Brandusa-Oana Niculescu

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at "Nicolae Balcescu" Land Forces Academy, Sibiu, Romania

In the dynamic landscape of higher education, self-regulated learning (SRL) emerges as a cornerstone for academic success and lifelong learning. This article examines the essential components of SRL, discussing the metacognitive, motivational, and behavioural dimensions that inform this holistic learning approach. By highlighting the critical impor...

In today’s globalized era, education stands at the nexus of profound transformation. As the globe shrinks and cross-cultural interactions become the norm rather than the exception, the traditional boundaries between language learning and content subjects are being dismantled. This union is not just a pedagogical trend, but a response to a world whe...

Academic expectations are a game changer when it comes to students’ learning experiences. As part of their university studies, learners are asked to read research, articles, textbooks, lecture notes, etc., and critically engage with the content in order to analyze it, evaluate it, make connections, draw conclusions, or find new ways to reorganize,...

This article aims to present an architecture for the integration of shallow and deep processing techniques in the context of foreign language learning. Since the concept of “levels of processing” has been originally proposed by Craik and Lockhart in 1972, specialized literature has been constantly tried to replicate this cognitive-based architectur...

Communication is a fundamental skill for the existence and survival of societies. In the learning of a foreign language, classroom practice should focus with priority on developing communicative skills. Oracy, a term coined by Andrew Wilkinson in 1965, is defined as the ability to express oneself efficiently, effectively, and fluently. Having stron...

Creating classroom activities which really get students to communicate in a natural and meaningful way remains a timely challenge when it comes to teaching a foreign language. This article sets out to revisit the traditional trifecta based on the three Ps (presentation, practice, production) and reincorporate it in a set of specific elements that e...

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented crisis in all areas of human activity. In the field of education, this new and unexpected situation has led to an extraordinary shift of paradigm, as a considerable amount of institutions and faculty have been forced to pivot from purely face-to-face lessons to wholly online contexts,...

With the transition to military higher education, scientific research and innovation have become necessary prerequisites for building a successful academic environment. Amateurism has considerably diminished as a result of the training and improvement of the skills needed in this domain, whose value is increasingly recognised as a galvanising facto...

With the transition to military higher education, scientific research and innovation have become necessary prerequisites for building a successful academic environment. Amateurism has considerably diminished as a result of the training and improvement of the skills needed in this domain, whose value is increasingly recognised as a galvanising facto...

Writing has traditionally been a neglected area of foreign language teaching, and most probably the least popular skill to acquire among students. However, it has lately emerged as an important element of the communication dyad, which also involves speaking, i.e. the oral manifestation of social interaction and exchange of information. When explain...

Lecturing is a wide spread teaching approach used in many university settings. As a didactic technique aimed at transmitting information, lecturing is, by definition, a receptive-oriented method of presenting content and offering explanations. The effectiveness of lectures has often been subject to debate; however, when delivered properly, lectures...

The new requirements regarding the professionalization of the Romanian armed forces derived from our country’s becoming a NATO and EU member state. The challenges of the 21 st century battlefield demand the development not only of certain soldierly skills, but also of the abilities to properly function in a multicultural context. The cadets of the...

Educators generally concur to the idea that one of the most essential goals of schooling is to empower students to become efficient problem solvers for the knowledge-based society. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional methodology mainly focused on developing students’ abilities to deal with solving realistic issues by employing team-ori...

There has been an increase in the importance of the cultural aspect in teaching and learning foreign languages, and teachers nowadays are supposed to stimulate the acquisition and development of intercultural competence in their students. Foreign language teaching and learning should be regarded from an intercultural perspective. The foreign langua...

Traditionally, foreign language classes provide a systematic presentation and acquisition of knowledge and skills under the guidance and monitoring of a teacher. However, language is unquestionably related to culture. Being competent in a foreign language requires not only possessing the linguistic competence, but also understanding the culture tha...

Education has to constantly adapt and renew itself in order to be compatible with the technology-dominated world we live in. There has been heated debate over the introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) in the educational process. The ICT, especially in foreign language teaching, has become the researchers’ focus of attention...

The development of the four language skills has always been hard work for teachers as well as for students, the writing skill being a particularly challenging one. Writing in English for achieving various goals is certainly a major activity of all civilian and military higher education institutions throughout the world. In their daily activities, a...

One of the tendencies manifested in the modernization of education is related to the flexibility of instruction aiming to ensure the development of the capacities and aptitudes of each student in accordance with his/her own possibilities and interests. The means of acquiring knowledge and of constantly and creatively applying it into practice shoul...

The amplitude of the interest and of the concerns related to the identification and the setting of the foundation necessary for perfecting higher education increasingly brings the adjustment of didactic activities to the students’ particularities to the attention of educational theory and practice, with a view to forming and developing their person...

An important aspect taken into consideration in making the distinction between the traditional and the modern methodologies used in teaching a second language is related to the control exercised by the teacher in managing the foreign language environment. The traditional methodology is largely teacher-centred, with the teacher playing a very domina...

Forming the personality of the professional Romanian officer for a modern army able to meet the requirements of permanently received missions, in any circumstances, nationally and internationally, needs constant attention and concern for the enhancement of military academic quality management and of all components that contribute to its achievement...

The educational environment specific to higher education is confronted with new and significant concerns and changes generated by the societal demands of the first 21st century decades. The formation of the new kind of man in general, of experts in particular, takes centre stage in dealing with the specific challenges of today’s society and, all th...

This paper aims at briefly discussing and analyzing the place and the role of the military leadership competence as a dimension of the modern officer, in the relation with the initial officer training process. Victory and success have been, are and will be the goals of all commanders, especially of those in the military system. The military command...

The two decades of the XXIst century proves again that both the main factors that generated the crisis in modern society, and those that can solve the great challenges imposed not only by solving the situations specific to crisis management, but also by the creation of the conditions necessary to achieve human progress and civilization, have their...

Motivation, a concept with a wide resonance in the human development, receives distinct features in supporting the conduct of the military students in their training as personalities able to successfully meet the requirements of the performance standards of academic education. As a set of stimuli that condition from the inside how the individual st...

In the military system, the process of written communication is mainly carried out through short pieces of writing, such as notes, memos or reports. However, at a higher level, communication, be it oral or written must dwell on a well-developed system of critical thinking abilities, which involves the learner actively in the process of language pra...

Over the course of the last decades, an increasing emphasis has been laid on the importance of creative thinking, as an underlying component of education, in general, and of military instruction, in particular. Starting from the premises that any individual has substantial creative abilities, we set out to elaborate an approach that advocates the r...

Science occupies an important role for knowledge and specialized intervention to transform reality, in the conditions of the knowledge-based society. Regardless of the peculiarities of the three domains of reality, man, society and the natural universe, what unites them in terms of science is undoubtedly the very small percentage of what is known a...

Assessment and evaluation are integral components of the teaching-learning-evaluation process. The main objectives of assessment and evaluation are to guide and improve learning and instruction as well as to offer plenty of information during classroom practice, in order to plan courses, and to manage learning tasks. Effectively planned assessment...

Communication is an essential skill to be acquired, practiced and mastered by any language learner, regardless of their preparation and background. The purpose of communication is multifold, depending on the characteristics of the linguistic environment and on the needs of the communicator. In this context, oral communication is perceived as an imp...

Throughout the years, preparing the individuals for a demanding life and providing the society with socially and intellectually mature citizens have been one of the most important missions of schooling. Assuming this noble mission, educators have sought ways to fulfill the individual’s need of being proficient enough to cope with the challenges of...