Hello to you, my dear blog-reader!

My name is Anna and I currently live in Toronto. My home country is Ukraine in Eastern Europe. Before coming to Canada as an immigrant in 2014, I served as a Vice-Head for International Department in one of the biggest East Ukrainian universities.

I have a PhD in Education (2003). My main research interests are currently shifting towards comparative studies. I am concerned with contemporary universities, their educational content and organization of studies. Also, the topic of the university’s future has intrigued me for ages. I used to work with the university president who was a visionary, and his ability to predict the development of higher education always amazed me.

Regarding this ETEC 540 course, I have a Diploma of a teacher of English and Russian. So, the topics of etymology, phonology, lexicology, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, syntax etc. are not new. When I was a student, I once wrote a course paper on how the elements of the language (the font, the background colour, the intervals between letters etc.) could influence the reader’s perception of the written material, or what attracted their attention most. It was in 90s.

During this course I hope to practice and enhance my English and re-establish my knowledge in modern linguistics. Any new technological skills will be highly appreciated too. In addition, it is desirable to boost my confidence and make my virtual figure more prominent. Presently I post only on a Facebook from time to time.

I have a question to ask. Since the concept of “a medium” seems important for this course, did I understand correctly that the synonyms are “a part”, “a constituent”, “a detail”, “a component”? As sounds or morphemes, for example, are mediums for the language at its different levels?