Mihai Mircea Zdrenghea
Professor
Department of English Language and Literature
Faculty of Letters
Babeş-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca
Tel.0743823471
E-mail: mihai.zdrenghea@softwaredesign.ro
Mihai M. Zdrenghea (Ph.D. Cluj-Napoca, 1974) is Professor in English Language and Linguistics at Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He has taught at Babeş-Bolyai University since 1969 courses in Semantics, Pragmatics, and the Grammatical Structure of English at B.A. level and the Power of the Press and British TV Productions at M.A. level.
Professor Zdrenghea’s research interests include aspects of English morphology and semantics as well as aspects of English pragmatics. He is the author of several books on English morphology (English Grammar, Modal Verbs and Modal Expressions in English, A Practical English Grammar with Exercises (in coll. with Anca Greere), A Dictionary of English Irregular Verbs (with exercises). He is also a frequent contributor to international and national journals in the fields of English Language and Applied Linguistics. His articles bring together all aspects concerning the semantics and pragmatics of English texts and show how they contribute to effective communication. Many illustrations are offered to make the articles a practical tool both in the hands of the linguist/teacher and the student, who is given the opportunity to develop the ability to communicate attitudes, needs and ideas. The author stresses throughout the importance of acquiring the ability to use these elements spontaneously and although his articles are designed primarily for the use of linguists and teachers of English, they offer, through the many examples, models that can be utilized with equal effectiveness in teaching students of any age.
His interest in British media issues resulted in a great number of articles and a book (The Grammar of British TV Productions) which reflects an eclectic but not unprincipled approach to issues of cultural deixis and their impact on the audience, especially British and Romanian, and hence between two cultures, irrespective of their apparent degrees of ‘distance/proximity’. Professor Zdrenghea proves that he is familiar with British contexts and the ’regional’/’national’ ‘identities’ they generate. Dr. Zdrenghea’s book stands out as an excellent theoretical, methodological and practical contribution to the interpretation of British TV productions, its relevance being manifold. The analysis made leads to a more appropriate treatment of media issues and, what is more important, it shows that this aspect occupies a distinct place within the class of language phenomena. It reduces the confusion and divergence in the field, highlighting a seminal trend that situates the pragmatic dimension in the center of media interpretation. Thereby the nature of TV productions is revealed in a more truthful light.
Professor Zdrenghea has read a great number of papers at international and national conferences. He has lectured widely overseas and held several attachments as Visiting Professor with the Department of Slavic Languages, University of California at Berkeley, USA, (1973), the Department of English Language and Linguistics at the University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y. (1983-1985), the Department of Language and Communication, University of Southern Denmark (1998, 2000, 2002, Odense, Denmark) and the Department of Linguistics at the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China (2004, 2007) where he gave lectures in English Semantics, Pragmatics and the Grammatical Structure of English. He also taught Introductory courses in Romanian Language.
Professsor Zdrenghea has received awards, fellowships and grants from many institutions, including U.S. Office of Education-Fulbright-Hays Fellowship, USA (1972, 1983,), British Council, Great Britain (1993, 1994, 1996), the University of Athens, Greece (1996), University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China (2003, 2005).
He is Founder member of the International Editorial Advisory Board of RASK International Journal of Language and Communication (based at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark). He is also member of the Editorial Board of “Dacoromania” (based at the Institute of Linguistics, Cluj-Napoca), the “Romanian Journal of English Studies”, based at the Universitatea de Vest, Timisoara, and was editor–in-chief of “Studia” based at the Babes-Bolyai University). He is also a member of the Scientific Board of “Studii the ştiinţă şi cultură” and a member of the Advisory Board of the “Journal of the Department of Modern Languages and Business Administration” based in Bucharest. Professor Zdrenghea is also member of various professional associations and societies.