Lector is Latin language for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loanword, such as , , and . It has various specialized uses.
In the teaching of modern languages at universities in the United Kingdom, a native speaker who assists with language skills would be called a lector, and if a female she may be called a lectrice.
In Dutch higher education the title lector is used for the leader of a research group ( lectoraat) at a university of applied sciences. The title is officially translated to professor in English. The lector has a comparable set of tasks as (higher ranked) full professors at a (research) university, albeit at an applied rather than a fundamental scientific level.
In French higher education the titles lecteur and lectrice correspond to a specific status reserved for instructors of foreign languages, often from a country that speaks that language, who have completed four years of post-secondary studies. These lecteurs and lectrices do not have research obligations, and are generally limited to an employment period of one to two years.
The practice apparently originated in Cuba. 20 Jobs That Have Disappeared , By Miranda Marquit, Main Street, thestreet.com, May 3, 2010. Lectores were introduced in 1865 to educate and relieve boredom among cigar workers. Lectores, and their reading material, are chosen by the workers of the cigar factory. Lectores often take on extra-official roles and formerly acted as "spurs to dissent". , UNESCO is considering designating the profession a form of "intangible cultural heritage". The Montecristo brand of cigars derives its name for the fondness that cigar makers had for listening to The Count of Monte Cristo.
|
|