Bahram Behin
Abstract
In this editorial, the segregationalist view of academic disciplines is criticized and the transdisciplinary nature of studies in language education is highlighted. No doubt knowledge of teaching methods, such as those invented according to the expertise in the 70s and 80s, for instance, can be regarded ...
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In this editorial, the segregationalist view of academic disciplines is criticized and the transdisciplinary nature of studies in language education is highlighted. No doubt knowledge of teaching methods, such as those invented according to the expertise in the 70s and 80s, for instance, can be regarded as tools in a teacher’s workshop, but they seem rather outdated in the frenzy of rapid changes the world is experiencing. Today’s need in knowledge, from a rather Arnoldian perspective, is not mechanical knowledge; what is needed is getting closer to people and study them within the context of culture and context of situation, elements which are not regarded as stable anymore and without which any study would be a decontextualized event meaningless to the proponents of cultural turns. An interesting point in this topic is that in Arnold’s view of culture our knowledge of culture should result in knowledge of ourselves and of the world. In the same vein, Kumaravadivelu should take the first step in the formulation of his model for language teacher education towards determining a sense of Self, the concept of “teacher identity” in his model. And if for Arnold literature is the best that has been thought and said in the world, the concept “disciplinarity” in English language education should change and give way to “interdisciplinarity”, “transdisciplinartiy”, or any term or concept that would bring in the complexities of the world to the field.
Abstract
JALDA has been officially recognized as a Scientific Grade B Journal by Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology recently. A main interest of the Journal lies in the contextualized sense of science; the studies should take place in real world contexts and they should be intended to help ...
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JALDA has been officially recognized as a Scientific Grade B Journal by Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology recently. A main interest of the Journal lies in the contextualized sense of science; the studies should take place in real world contexts and they should be intended to help solve everyday problems. The fields of applied linguistics and applied literature create the scope of the Journal for the purpose of coming into close encounter with the problems researchers may experience in their everyday lives both within and without school; they are encouraged to use their expertise, even in an interdisciplinary mode, to tackle issues that hinder their subjects and people on their way to success and improvement. From such a perspective, the decontextuzlized selection and reading of a literary text, for instance, may not be regarded as fruitful. There are stories by both teachers and researchers about how the “literary taste” of students at rural areas of our country differ radically from the taste of those from urbanized areas. Should the students be introduced to the same material in their English language and literature courses? JALDA prefers to consider the diversity in the world and it intends to publish the findings that help show how new ways are sought for improvements in the fields. This results from a sense of protecting the world and its diversity we experience in our everyday lives while, thanks to access to the technology, complicated (conspiracy) theories spread faster than any biological virus could to keep us far from one another and from the real world.
Bahram Behin
Abstract
A new vocabulary item has been added to English dictionaries: Covid-19. For linguists, the addition of a meaningful linguistic element to any language should change the whole language as, for T. S. Eliot, a new poem changes the whole literature of a nation. But let us see how seriously the addition of ...
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A new vocabulary item has been added to English dictionaries: Covid-19. For linguists, the addition of a meaningful linguistic element to any language should change the whole language as, for T. S. Eliot, a new poem changes the whole literature of a nation. But let us see how seriously the addition of the vocabulary item Covid-19 might change the English language. According to Cambridge online dictionary, Covid-19 is “an infectious disease caused by a coronavirus (= a type of virus), that usually causes fever, tiredness, and a cough, and can also cause breathing problems. I do not think that the change brought about by the item is a radical one especially when the definition claims that most often the disease caused by the virus is not serious! (I wonder whether there is a Newspeak type conspiracy going on!) But when one turns to the “real world,” the situation turns out to be extremely serious: Not only has Covid-19 brought the whole world almost to a total stop, but it has also been the cause of many deaths all over the world. People have died, families have lost their breadwinners, doctors and nurses have been affected and died while on duty and we are still on the verge of being affected by the virus everyday if the necessary safety measures are not taken. Millions have lost their jobs and economies are on the verge of collapse. Governments are keen to see their state enemies crush under the heavy burdens by Covid-19 upon their economies and medical systems! Schools are shut down and much more other factual events can be added to these, all of which lead many to claim that in the post-Covid-19 era peoples’ behaviours should change.
Bahram Behin
Abstract
Applied Literature, however, does not have literature at its centre. Literature in this domain is a tool to solve problems and achieve goals. Using literature to teach and learn languages, the application of literature to language education, is a very handy example. Health Humanities (by Crawford, et ...
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Applied Literature, however, does not have literature at its centre. Literature in this domain is a tool to solve problems and achieve goals. Using literature to teach and learn languages, the application of literature to language education, is a very handy example. Health Humanities (by Crawford, et al. and reviewed by A. Ramazani in our Journal's previous issue) comprises chapters on how literature can be used for health purposes. Medical Humanities is introduced as “the engagement of medicine with the humanities and arts, social sciences, health policy, medical education, patient experience and the public at large.” A shift is observable here from pure objective scientific endeavour based on the segregation of seemingly unrelated fields to the integration of them for more practical purposes.The role attributed to the public at large in these equations demands careful consideration. In traditional literary studies, as stated above, the textuality of literature is central. But in Applied Literature the text is no longer our precious object. Some reader-oriented literary theories have shifted our attentionradically from the text to the reader. In these theories, the literary critic is no longer the sole source of justification and interpretation of literature.Determining the literariness of the text and its interpretation lies with the reader. This might eventually lead to the well-beingness of the reader, which, once achieved, fulfils the applied literature critic’s wish! Thus, those with inclination towards the reader in literary studies may have an affinitywith applied literature critics that move towards the public at large.
