Foreign Language Teaching, Number 4/2011, Volume 38

On Translations of Films in the Light of Speech Acts

Stanimir Michev
New Bulgarian University, Sofia (Bulgaria)

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo establecer, a grandes rasgos, una relación de contacto entre las normas de traducción audiovisual y la teoría de los actos de habla, cuya formulación original se debe a J. L. Austin en su obra póstuma “Cómo hacer cosas con palabras”. Se hace una presentación general de la teoría de los actos de habla en la lingüística contemporánea, de sus caractrísticas básicas, como también de los tipos principales de atactos de habla. El artículo también intenta describir los aspectos normativos de evaluación del producto de la traducción y su aplicación en el análisis de la calidad de la traducción audiovisual como un tipo específi co de traducción escrita, hecha para ser producida oralmente.

On Lullabies, Blood and the Translation of One Different Poem

Veneta Sirakova
New Bulgarian University, Sofia (Bulgaria)

El objetivo del presente artículo consiste en hacer un análisis descriptivo de una de las posibles traducciones al búlgaro del poema “Canción de la sangre” de la poeta chilena Gabriela Mistral. Este poema, que está incluido en la sección “Canciones de cuna” del poemario “Ternura” (1924) de Mistral, suele interpretarse como una de las máximas manifestaciones del espíritu maternal de la poesía mistraliana en su aspecto místico-existencialista, y de ahí parte el análisis de la traducción propuesta. Tratándose de un texto de difícil comprensión, las decisiones del traductor no sólo se describen desde el punto de vista lingüístico sino también vienen acompañadas de breves argumentaciones de tipo estilístico-literario.

Teachers as Lifelong Learners or the Craft, the Art and the Magic of Professional Development. Implementing a Pedagogical Portfolio – a Case Study

Svetlana Dimitrova-Gjuzeleva
New Bulgarian University, Sofia

The present paper focuses on the lessons learned from using the NBU Pedagogical Portfolio (Dimitrova and Tashevska, 2004) for the purposes of quality assurance in the specifi c context of foreign language pre-service teacher education and in-service teacher development, not just at New Bulgarian University but in the wider professional community for over 15 years. In a way the paper is also a continuation of the exemplary case study which appeared in the QualiTraining Guide (Muresan et al, 2007) providing further details and more specific evidence of the quality assurance function of the Portfolio2 . Snippets of good practice and refl ection leading to professional growth are shared and readers themselves are encouraged to refl ect on their own experience and development as teachers and/or trainers.
Keywords: foreign language teacher education, NBU Pedagogical Portfolio, professional development, FL teaching competence, quality assurance

Mastering the Conceptual and Metaphor Systems of a Foreign Language – Theoretical and Practical Aspects

Milka Hadzhikoteva
New Bulgarian University, Sofia (Bulgaria)

Thе article discusses conceptual fl uency in a foreign language, in this case English, and is divided in three parts. Firstly, it discusses some theoretical aspects of conceptual fl uency theory with view to the successful acquisition of the lexical and semantic system of a foreign language. Secondly, it overviews some of the procedures, analyses and results of a case study carried out by the author in a group of students at level B1-B2 according to the CEFR in 2007 – 2008. Based on the results, last but not least, the article offers some practical ideas and methodological techniques to help students use more successfully metaphorical expressions typical of the conceptual system underlying a foreign language.

Practical Phase of Creating a New Test (Analysis of the Results and Editing "Test in Bulgarian as a Foreign Language, A1")

Galina Kurteva, Desislava Dimitrova
New Bulgarian University, Sofia (Bulgaria)

This article describes the process of pre-testing a new test of Bulgarian as a foreign language which is conducted in several stages. Proper pre-testing requires a clear understanding of each task and question’s intent and is used to identify and correct tools and instruments in test design. The authors rely not only on the literature on that subject, but also on the knowledge gained by practice, experience and collected evidence for test qualities. For the investigation of test qualities two kinds of statistical procedures are run. The feedback questionnaire for teachers’ opinion and instruction for test administration was developed. After analyzing the conclusions are summarized. As a result some important decisions are made. They concern some changes in test specifi cation: response format, rubrics, visual input, timing and weighting.

“Devono averci visti” and “ci devono aver visti” through the Prism of Coșeriu's Theory, Interpreted and Defined by prof. Ivan Kunchev as Dynamic Structuralism

Maria Ladovinska
New Bulgarian University, Sofia (Bulgaria)

The Coherence of scientific discourse. (On Scientific Papers in German and Bulgarian.) Sofia, Veda-Slovena – JG, 2011

Anelia Lambova