amir BegiÄ (Croatia, University of Osijek)
Luka Bonetti (Croatia, University of Zagreb)
Irem Comoglu (Turkey, Dokuz Eytul University)
Anita Dremel (Croatia, University of Osijek)
Rebecca Giles (USA, University of South Alabama)
Daiva JakavonytÄ-StaĆĄkuvienÄ (Lithuania, Vytautas Magnus University Education Academy)
Marina Olujic Tomazin (Croatia, University of Zagreb)
Zeljko Pavic (Croatia, University of Osijek)
Danica Pirsl (Serbia, University of Nis)
Sanja Simel PranjiÄ (Croatia, University of Osijek)
Agnieszka Szplit (Poland, Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce)
Gertrud Tarp (Denmark, Aalborg University)
Alina Tenesceu (Romania, University of Craiova)
Senka ĆœiĆŸanoviÄ (Croatia, University of Osijek)