Reflecting and Adapting to an Academic Workplace Before and After the Lockdown in Greek-Speaking Cyprus

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are required to constantly adapt and respond to the needs of society, both economic and social, including the current pandemic situation. The traditional representation of university as an educational side is being challenged leading to the inclusion of the practitioner side, emphasising on the need for business education. In this context, the present study examines how academics reflect and adapt to an HEI and enhance their workplace literacy and work-related practices inside and outside the foreign language classroom. The participants were 36 academics of all ranks involving part- and full-timers working in a private English-speaking HEI. The findings indicate that participants could need more support with the subject area that is English, and an extended access to the shared repertoire of their communities, which may strengthen their connections with other academics and reduce high job demands, resulting in better adaptation to new workplaces.

Functional and structural neural plasticity effects of literacy acquisition in adulthood

In Germany, 7.5 Million individuals between 18 and 64 years are considered to be functionally illiterate (Grotlüschen & Riekmann, 2012). Functional illiterates have only rudimentary literacy skills despite attending school for several years. Although they can use written language to a very limited extent, only few functional illiterates attend literacy courses for adults. In addition, most adult literacy courses primarily aim at promoting basic reading and writing skills. Offers specific to workplace literacy are scarce. This review gives an overview of the definition of functional illiteracy. Afterwards, a specific literacy program (AlphaPlus) and its effectiveness will be presented. The reviewed studies indicate that learning to read in adulthood is associated with structural and functional brain changes.

Exploring the Communicative Capability Challenges of Architectural Undergraduates

Concern on communicative capability of undergraduates in local universities has been a perennial issue. Language facilitators find it a challenge to accommodate this concern. The aim of this study is to identify the most critical challenges faced by an Ar for undergraduates. Data is collected via a written interview conducted on selected group of architecture students to present their perceptions and experiences in acquiring proficiency. Their views in relation to the oral communication in their learning environment are highlighted as drawn from observations and interviews excerpts. The data seem to suggest that although they are technically sound in their field of studies, they aspire to possess the communicative skills in order to market themselves. These vital skills which are closely related to employability and workplace literacy need to be further enhanced in determining the graduates’ success or failure in the workplace.eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v3i8.1405

Immigrant Women Workers at the Center of Social Change

This chapter examines the role that grassroots organizing and leadership development play in tackling social and economic inequalities along multiple axes of difference, including race, gender, immigration status, and language ability. It locates immigrant women workers at the center of social change by focusing on Asian Immigrant Women Advocates's (AIWA) self-reflexive organizing approach. AIWA is a grassroots community-based organization whose mission is to improve the living and working conditions of Asian immigrant women employed in low-paid and socially devalued jobs. AIWA's English-language dominance workshop embodies many of its core principles and organizing philosophy. The chapter analyzes AIWA's theory and method of change as well as its intersectional organizing approach, with particular emphasis on its English-language classes, workplace literacy classes, and Community Transformational Organizing Strategy (CTOS). It shows that AIWA produces new kinds of politics, polities, and personalities by placing immigrant women workers at the center of the struggle.