Papers by Oana-Maria Pastae
Journal of Linguistic Intercultural Education, Apr 30, 2019
The purpose of this paper is to study how ‘joy’, an emotional concept, is metaphorised in English... more The purpose of this paper is to study how ‘joy’, an emotional concept, is metaphorised in English from a cognitive perspective. It introduces the theoretical framework of Cognitive Linguistics, then briefly touches upon the definition of metaphor, the different types of conceptual metaphors and, finally, the conceptual metaphors of ‘joy’. We think in metaphors, which we learn very early. Our conceptual system, in terms of what we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature (Lakoff, & Johnson 2003: 8). Lakoff and Johnson’s book Metaphors we live by changed the way linguists thought about metaphor. Conceptual Metaphor Theory was one of the earliest theoretical frameworks identified as part of the cognitive semantics enterprise and provided much of the early theoretical impetus for the cognitive approach. The basic premise of Conceptual Metaphor Theory is that metaphor is not simply a stylistic feature of language, but that thought itself is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. The cognitive model of joy can be described using the example of Lakoff for anger: JOY IS A FLUID IN A CONTAINER: She was bursting with joy; JOY IS HEAT/FIRE: Fires of joy were kindled by the birth of her son; joy is a natural force: I was overwhelmed by joy; JOY IS A SOCIAL SUPERIOR: If I ruled the world by joy; JOY IS AN OPPONENT: She was seized by joy; joy is a captive animal: All joy broke loose as the kids opened their presents; JOY IS INSANITY: The crowd went crazy with joy; JOY IS A FORCE DISLOCATING THE SELF: He was beside himself with joy.
Journal of Romanian Literary Studies, 2018
The study aims at investigating the verbal collocations of joy which seems a good representative ... more The study aims at investigating the verbal collocations of joy which seems a good representative of the abstract nouns category. We conduct a semantic analysis of collocates in order to find the source of joy, the power of joy on his experiencer and the ability to control the joy. Our study is based on the analysis of a corpus comprising all uses of the word joy in different monolingual dictionaries and we also used a corpus in electronic form-GlossaNet-including examples of online media. We focus our study on the compatibility of the word joy with support verbs, causative verbs and verbs of physical manifestation, taking into consideration the description of their syntactic and semantic properties.
The present article analyses different senses of the polysemous category MOUTH. Metaphor and meto... more The present article analyses different senses of the polysemous category MOUTH. Metaphor and metonymy are the two basic mechanisms for sense extension. Our aim is to describe the different but related senses of the category MOUTH in order to find out its prototypical sense towards the peripheral senses. Humans" body parts are highly polysemous and most of their senses are metonymically extended from the prototypical sense. The treatment of polysemous categories in cognitive linguistics involves a viewing meaning/sense as categorization, recognizing the importance of context for meaning/senses and taking into account the encyclopedic knowledge, and incorporating prototype theory into linguistics.
Polysemy is an important issue in Natural Language Processing and a strong language evolution pro... more Polysemy is an important issue in Natural Language Processing and a strong language evolution process. For instance, in French, the meaning of the verb "descendre" (to get down) change with the context : Il descend l’escalier (to go down) ; La mer descend (to decrease) ; Il descend en soi-même (to analyse himself) ; Il a été descendu par un boulet à Waterloo (to be killed). For dealing with the problem of polysemy we chose Victorri’s and Fuch’s model, "Dynamical construction of meaning". In this model, each polysemic unit is assigned a semantic space and the meaning of an unit in a particular sentence is the result of a dynamical interaction with all other units of the sentence. We briefly describe the theoretical framework, the dynamical construction of meaning, then we present the semantic space of the verb "descendre" and discuss its relevance and utility.
The coronavirus pandemic forced universities to move fully or partially online and use online pla... more The coronavirus pandemic forced universities to move fully or partially online and use online platforms for teaching and learning. This study explores student reflections on online learning compared to face-to-face learning at the Romanian and Slovak universities. A quantitative analysis was conducted on 118 students. The study found that the majority of students expressed their satisfaction with online learning. They considered their online English courses well-structured and clear. Moreover, they perceived they could learn English more effectively online because the classes were more interactive and the online platforms provided plenty of opportunities to practice all skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking. Most of them appreciated their English online classes due to the variability of learning materials, methods and activities, the comfort, the novelty and attractivity, the support of learner's independence and of speaking confidence. Concerning face-to-face classes, they predominantly appreciated the efficiency, fewer distractions, better interaction and communication, fewer health issues caused by the sedentary lifestyle, more social contact, loss of technical issues, familiarity and better motivation.
Athens Journal of Philology, Feb 15, 2023
This article focuses on the effectiveness of online teaching in the academic environment and outl... more This article focuses on the effectiveness of online teaching in the academic environment and outlines the research method, data collection, and instrument development used in the study. The survey seeks to explore students' perceptions of online learning usage, frequency, and overall satisfaction at the "Constantin Brancusi" University, the Faculty of Medical and Behavioural Sciences, carefully considering their experience and performance in order to determine whether online teaching is a viable substitute for face-to-face teaching. It was found that students liked the online experience and most viewed the Internet as a rich source of information and authentic materials having offered more resources in the online environment than in face-to-face, but a few things need to be changed such as new investments in course design, instructor support, and course evaluations. Research suggests that teachers were prepared for the online teaching and most students had almost the same outcomes in the online environment as in the face-to-face format.
PĂSTAE Oana-Maria, 2021
Task-based language teaching (TBLT) emerged from CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) and has be... more Task-based language teaching (TBLT) emerged from CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) and has been developing since the 1980s as an approach that centers class time on a pedagogical task. It is a good way to get students engaged and is widely applied in online teaching due to the fact that courses are being redefined. This approach leads to serious improvements in language performance by changing the focus from the grammar drilling lessons to more communicative ones where the students actively communicate and interact in groups or pairs in breakout rooms. CLT used the basic procedure of present-practice-produce (PPP) and TBLT starts with the production phase and ends with the presentation phase, notes J. Willis (1996), one of the foremost supporters of TBLT. Our study briefly summarizes the historical background of TBLT, reviewing recent literature relating to the topic, defining the task and explaining the steps for a successful task-based online teaching activity. We also discuss the ideal framework of TBLT that consists of the pre-task, the task and the language focus and highlight its advantages in synchronous, online teaching interaction.
Oana-Maria PASTAE, 2022
This article focuses on the effectiveness of online teaching in the academic environment and outl... more This article focuses on the effectiveness of online teaching in the academic environment and outlines the research method, data collection, and instrument development used in the study. The survey seeks to explore students' perceptions of online learning usage, frequency, and overall satisfaction at the "Constantin Brancusi" University, the Faculty of Medical and Behavioural Sciences, carefully considering their experience and performance in order to determine whether online teaching is a viable substitute for face-to-face teaching. It was found that students liked the online experience and most viewed the Internet as a rich source of information and authentic materials having offered more resources in the online environment than in face-to-face, but a few things need to be changed such as new investments in course design, instructor support, and course evaluations. Research suggests that teachers were prepared for the online teaching and most students had almost the same outcomes in the online environment as in the face-to-face format.
Editura Academica Brancusi, 2020
The paper explores the connections between higher education, academic research and Romanian busin... more The paper explores the connections between higher education, academic research and Romanian business community in their technological activities. It is emphasized that the collaboration enables firms to learn about technological change, and it enhances their ability to deal with novelty. It refers to a recent forum for debating - Strategic Partnership between Academic Research and Romanian Business Community - organized at the University Politehnica of Bucharest which has revealed the importance of a successful collaboration of high levels between scientists, engineers and managers. Using two examples of highly successful technological collaborations - CPRU (Human Resources Training Center) and AMCSIT (The Management Agency for Research, Innovation and Technology Transfer), it is argued that the linkage between higher education, academic research and Romanian business community provides a framework for understanding the imperative for collaborative research partnerships, particularl...
Le present livre propose une structuration et une analyse du mot joie mieux compris si traite sel... more Le present livre propose une structuration et une analyse du mot joie mieux compris si traite selon une approche cognitive. La recherche se situe a l’interface de la semantique cognitive et de la semantique lexicale, s’appuyant sur l’analyse d’un corpus linguistique. Est-il possible d’esquisser une structure prototypique et un modele cognitif idealise du mot joie ? Le livre s’adresse aux etudiants et aux enseignants de francais etant ne d’une longue reflexion sur le defi des recherches cognitives.
Selected Topics in Education and …
Selected Topics in Education and …
Pastae Oana Maria, 2020
The purpose of this paper is to study how "joy", an emotional concept, is metaphorized in English... more The purpose of this paper is to study how "joy", an emotional concept, is metaphorized in English from a cognitive perspective. We are going to introduce the theoretical framework of Cognitive Linguistics, then, briefly touch what a metaphor is, we will go over different types of conceptual metaphors and finally, we are going to talk about the conceptual metaphors of "joy". We think in metaphors, we learn them very early, and we don't know that. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of what we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. (George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, 2003, p.8). First, we are going to define what a metaphor is. For over 2,000 years, metaphor was studied within the rhetoric and was focused on how to persuade others of a particular point of view by the use of rhetorical devices. As a consequence, metaphor has been identified since the time of Aristotle with implicit comparison: Achilles is a lion. If Lakoff (1993) and Lakoff and Turner (1989) distinguish between conceptual metaphors, conventional metaphors and image metaphors, Grady's (1997, 1999) distinguishes correlation metaphors and resemblance metaphors. The resemblance is not physical: Achilles does not actually look like a lion but our cultural knowledge which holds that lions are courageous, helps us associate Achilles with the lion's qualities of courage and ferocity. Lakoff and Turner (1989) call resemblance metaphors based on physical resemblance image metaphors. Resemblance metaphors have received considerable attention within conceptual metaphor theory, particularly within the approach now known as cognitive poetics. Lakoff and Johnson's book Metaphors We Live By changed the way linguists thought about metaphor. Conceptual Metaphor Theory was one of the earliest theoretical frameworks identified as part of the cognitive semantics enterprise and provided much of the early theoretical impetus for the cognitive approach. The basic premise of Conceptual Metaphor Theory is that metaphor is not simply a stylistic feature of language, but that thought itself, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. Secondly, we will describe the types of conceptual metaphors. Lakoff and Johnson (1980, pp. 26-79) identified three types of conceptual metaphors: Structural metaphor-one concept is structured on the basis of other concept that is highly structured and clearly defined (e.g. LOVE is a JOURNEY). Orientation metaphor-organizes whole system of concepts (e.g. HAPPY is UP). Most of our basic concepts are organized in conceptual frame of one or more spatially oriented metaphors that are grounded in the physical and cultural experience. Ontological metaphors-serve various purposes such as reference, quantification etc. They treat abstract (non-physical) things as entities. We barely notice them as metaphors because they are so naturally imprinted in our conceptual system that we take them to be the direct descriptions of mental phenomena. We use them to understand the events, actions and states. Events are metaphorically conceptualized as objects, actions as substances and states as containers (Lakoff & al. 1980, pp. 40-45). Finally, we are trying to make the cognitive model of joy taking the example of Lakoff for anger. Joy is a fluid in a container: She was bursting with joy; joy is heat/fire: Fires of joy were kindled by the birth of her son; joy is a natural force: I was overwhelmed by joy; joy is a social superior: If I ruled the world by joy; joy is an opponent: She was seized by joy; joy is a captive animal: All joy broke loose as the kids opened their presents; joy is insanity: The crowd went crazy with joy; joy is a force dislocating the self: He was beside himself with joy.
Pastae Oana Maria, 2019
This paper deals with the idea that students learn differently and language learning depends on a... more This paper deals with the idea that students learn differently and language learning depends on age, gender, motivation, intelligence, anxiety level, learning strategies, and styles.
A deeper understanding of students’ learning styles helps teachers to better design the instruction in order to match students’ needs and respond to interconnectedness and holistic aspects of the mind. In this study, we aimed to explore which learning styles preferences students have as measured by the C.I.T.E. Learning Styles Instrument and to present the obtained data from 40 female students at the Faculty of Medical and Behavioural Sciences of the “Constantin Brancusi” University of Targu Jiu, Romania in their first year of study.
The article presents the use of the verbs do and play with sports and sportive activities. We can... more The article presents the use of the verbs do and play with sports and sportive activities. We can say an athlete does cycling/aerobics/snowboarding but he/she plays soccer/tennis. Starting from their basic meaning, we identify the semantic changes that lead to the use of these verbs in the semantic field of sports. The two verbs have different aspectual and grammatical properties. First, we will define the two verbs using the lexicographical model of Trésor de la Langue Française Informatisé. Then, we will analyse the constructions jouer à/de, faire de la/du/des. Finally, we will focus on the semantic spaces of do and play using Visusyn for studying meaning construction. The algorithm for building semantic spaces relies on the analysis of a graph of synonyms. The dictionary refers to the two meanings of the verb do that fit into the area of sports and recreation: it could refer to a discipline (do skiing, do cycling) or to an activity (go camping). We use the verb do with activities that end in-ing: do boxing/bodybuilding/weight lifting. The verb play is a polysemous verb that can be transitive or intransitive depending on the context. When we practice professionnal or amateur sports, we have a transitive use of the verb: play a set (tennis) or an indirect transitive use: play billiards/football/golf/tennis. The verb play has an intransitive use in the expressions play for a club or play with a ball and it can also be used in passive voice: each football is played by two teams of eleven players. Another intransitive use is with an adverb specifying how to play: play softly/well/brutal/fair.
The paper explores the connections between higher education, academic research and Romanian busin... more The paper explores the connections between higher education, academic research and Romanian business community in their technological activities. It is emphasized that the collaboration enables firms to learn about technological change, and it enhances their ability to deal with novelty. It refers to a recent forum for debating -Strategic Partnership between Academic Research and Romanian Business Community -organized at the University Politehnica of Bucharest which has revealed the importance of a successful collaboration of high levels between scientists, engineers and managers. Using two examples of highly successful technological collaborations -CPRU (Human Resources Training Center) and AMCSIT (The Management Agency for Research, Innovation and Technology Transfer), it is argued that the linkage between higher education, academic research and Romanian business community provides a framework for understanding the imperative for collaborative research partnerships, particularly those involving government, university and industry actors.
Selected Topics in Education and …
The paper presents some new ideas in teaching mathematics to engineering students at University P... more The paper presents some new ideas in teaching mathematics to engineering students at University Politehnica of Bucharest. The importance of explaining to the students why knowledge of mathematics is essential for their future practical work is emphasized. Paper notes that mathematics is a language for expressing physical, chemical and engineering laws and general equations should be illustrated by practical numerical examples in order to transfer the surface/atomistic approach to learning to the deep/holistic one. Necessary steps in the manipulation of algebraic equations are highlighted. The authors demonstrate that formal lecturers should be supplemented by compulsory reading, handouts, elements of small group teaching and formative assessment. The analysis of self-assessment forms completed by students shows that they learn physical-chemical concepts much easier than mathematical concepts hence this imposes that every new abstract concept needs to be accompanied by plentiful practical examples.
The present article analyses different senses of the polysemous category MOUTH. Metaphor and meto... more The present article analyses different senses of the polysemous category MOUTH. Metaphor and metonymy are the two basic mechanisms for sense extension. Our aim is to describe the different but related senses of the category MOUTH in order to find out its prototypical sense towards the peripheral senses. Humans " body parts are highly polysemous and most of their senses are metonymically extended from the prototypical sense. The treatment of polysemous categories in cognitive linguistics involves a viewing meaning/sense as categorization, recognizing the importance of context for meaning/senses and taking into account the encyclopedic knowledge, and incorporating prototype theory into linguistics. 1. Introduction Ce travail est une analyse sémantico-cognitive de la catégorie polysemique BOUCHE qui est basée sur la théorie du prototype et qui traite de la question générale les relations entre langage et cognition à partir de l'analyse des relations entre formes lexicales et catégories cognitives. Nous tenterons d'expliciter, à l'aide de la théorie du prototype, que le sens de la catégorie BOUCHE peut se comprendre et se décrire en termes cognitifs pour montrer le rôle central de la polysémie dans les mécanismes de construction du sens. Lřarticle étudie les sens différents et apparentés de la catégorie cognitive BOUCHE en évoquant un premier classement catégoriel, dřaprès un modèle emprunté au Trésor de la Langue Française Informatisé. Nous analyserons aussi sa structure sémantique à partir de la théorie prototypiqueétendue. La théorie du prototype est un modèle de catégorisation graduelle dans lequel certains membres de la catégorie sont considérés comme plus représentatifs que dřautres. Elle propose une catégorisation qui ne se fait pas sur la base de traits partagés par tous les membres de la catégorie et qui représente la condition nécessaire et suffisante, mais qui sřappuie sur une comparaison avec les exemplaires prototypiques de la catégorie. La sémantique cognitive sřoppose au modèle des conditions nécessaires et suffisantes typique de la sémantique structurale et elle est basée sur lřidée de prototype et de ressemblance entre les membres dřune catégorie. Nous présenterons une analyse de BOUCHE conformément à la version étendue de la théorie du prototype. Nous allons utiliser la sémantique du prototype afin de vérifier lřhypothèse que nous
Uploads
Papers by Oana-Maria Pastae
A deeper understanding of students’ learning styles helps teachers to better design the instruction in order to match students’ needs and respond to interconnectedness and holistic aspects of the mind. In this study, we aimed to explore which learning styles preferences students have as measured by the C.I.T.E. Learning Styles Instrument and to present the obtained data from 40 female students at the Faculty of Medical and Behavioural Sciences of the “Constantin Brancusi” University of Targu Jiu, Romania in their first year of study.
A deeper understanding of students’ learning styles helps teachers to better design the instruction in order to match students’ needs and respond to interconnectedness and holistic aspects of the mind. In this study, we aimed to explore which learning styles preferences students have as measured by the C.I.T.E. Learning Styles Instrument and to present the obtained data from 40 female students at the Faculty of Medical and Behavioural Sciences of the “Constantin Brancusi” University of Targu Jiu, Romania in their first year of study.