Category: Comments & Discussion Points
-
“Open access: six myths to put to rest”
Since writing my post on Open Access, this article by Peter Suber, the director of the Harvard Office for Scholarly Communication, was brought to my attention. In response to what are described as six “common and harmful misunderstandings about open access”, the author notes that: 1. (Gold) Open Access journals are not the only venue for providing…
-
Open Access: Some facts and some thoughts
Some key concepts about Open Access publishing.
-
Language revitalisation
That the English language is dominating international communication is hardly news. As if more confirmation was needed, recently the European Parliament introduced a new helpline, where Members of the European Parliament and staff can find answers to the finer points of English grammar and style. This is hardly a negative development, but the lack of…
-
My paper, my way :)
Starting this July, all academic journals published by Elsevier will adopt the “Your paper, your way” policy that has been piloted since mid-2011. The policy is pretty much what the name says: contributors to any journal are welcome to submit papers in any format they choose, rather than have to adhere to the preferred styles of…
-
Oppressive language education
In recent years, Modern Foreign Languages in Greece have been taught in accordance with the ‘mother language+two’ policy, which has held that learners should receive instruction in two modern foreign languages, namely English plus one of the following: French, German, Italian or Spanish. I have, in the past, expressed reservations regarding the selection of these…
-
Teaching English to Very Young Learners in Greece: When research findings don’t align
In this post I compare a small-study I conducted with the findings of the Greek TEYL project. Various explanations are considered, regarding the differences in our findings.
-
“Is English a foreign language” in Greece?
English is often considered a foreign language in Greece, but this distinction may need rethinking in a globalized world. The role of English in Greek society blurs the line between foreign and second language education, influencing curriculum design and teacher education. The prominence of English in daily communication and branding implies a need for a…
-
Restructuring Higher Education, the Greek way
People familiar with Higher Education in Greece may have heard of the ambitious ministerial plan to restructure tertiary institutions. The plan, which goes by the evocative name Athena (after the Ancient Greek goddess of wisdom), aims to reduce the geographical overdispersal of educational institutions and stimulate academic excellence, we are told. We are also told…
-
Publish and perish
“How many points would Louis Pasteur, Henri Poincaré, Claude Shannon, Tim Berners-Lee and others nowadays earn within the new academic evaluation system?” The latest issue of Computer Assisted Language Learning carries a thought-provoking editorial on the “publish or perish” syndrome. Jozef Colpaert, the editor, argues that the evaluation practices currently in place in the academe are ultimately…