The Legal Status of Greek in Higher Education and the Use of Greek Terminology in Science and. Current (2013) Reality in Greece

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "The Legal Status of Greek in Higher Education and the Use of Greek Terminology in Science and. Current (2013) Reality in Greece"

Blake Henry
5 years ago
Views:

1 The Legal Status of Greek in Higher Education and the Use of Greek Terminology in Science and Technology: Current (2013) Reality in Greece Panagiotis G. Krimpas Assistant Professor Democritus University of Thrace Legal Translator/Terminologist Attorney at Law

2 Higher Education Institutions in Greece ( A.E.I. ) Hellenic Open University ( E.A.P. ) in Patras International University of Greece ( DI.PA.E. ) in Thessaloniki Regular Universities i i in major Greek cities: ii Institutes of Technology ( T.E.I. ), Other Universities (of Science, Humanities, English/ German/ French/ Italian/ Slavic Languages and Literature etc.).

3 State Education Only the State offers Higher Education in Greece under Article 16 5 of the Constitution. There are no privately held Higher Education Institutions.

4 Graduate Studies Allmodulesare Greek taught, except for some modules in foreign language departments; moreover, all modulesin the International University of Greece are taught in English.

5 FormerLegislation: Lawn n. 1268/1982: Law n. 1268/1982 did not stipulate anything about language in Higher Education; Greek was seen as the default language in all aspects of life, including Higher Education.

6 The First Law to Allow for Non Greek Teaching: Law n. 2552/1997 Article 5 7 of Law n. 2552/1997 («The Hellenic Open University»), as amended by Article 14 of Law n. 2817/2000, Article 3 of Law n. 3027/2002, Article 13 of Law n. 3260/2004 and Article 19 of Ν.3577/2007 stipulates that: A language other than Greek may be used, in whole or in part, only in exceptional cases defined by the University Senate. So far, the Hellenic Open University has made use of this possibility only in postgraduate level and, in particular, not until the academic year , when the entirely English taught Master s Program Business Administration (MBA) was established.

7 The International Hellenic University: Law n. 3391/2005 Article 5 1 of Law n. 3391/2005 «International Hellenic University and Other Provisions» provides for that: All courses are taught in English; however, in exceptional cases some courses may be taught in another language, including Greek, upon decision of the University Senate. This is the first and so far the only Greek university to teach entirely in English, since it has been designed mainly for foreign students.

8 Legislation in Force (I): Law n. 3549/2007 Atil Article 17 of Law n. 3549/2007 ( Reform of the Institutional Framework for the Structure and Function of Higher Education Institutions ) provides for that: Graduate and/ or Postgraduate Courses may, in whole or in part, be taught in a language other than Greek upon decision of the University Senate following a proposal by the Special General Assembly. Article 18 2 subparagraph 4: Websites of University Departmentsshall shall be at least in Greek andenglish languages.

9 Legislation in Force (II): Law n. 4009/2011 Article 44 1 of Law n. 4009/2011 "Structure, Function, Quality Assurance of Studies and Internationalization of Higher Education stipulates that: Exceptionally, curricula or modules may be taught in a foreign language, upon decision by the Rector, issued after a proposal by the Dean of the faculty concerned and approved by the Senate of the institution.

10 Postgraduate Studies The majority of modules are Greek taught, but some English taught Master s Programs do exist in Greek Higher Education Institutions, mainly in English language and literature university departments.

11 Former Legislation: Law n. 2083/1992 (prior to amendment): Article 12 2a of Law n. 2083/1992 stipulated that: In the Master s Programs graduates are admitted of foreign Universities or domestically recognized equivalent foreign institutions. Greek graduates should demonstrably know a foreign language, and foreigner graduates should adequately know Greek.

12 Former Legislation: Law n. 2083/1992 (following amendment by Article 23 3 of Law n. 3404/2005 ): Article 12 2c of Law n. 2083/1992 stipulated that: Part of the Postgraduate Studies Programs of domestic Universities may be taught, in addition to Greek, in another European language too.

13 Legislation in Force (I): Law n. 3685/2008 Article 6 2e of Law n. 3685/2008 stipulates that: The draft of the Master s Program shall include at least the following information to be examined by the Special General Assembly: [...]. e) the syllabus, the language used in teaching, [...]. [...].

14 Legislation in Force (II): Law n. 4009/2011 (as amended by Law n. 4076/2012) Article il 80 11a of Law n. 4009/2011 (as amended by Article 5 8 of Law n. 4076/2012) provides for the following: [...]. By way of exception, since publication thereof, departments of Universities may autonomously or jointly organise Master s Programs taught, in whole or in part, in a language other than Greek.

15 Higher Education, Greek Language and Terminology Higher Education is an important vehicle of scientific and technical language g and terminology. A collaboration between Universities and terminological entities might result very helpful in this respect. Universities shouldensure thatstudents learn also the domestic term for a concept created in another language.

16 New Terms in Greek Modern Greek kis not among the languages producing new scientific and/ or technological concepts. This is the main reason colloquial l Greek mainly borrows foreign nowadays mostly English terms, particularlyinin natural science, while humanities prefer calques (Xydopoulos 2002: 496). Borrowing is a natural process, present in all languages and innocent tin itself (Kakridi Ferrari kidif i 2001: 203).

17 What is So Special about Greek? i i d k l i i Borrowing in Modern Greek results in a tragic irony, since Ancient Greek (: Attic) was the first European language to coin scientific and technical terminology, still serving as a source of word roots, morphemes etc. for all European languages (Zerdeli 2011), all of whom may be called crypto Hellenic (Adrados 2003[1999]: 449). Unnecessary borrowing should be avoided in Modern Greek (cf. Kakridi Ferrari 2001: 203).

18 Are All Loanwords the Same? However, not all words of non Greek origin ii should be considered as foreign words : Hellenised Latin and Romance words perfectly fit Modern Greek morphology and phonology; besides, Ancient Greek itself contained many loanwords; substituting Ancient Greek chalyps (Standard Modern Greek χάλυβας chalyvas ) for colloquial l Greek ατσάλι atsali li(< Venetian azzal) is substituting an older borrowing (what is more, one of unknown origin) for a newer one, of well known origin.

19 Terminological Research in Greece Terminology is a less studied d field in Greece. The first book about terminology was not published until It was the work Greek Terminology: Research and Applications (editors: Marianna Katsogiannou/ Eleni Efthymiou). Some progress has been made ever since, with an increasing number of presentations and articles about terminology by Greek authors. Terminology is the future of modern languages. As put by Anna Lena Bucher (2007: 48): terminological work is always future oriented.

20 Major Terminology Entities in Greece The Hellenic Association for Terminology (ELETO): Private The Research Centre for Scientific Terms and Neologisms of the Academy of Athens: State Institution The Hellenic Standardization Organization (ELOT): State Organization

21 What about the Future? Greek klanguage does not seem to be currently at risk. However, terminologyentitiesshould entities should establish collaboration with Greek universities to ensure due teaching ofgreekterminology. European language not just English Master s programs are of paramount importance, but they should function as a supplement to Greek teaching, not as a substitute for it (except, of course, in the International University i of Greece).

General syllabus for third-cycle courses and study programmes in

ÖREBRO UNIVERSITY This is a translation of a Swedish document. In the event of a discrepancy, the Swedishlanguage version shall prevail. General syllabus for third-cycle courses and study programmes in