ENGLISH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

BIP, BIP, BIP

For Romanian speakers BIP is the onomatopoeic representation of a digitally produced call for attention from our smart phones. However, in English it may have numerous other meanings as, for example, Blended Intensive Programme. Which is a programme under the larger ERASMUS+ umbrella. A BIP is made up of “short, intensive programmes that use innovative ways of learning and teaching, including the use of online cooperation”.

The Department of Modern Languages and Business Communication in our university organized such a BIP aiming at improving academic communication with a focus on the latest developments in the digital age and networking. More details on the programme are here.

What I am going to highlight here, however, are the things that are not usually seen, but without which no programme can come into existence and also the interactions that go beyond the usual bureaucratic ticking of activities on an evaluation form.

What I mean is that beyond the institutions and departments involved there is usually an engine, a power force, to drive such programmes into existence, to make them happen in a meaningful way, to draw people together and show them the benefits of participating in such events. This power force is in this case Professor Laura Mureșan to whom we all have to be grateful for her extraordinary energy and commitment to make things come into being in professional and relevant ways to all the participants. Besides our university, the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, the organizer of the BIP, the following universities were partners in this BIP: University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain; University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland; University of Technology and Economics (UTH), Warsaw, Poland and University of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia.

Some pictures from the event are here.

I was happy to be invited by Laura to share my experience of digital communication with the rest of the participants. I accepted and I almost immediately regretted it having seen the range of topics and expertise that the programme rallied during this week. And particularly since my presentation came after that of Professor Carmen Pérez-Llantada who offered us a state-of-the-art review of Digital Genres and Practices in which she gave us an accurate survey of the theoretical issues in the field as well as of the pedagogical implications that they incur.

Well, as it very often happens personal inputs, especially our anxieties and even struggles, are usually appreciated because they show we all have to deal with trial and error, impostor syndrome and almost nothing comes easy in research and in teaching. I therefore ended up being happy for participating in this worthwhile event, seeing my former colleagues and meeting new people. The joy of participation and listening to other researchers’ endeavours is so important to our own development. This is why I always like to learn about what happens in the world around me.

As very often in this type of situations I am amazed at the humility of the really great iconic figures of a field of study, such as applied linguistics, and the discipline and good conference manners that they have. Carmen Pérez-Llantada is such an extraordinary person who generously encourages people (young or not so young) to approach the field and to advance the construction of knowledge in our D VUCA-D times. It is both a great opportunity and a pleasure to listen to her sense making of a world that seems crazy, of the creative ways researchers generate and communicate knowledge, how they build new identities and how they evaluate research and pedagogical outputs. It is also a great learning experience to listen and reflect on the wise questions she raises.

ENGLISH, ENTREPRENEURSHIP. LEADERSHIP. BUSINESS, WORD OF MOUTH

Theory or practice?

Hmmm, not easy to answer. Yet most people would instinctively go for practice. So, here’s what Jeff Bezos said about competition in 1997 “We do work to pay attention to competitors and be inspired by them, but it is a fact that the customer-centric way is at this point a defining element of our culture.”

Wow! “at this point” he says. In other words, “we may change”.

He advocates a Day 1 culture = an entrepreneurial mindset and there’s a lot to it. Google it and you’ll see.

And he also bans PowerPoints in his executive meetings. What? We all know how powerful ppt is – when well done and used!

However, Bezos says that it doesn’t help thinking, and thinking is crucial in decision making! So, narrative memos are what he wants. And the meetings start in silence, everybody reading (and making notes) the memos. Why?

“… the narrative structure of a good memo forces better thought and better understanding of what’s more important than what, and how things are related.”

“PowerPoint-style presentations somehow give permission to gloss over ideas, flatten out any sense of relative importance, and ignore the interconnectedness of ideas.”

Conclusion: “a list of bullet points in Word (…) would be just as bad as PowerPoint”.

I’m obviously thinking of how we mostly teach today in universities. We use powerpoints because we learnt from books, not articles, not summaries, not ppts. Yet this is how we encourage our students to learn. Not we as individuals, we as systems.

ENGLISH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, LIFE, WORD OF MOUTH

On plagues and other … hopes

This is a long, but rewarding story. It can be also listened to. While you do your walking around your flat, or do something else than watch some kind of … screen.

Every story of an epidemic is a story of illiteracy, language made powerless, man made brute. A plague, says Jill Lepore, the author, is like a lobotomy. It cuts away the higher realms, the loftiest capacities of humanity, and leaves only the animal.

Every plague novel is a parable of the human condition. Albert Camus defined the novel as the place where humans are abandoned to other humans. Lepore goes on saying that in plague novels all human beings abandon all other human beings. She quotes some wise words from Camus, particularly doctor Rieux’ thoughts at the end: “He knew what those jubilant crowds did not know but could have learned from books: that the plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good . . . and that perhaps the day would come when, for the bane and the enlightening of men, it would rouse up its rats again and send them forth to die in a happy city.”

The conclusion is that men will always become, again, rats. If you think that is bleak, think again. I just cut out the parts I wanted from this story so I might be wrong. Plus, there’s always hope in the wisdom of books. And we do change the world as we do our best to survive. Even though Riux “knew that the tale he had to tell could not be one of a final victory. It could be only the record of what had had to be done, and what assuredly would have to be done again in the never ending fight against terror and its relentless onslaughts, despite their personal afflictions, by all who, while unable to be saints but refusing to bow down to pestilences, strive their utmost to be healers.”

Listen or read – there’s no better time as now. And even read “The Plague” by Camus.