Taikomoji kalbotyra
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra
<p>Founded in 2012 and dedicated to publishing research, overview, discussion articles, reviews and academic essays on issues of applied linguistics. Indexed in the <em>Scopus</em> database since 2021.</p>Vilniaus universiteto leidykla / Vilnius University PressenTaikomoji kalbotyra2029-8935Teaching the Hungarian accusative case to native speakers of Swedish – problems and solutions
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/34841
<p>The accusative case has a widespread use in Hungarian, as it marks direct objects, and it is also used to form certain types of adverbials. In standard Swedish, nouns used as direct objects are never marked, and expressing the direct object function is linked to invariant structural positions in sentences, while traces of (formal and functional) accusative remain in active usage for personal pronouns only. Besides, the Hungarian accusative usually causes extra difficulties for Swedish native speakers because of the resemblance of the Hungarian accusative suffix ‑(V)t and the Swedish suffixed definite article ‑(e)t for neuter nouns in singular.<br>The paper demonstrates different types of mistakes made by Swedish university students learning Hungarian, comparing their difficulties to those of other students having Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic or Finnish as mother-tongue. A similar issue concerning accusative in the South Saami language is presented as well. The paper also discusses how the Hungarian accusative can be effectively introduced to Swedish learners.</p>
Articlesaccusativedirect object markingdefinitenessHungarian as a foreign languageNorth Germanic languagesGábor Tillinger
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2023-12-282023-12-288910310.15388/Taikalbot.2023.20.7Language consulting and language management from the perspective of the Hungarian Language Consulting Service
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/34840
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Applying the framework of Language Management Theory, the paper explores how language consulting services may be involved in the management of various language problems experienced by speakers. Focusing on the discourse-shaping activity of everyday speakers, Language Management Theory is a comprehensive theoretical framework aimed at the detection, analysis and treatment of linguistic and communicative problems. One viable path toward solving language problems is for language users to contact a language consulting service. The paper shows how the Language Consulting Service of the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics applies problem-management practices to the spelling and language use problems of inquirers. The practice of institutional language consulting provides a bridge between simple and organised language management processes, and between the micro and macro levels of management. In today’s complex linguistic context, which promotes linguistic diversity, the role of language consulting services is primarily to provide a data-driven and discursive approach to language problems, working closely with the language users themselves.</span></p>
Articleslanguage managementLanguage Consulting ServiceHungarianlanguage problems and solutionsspelling problemscorrectnessZsófia LudányiÁgnes Domonkosi
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2023-12-282023-12-28748810.15388/Taikalbot.2023.20.6The use of English among Latvian adolescents: A study of multilingual identity and language dominance
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/34725
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;" data-mce-fragment="1">This paper examines the effects of virtual communication on language use among Latvian students aged 13-25, aiming to investigate whether language proficiency, language attitudes and identity construction are mediated by language dominance and global trends foregrounded by the dominant use of English on social media. The research material consists of 1) </span><em style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;" data-mce-fragment="1">Bilingual Language Profile</em><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;" data-mce-fragment="1"> (Birdsong et al. 2012), a questionnaire that targets a variety of sociolinguistic factors and assesses language dominance; 2) a questionnaire on language use across various domains as well as language ideologies. The questionnaire results indicate Latvian language dominance in terms of language history and active use, but English is regarded as a beneficial language and used as a receptive language in entertainment and with peers. The findings of the study suggest English is associated with a multilingual identity, however, this does not seem to impact the expression of adolescents’ national identity.</span></p>
Articleslanguage attitudessocial identitylanguage dominancemultilingualismJustīne Bondare
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2024-02-262024-02-26285210.15388/Taikalbot.2023.20.4Recommendations for the meanings of words by Estonian language planning – justified and necessary, or not?
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/34684
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">On the example of Estonian language planning, this research paper explores whether it is justified and necessary to give recommendations for the meanings of words. The focus is on the general language. Technical language is out of the scope of this research. First, a brief overview of the history of Estonian language planning and the development of Standard Estonian, as well as the current situation is provided. Then the paper focuses on recent research on the meanings of words in Estonian. The purpose was to revise the recommendations for the meanings of words by Estonian language planning. The research is based on the common approaches in Estonian linguistics today – the usage-based linguistics and corpus linguistics. The paper argues that recommendations by language planning for the meanings of words are not justified nor necessary in the general language, even if some explanations on the choice of words are relevant (e.g., for offensive words).</span></p>
Articlesthe meanings of wordsrecommendationsEstonian language planningStandard Estonianusage-based linguisticscorpus linguisticsLydia Risberg
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2023-12-282023-12-28537310.15388/Taikalbot.2023.20.5Language as an Error: A Study on School Literacy and Language Correction in Lithuania
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/34595
<p>This special issue documents the history of formal writing education in Lithuania in the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries by taking a (socio)linguistically informed approach to school literacy. The study consists of four contributions, one theoretical and three empirical. The authors explore authentic pupils’ written language practices by focusing on variation in spelling, morphology and syntax, word choice as well as stylistic expression, as corrected by teachers, and critically contrast the data with the dominant normativist (or prescriptivist) approach to school literacy in Lithuania. The data for the empirical contributions were retrieved from an anonymised database “Rašinėliai” (‘School Essays’) which some of the authors of the study have been collecting since 2014 for the purpose of investigation of school writing in Lithuania. At the time the study was conducted, the researchers could choose among more than 7,500 PDF files documenting writing by almost 950 different pupils between 1st and 12th grades, of which almost 80% were teacher-corrected. The results of the study can be interpreted as revealing the cognitive and social diversity of the literacy phenomenon. There were virtually no cases in the data of the pupils’ written essays that could not be explained by natural cognitive or social causes. Among the main causes of linguistic variation, the findings identified (1) the influence of spoken language with its own phonetic and grammatical rules; (2) the cognitive mechanism called analogy, whereby pupils internalise a certain spelling convention and then generalise it; and (3) the potentially interconnected factors as the genre, the motivation of the pupils and pedagogical practice. The authors hope that the study will show both the originality and productiveness of the sociolinguistic approach when applied to data from Lithuanian schools, as well as its theoretical potential of developing sociolinguistics of school literacy. Besides that, there is an expectation that the research will have important implications for local educational policies and pedagogical practice.</p>
Full Issue teaching of writinglanguage variationprescriptive writing pedagogylanguage correction practiceLoreta VaicekauskienėVuk VukotićRamunė ČičirkaitėLaima Nevinskaitė
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2022-12-282022-12-28115610.15388/Taikalbot.2022.Spec18Editorial Board and Table of Contents
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/34502
<p>-</p>
Front Matter-Meilutė Ramonienė
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2023-12-282023-12-2814Preface [EN]
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/34252
<p>-</p>
Front Matter-Meilutė RamonienėJūratė Ruzaitė
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2023-12-282023-12-2859Foreword
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/34250
<p>-</p>
Front Matter-Meilutė RamonienėJūratė Ruzaitė
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2023-12-282023-12-281410.15388/Taikalbot.2023.20.1How much does spoken language affect spelling among primary school pupils? Quantitative research on spelling over the period of 1950–2021
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/33177
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Quantitative analysis of spelling among primary school pupils revealed that the spelling of primary school pupils was highly variable, but not chaotic. Despite deviations from norms, primary school pupils, probably based on the internal consistency of spelling, attempted to establish uniformity in their spelling by writing the same sounds or their combinations with the same orthographic codes. The theoretical consistency, grounded in spelling conventions, was statistically significantly higher in the essays of older primary school pupils compared to their younger counterparts, suggesting a potential influence of superior cognitive abilities in older children.</span><br style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;" /><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">The analysis confirmed the assumption that spoken language is a primary factor contributing to spelling variations in our primary school children. Its impact is particularly prominent in grades 1–2. Although teachers use corrections to maintain spelling consistency, only one-seventh of primary school children’s spelling remains unaffected by it.</span><br style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;" /><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">It was determined that spoken language alone accounted for spelling variations in one-fifth of primary school pupils. Additionally, one-fifth exhibited a stronger influence from causes other than spoken language, indicating a diverse range of factors affecting spelling. A small portion of primary school children had spelling influenced exclusively by factors unrelated to spoken language.</span><br style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;" /><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Contrary to common assertions in the public sphere, the data of this research did not support claims of a decline in literacy among schoolchildren. No statistically significant difference was observed in the frequency of words failing to meet norms when comparing the spelling of primary school pupils from the Soviet era to the current period. Current primary school children do not exhibit a significantly higher tendency to write based on spoken language than their counterparts in the Soviet era.</span></p>
Articlesliteracywritingspellingspoken languagesociolinguisticsRamune Čičirkaitė
Copyright (c) 2023 Ramune Čičirkaitė
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2023-12-282023-12-2812214210.15388/Taikalbot.2023.19.8Rhetorical structure and linguistic features of research article abstracts in the humanities: the case of Lithuanian, English, and Russian
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/30763
<p>Over the past few decades, research article abstracts have been receiving increased attention of scholars. While abstracts in English have been extensively researched, there are few studies on abstracts in Russian and no studies on abstracts in Lithuanian. This study investigates the rhetorical structure and linguistic features of research article abstracts across different humanities disciplines in Lithuanian, English and Russian. My aim is to detect similarities and differences in abstract structure and corresponding linguistic features within the three different academic writing traditions. I seek to answer the question which writing tradition, the Anglo-Saxon or the Continental, is closer to Lithuanian academic writing. This study employs contrastive qualitative and quantitative analysis and corpus-based methodology. The results highlight aspects of abstract writing that may be relevant for researchers while preparing abstracts of their research articles in these three languages.</p>
Articlesacademic discoursehumanitiesresearch article abstractrhetorical structurecross-linguistic researchErika Gobekci
Copyright (c) 2023 Erika Gobekci
2023-08-102023-08-10335610.15388/Taikalbot.2023.19.4Ties of the Diaspora of Lithuanian Origin in Kazakhstan with Lithuanian ethnic identity and the Lithuanian language
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/32345
<p>This article focuses on the diasporas of Lithuanian Origin in Kazakhstan and their links with Lithuanian ethnic identity and the Lithuanian language. This research aims to answer the question of what strategies were chosen by three generations of the target diaspora to maintain Lithuanian identity and the Lithuanian language. Also, the paper is exploring the reasons that encouraged specific decisions and behavior of the target diaspora. The research material was 38 qualitative semi-structured interviews collected in November 2021 during the expedition in Kazakhstan. The interviews were qualitatively analysed using the adapted Bamberg’s (2011) Narrative Practice and Identity Navigation model. The analysis of the case of the diaspora of Lithuanian origin in Kazakhstan revealed that three generations of the diaspora have preserved their Lithuanian ethnic identity and expressed favorable attitudes towards Lithuanianness, Lithuania, and Lithuanians. However, the Lithuanian language, which is not necessarily considered part of the ethnic identity of the target group, was not maintained. It can be said that the second generation does not know the Lithuanian language. However, the third generation shows a more active relationship with the Lithuanian language and wants to learn it. There are various reasons why the Lithuanian language is not being passed down to the next generations, namely: 1) the consequences of social trauma, such as the abandonment of the first generation’s language as a survival strategy; state policies promoting Russification; 2) the formation of mixed families of deportees, 3) conflicts between the first generation and their relatives in Lithuania, the broken contacts reduced the possibilities of communication in Lithuanian; lack of available Lithuanian-speaking individuals to communicate with, as there are no larger Lithuanian communities; 4) the pursuit of economic prosperity and integration, particularly for those who voluntarily migrated to Kazakhstan, etc.</p>
ArticlesDiaspora of Lithuanian Origin in Kazakhstanethnic identitythe Lithuanian languageidentity navigation modelLoreta Vilkienė
Copyright (c) 2023 Loreta Vilkienė
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2023-11-292023-11-299912110.15388/Taikalbot.2023.19.7Why do Infinite Forms Matter: Analysis of Verbs from the Lexical Database of Lithuanian Language Usage
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/29901
<p>From the corpus data, we observe that in the real language usage, the particular verb does not appear in all theoretically possible finite and infinite verb forms in the morphologically rich Lithuanian but is used in those forms which are relevant for the verb patterning. On the one hand, by teaching vocabulary, is it important to represent lexis in these relevant forms – frequently used forms, and, on the other hand, in grammar teaching, there is a need to provide learners with appropriate vocabulary, e.g., by teaching infinite forms, to use verbs, in the usage of which, these forms are relevant and frequent.<br>In this paper, we provide language teaching practitioners with the data about the frequently used Lithuanian verbs and show which of them and how often appear in infinite forms (participles in passive and active voice, adverbial participles, half participles). As a research data we use 200 verbs from the <em>Lexical Database of Lithuanian Language Usage</em> which was developed on the basis of the written subcorpus of the <em>Pedagogic corpus of Lithuanian</em>. The investigated verbs belong to the frequent vocabulary: in the corpus of approx. 700,000 tokens, these verbs are used 100 times (and above). First, we analysed, which verbs appear in infinite forms, second, we checked whether frequent and typical infinite forms are included into corpus pattern(s) of these particular verbs, and if there is a link between the infinite form and a particular meaning of the verb.<br>All verbs (except of three verbs with no infinite forms) were included into one of three groups: 1) 11 verbs which occur in the infinite forms frequently (more than 50% of all forms – finite and infinite) and, accordingly, typical; 2) 117 verbs with the infinite forms making up from 10 to 50%; 3) 69 verbs, with the infinite forms making up less than 10% of all verb forms. Interestingly, the verbs of the first group, usually have only one infinite form, e.g., participle in passive voice which makes up more than 50% of all forms of verb. These cases are also frequently observed in the second verb group. Thus, if the verb tends to be used in infinite forms, it is important to know which infinite form is relevant to that particular verb.<br>In the <em>Lexical Database of Lithuanian Language Usage</em>, lexical and grammatical patterning of the word is represented in the form of corpus patterns. In this study, we showed the interrelation between the frequently used infinite forms of the verb and its corpus patterns (also, corpus patterns related to particular meaning of the polysemous verb). We can expect various applications of the provided data in the Lithuanian as a foreign language teaching: the provided data about the verbs typical and frequent in infinite forms and the corpus patterns including these infinite forms can be used for building vocabulary training as well as for developing grammar exercises.</p>
ArticlesLithuanian as a foreign languagecorpus-based language teachinginfinite formsPedagogic Corpus of LithuanianLexical Database of Lithuanian Language UsageJolanta KovalevskaitėErika Rimkutė
Copyright (c) 2023 Jolanta Kovalevskaitė | Erika Rimkutė
2023-07-072023-07-07577710.15388/Taikalbot.2023.19.5Speaker stance and engagement across disciplines in Lithuanian university lectures: the case of mes ‘we’ in medicine and business administration
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/29688
<p>To gain a greater understanding of how speakers construct their disciplinary-situated identities and interact with their addressee(s) in Lithuanian spoken academic discourse, this corpus-based exploratory analysis focuses on the use of <em>mes </em>‘we’ as a marker of stance and engagement in lecturers’ speech in Lithuanian university lectures on business administration and medicine. The data reveals that the lecturers in business administration used only the inclusive <em>mes </em>‘we’, which is known to promote student involvement and strengthen lecturer-student rapport. The instructors in medicine frequently employed the exclusive reference to indicate their belonging to professional communities and highlight their level of expertise in the discipline, creating a sense of distance between the lecturer and the student audience.</p>
Articlesspoken academic discoursepersonal pronounsuniversity lecturesstanceengagementGreta Maslauskienė
Copyright (c) 2023 Greta Maslauskienė
2023-06-192023-06-19143210.15388/Taikalbot.2023.19.3The usage of singular and plural forms of address in Lithuanian
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/32032
<p>This paper investigates the usage of singular and plural forms of address in contemporary Lithuanian. The object of the research is the pronouns <em>tu</em> and <em>jūs</em>, and second-person verbs. The aim of the present study is to analyze how and why singular and plural forms of address are used and which social and psychological factors determine this usage. The research data consists of 111 discourse completion tests filled by university students. For a deeper insight, 6 semi-structured in-depth interviews with students and young people who have just finished their studies were also conducted. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were combined for both data collection and analysis.<br />Based on the results, it can be concluded that the distribution of forms of address in situations where the sociolinguistic and pragmatic choice was not obvious was approximately equal. Statistically significant variables were found to be sex and age. However, as the qualitative aspect of the study reveals, the usage of these forms depends on diverse and subtle variables, including social distance, relative power, and age, as well as their interaction within specific communicational situations. The study confirms that plural forms of address generally convey respect, formality, and polite distance, while singular forms indicate friendliness, intimacy, and familiarity. Nevertheless, both formal and informal forms of address can also be employed as impoliteness strategies. In some cases, the switch between the forms of address is caused by mutual agreement, while in others, it occurs on its own and indicates changes in social or psychological circumstances. The choice between singular and plural forms of address is often complex and not always fluent; therefore, interlocutors may seek to avoid them altogether and navigate a delicate balance between formal and informal ways of addressing people.</p>
Articleslinguistic politenesspositive and negative politenessforms of addresstu, jūspronounsAleksandra IvanauskaitėInga Hilbig
Copyright (c) 2023 Aleksandra Ivanauskaitė | Inga Hilbig
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2023-10-252023-10-25789810.15388/Taikalbot.2023.19.6Temporal characteristics of child-adult conversations: utterances and turn-taking
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/30181
<p>Since its inception, conversation analysis has focused on the question of how participants achieve a fast and smooth alignment between two turns. Most research has analyzed adults’ conversations, but much less has been known about child-adult interactions. The aim of this study is to analyze the temporal patterns of children’s utterances and turn-taking (TT). Twenty adult-child conversations (ages 5 and 7) were selected from the GABI database. Articulation rate, duration of interpausal units, pauses, and FTO-value (Floor Transfer Offset) of turn-taking launched by the children were analyzed. Temporal patterns did not differ between the two age groups, but individual differences were found within both groups. TT mostly occurred with a gap, but children were also able to take the floor immediately. TTs after a gap were significantly longer than after overlapping speech. The results provide new information on the communicative competence in childhood, particularly regarding timing patterns and organization of child-adult dialogues.</p>
Articleschildren’s speechconversationtemporal characteristicsturn-takingFloor Transfer OffsetViktória HorváthValeria Krepsz
Copyright (c) 2023 Viktória Horváth | Valeria Krepsz
2023-05-112023-05-1131310.15388/Taikalbot.2023.19.2Frederik H. Bissinger (2021). Family Language Policies and Immigrant Language Maintenance. Lithuanian in Sweden. Stockholm Studies in Baltic Languages 13. Stockholm: Stockholm University. PhD Thesis.
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/31629
<p>-</p>
Reviews, opinions, overviews-Anna Verschik
Copyright (c) 2023 Authors
2023-02-272023-02-271210.15388/Taikalbot.2023.19.1Editorial Board and Table of Contents
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/31456
<p>--</p>
Front Matter-Meilutė Ramonienė
Copyright (c) 2022 Authors
2022-12-302022-12-3014When family language policy and early bilingualism research intersect: A case study
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/30878
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">The article discusses family language policy in a family of ethnic Russians in Estonia where the father speaks Russian, and the mother speaks Estonian. This is the case of internalization of Estonian among ethnic Russians, a novel phenomenon in the post-Soviet countries. The data come from family conversations (6 h) and the semi-structured interview with the parents (1.5 h). There are discrepancies between the declared ideologies, management, and practices. The declared policy is OPOL and, as the father rendered it, purism because of the concern that the children will be confused otherwise. During the interview the father switched between Estonian, Russian, and English. In family conversations the mother’s speech (539 turns, of which 50 % are directed to the child) contained code-switching (7% in Russian and 8% switches within one turn in speech directed to the child). The parents claimed to speak Russian to each other, yet the mother occasionally switched to Estonian while talking to the father. In general, both family conversations and the interview proved to be linguistically more diverse than expected.</span></p>
Articlesfamily language policycode-switchingearly bilingualismEstonianRussianAnna VerschikReili Argus
Copyright (c) 2024 Anna Verschik | Reili Argus
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2024-02-052024-02-0592710.15388/Taikalbot.2023.20.3How do TV and radio hosts speak? Vowel tenseness as an index of formal and serious speaking style
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/29547
<p>The present paper reports the instrumental analysis of the unstressed variants of /iː/, /uː/, /eː/, /oː/, /æː/ and /ɑː/. The study was carried out by employing the sound analysis software PRAAT, which was used to measure the length and tenseness of the specified variants. 10 residents of Vilnius city and 10 hosts of TV/radio programmes covering serious public topics were selected as the informants of the study. The main aims of this research were as follows: (1) to determine whether vowel length and tenseness differentiate the pronunciation of Vilnius city residents from that of the hosts of TV/radio programmes covering serious public topics, and (2) to reveal whether the hosts of TV/radio programmes use the length or tenseness of the unstressed variants of /iː/, /uː/, /eː/, /oː/, /æː/, /ɑː/ as a resource for creating a formal and serious speaking style. The current study examines, among other things, if the TV/radio hosts pronounce the unstressed variants of /iː/, /uː/, /eː/, /oː/, /æː/, /ɑː/ systematically more tensely, or perhaps on the contrary – they create the impression of a serious style only with isolated sounds of increased tenseness. The analysis has revealed that the hosts of TV/radio programmes covering serious topics pronounce the unstressed variants of /iː/, /uː/, /eː/, /oː/, /æː/ and /ɑː/ in the same length as Vilnius city residents speaking in a semi-formal style. Hence, vowel length in the said programmes is not a significant linguistic resource when creating a serious and formal speaking style and constructing the linguistic identity of a TV/radio host addressing serious public topics. However, TV/radio hosts covering serious public topics pronounce the unstressed variants of /iː/, /uː/, /eː/, /oː/, /æː/ and /ɑː/ with more tenseness than Vilnius city residents, which suggests that the style of the hosts is distinct from the semi-formal speaking style of Vilnius city residents and serves as a well-defined marker of a certain language standard. These findings are in line with some previous studies indicating that vowel tenseness statistically significantly distinguishes programmes covering serious public topics from entertainment-based programmes covering personal topics. Therefore, it can be argued that vowel tenseness differentiates speakers (TV/radio hosts vs. Vilnius city residents), types of programmes (programmes covering serious public topics vs. entertainment-based programmes covering personal topics), styles (formal vs. semi-formal), and language varieties (actual standard language vs. Vilnius speech). Thus, in the speech of hosts of TV/radio programmes covering serious public topics, tenseness acquires the indexical meaning of “I am speaking seriously”. The use of isolated vowels of increased tenseness is thus sufficient to create the impression of a serious speaking style and to form the linguistic identity of a TV/radio host covering serious topics.</p>
Articlesvowel lengthvowel tensenessindexical meaningserious speaking stylestandard languagestylizationRamune Čičirkaitė
Copyright (c) 2022 Ramune Čičirkaitė
2022-12-302022-12-3016618510.15388/Taikalbot.2022.17.9Benchmarking performances of L2 spoken Lithuanian produced by young learners
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/28114
<p>The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), widely recognized as one of the most important documents in foreign language teaching, defines the levels of communicative language proficiency. The common points of reference are primarily meant to assist foreign language teachers and test developers striving to adhere to a unified understanding of CEFR levels. Yet it is not uncommon among practitioners to claim a particular level of a task, text or sample of learner performance drawing merely on their individual experience and intuition, with only limited knowledge of the original descriptor scales. The main purpose of this paper is to describe general procedures for relating foreign language tests and learner performances to the CEFR as they are prescribed by the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE). The five stages of the linking process are familiarisation, specification, standardisation training and benchmarking, standard setting and validation. While the full implementaion of the linking process is a complex undertaking mostly applied in the context of high stakes examinations, certain stages of the linking process could be implemented by individual language schools and programmes. Benchmarking is one of such stages. It involves identification of illustrative learner performances for different proficiency levels. This is a stage which also has its relevance in daily teaching practice and could be easily incorporated in routine assessment procedures thus increasing foreign language teachers' awareness of CEFR levels. Therefore the discussion of the formal linking procedures in this paper is followed by a demonstration of an exercise in benchmarking. It is meant to acquaint the Lithuanian readers with the complexity of the linking process and encourage a more principled approach to level allocations. The exercise in alignment with CEFR level decribed here involves L2 spoken Lithuanian produced by five foreign learners of young age. Sample performances were taken from a corpus of L2 Lithuanian compiled within the XXX project. Since the subjects are children of 11–12 years, another important challenge in the alignment with the CEFR is children's maturity and the necessary adaptation of CEFR descriptors for young learners. Qualitative analysis of five learner samples offers a number of insights into practicalities of linking procedures and discusses ways to ensure reliability and objectivity.</p>
ArticlesCEFRL2 LithuanianL2 learnersproficiency levelsspoken languageRita Juknevičienė
Copyright (c) 2022 Rita Juknevičienė
2022-12-122022-12-1213716510.15388/Taikalbot.2022.17.8Lithuanian copy-editors in the fields of language standardization and cultural production: negotiating competing notions
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/26608
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.11in; line-height: 150%; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Copy-editors are important agents of language standardisation, yet Following Pierre Bourdieu’s </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>field </em></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">theory, as well as Michel Foucault’s </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>power/knowledge</em></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> dichotomy, in this article I am analysing data from semi-structured interviews with 21 Lithuanian copy-editors to determine how they negotiate their often-opposing professional notions on editing ethics and practice. The analysis has shown that in terms of ethical notions, copy-editors maintain that editing “too much” is unethical. This is likely based on the rules of the game of the literary field. It has been noticed, that the editors who also have other roles in the literary field, more strongly oppose the practice they called “author production”. Some copy-editors, however, who did not have such high stakes in the literary field, seemed to sometimes take on this work of “too much” editing, but in an interview situation, they claimed that such practice is different from copy-editing.</span></span></span></span></p>
Articlescopy-editingPierre Bourdieufield theorydoxalanguage standardizationEglė Jankauskaitė
Copyright (c) 2022 Eglė Jankauskaitė
2022-12-122022-12-1211913610.15388/Taikalbot.2022.17.7The possible influence of socio-cultural and socio-economic parameters on local languages: the case of Šalčininkai District
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/27660
<p>The aim of the study is to use GIS tools and methods to identify the mobility trends of the members of the local communities of Šalčininkai district and surrounding areas and their impact on the local languages on the basis of socio-economic and socio-cultural parameters. The research material consists of: 1) survey data, on the basis of which the coefficients of the influence of attractions on the language were calculated; 2) statistical socio-economic data for 2020-2021; 3) geo-spatial data of Lithuania; 4) linguistic studies of Šalčininkai district. GIS tools and methods were used to assess the infrastructure of residential areas, a heat map of attractions with the greatest impact on linguistic shift was created based on the results of the survey, and a link network of Atlas of Lithuanian Language (ALL) points and infrastructures was implemented through accessibility analysis. Based on social network theory, the structure of socio-cultural networks and their influence on linguistic shift, as well as the influence of additional socio-economic and socio-cultural factors was assessed. The analysis has highlighted the linguistic, socio-economic and socio-cultural uniqueness of Šalčininkai district. The study area is a zone with a more internal mobility level: there is less migration between areas where different languages (Slavic and Lithuanian) are spoken, and more migration between different dialects (Eastern Aukštaitians of Vilnius and Southern Aukštaitians). However, due to the disappearance of ALL points in almost half of Šalčininkai district, the well-developed infrastructure in the district centre and the abundance of elderly communities in the district, the intensity of mobility is low. Therefore, all the areas surveyed can be considered socio-culturally non-isolated, but linguistically quite isolated. This ensures the survival and dominance of the Slavic language. The centre of the district – Šalčininkai (ALL 666) - is considered to be the most socio-economically and socio-culturally stable in the study area. However, this town attracts residents from socially unstable areas and residents of different dialects. This creates favourable socio-economic and socio-cultural conditions for the Slavic languages (partly also for Lithuanian dialects) to compete, but remain viable. The other ALL points in Šalčininkai district belong to the open zone, where the processes of shift in the characteristics of Slavic languages and/or Lithuanian dialects are taking place.</p>
Articlessociocultural networksGISŠalčininkai districtlinguistic shiftgeospatial analysisAgnė Čepaitienė
Copyright (c) 2022 Agnė Čepaitienė
2022-12-092022-12-0910011810.15388/Taikalbot.2022.17.6Žurnalo „Taikomoji kalbotyra“ dešimtmetis. Publikacijų apžvalga
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/29838
<p>-</p>
Reviews, opinions, overviews-Meilutė RamonienėKinga Geben
Copyright (c) 2022 Authors
2022-11-242022-11-24959910.15388/Taikalbot.2022.17.5An Empirical Study of Near-synonym Choice: A Comparison of Advanced EFL Learners to L1 English Speakers
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/26239
<p>Near-synonyms are words which share certain semantic similarities, yet differ in their contextual usage (e.g. <em>acquire</em> vs <em>obtain</em>, <em>evaluate</em> vs <em>judge</em>). The current study compares lexical preferences and rationalizations for choosing near-synonyms of advanced C1 level non-native speakers of English (<em>n </em>= 45) to those given by native speakers of English (<em>n </em>= 58). The data has been collected using a forced-choice questionnaire which also included a justification section meant to explore respondents’ reasoning behind their lexical choices. The findings of the study suggest that EFL students may lack the depth of vocabulary knowledge necessary to choose the most suitable word from a pair of near-synonyms. Insufficient knowledge of target words resulted in EFL learners’ lexical choices and justifications being statistically different from those given by native speakers. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that EFL teachers increase students’ exposure to various contexts as well as focus on vocabulary depth.</p>
Articlesnear-synonymssynonymylexical choicesEFL learnersTEFLAlina Yevchuk
Copyright (c) 2022 Alina Yevchuk
2022-08-312022-08-31799410.15388/Taikalbot.2022.17.4Hybrid verbs of Slavic origin with the suffixes -inti, -yti, -uoti, -ėti, -auti in Lithuanian slang: derivative and adaptive hybrids
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/24862
<p>The article analyses 246 hybrid verbs of Slavic origin with the suffixes -<em>inti</em>, <em>-uoti</em>, <em>-yti</em>, <em>-ėti</em>, <em>-auti</em> from <em>the</em> <em>Lithuanian slang and non-standard dictionary</em>. The study reveals that borrowings with affixal adaptation are always adapted to the linguistic system. The most popular suffix is <em>-inti </em>(190 hybrid verbs). There are some (64) derivative hybrids with this suffix, hybrids are formed from the adapted basic words, and therefore, in such cases hybrid verbs are derivations of the suffix <em>-inti</em>. There are twice as many adaptive hybrids (126), which are morphologically adapted by replacing the derivative suffix of the language donor with the suffix of the language recipient. Other suffixes are rare: <em>-uoti</em> (21), <em>-yti</em> (12), <em>-ėti</em> (12), <em>-auti</em> (11), with which derivative hybrids are usually formed from already adapted basic noun in slang.</p>
Articlesverbal borrowingsmorphological adaptationverbal derivationslangRobertas Kudirka
Copyright (c) 2022 Robertas Kudirka
2022-07-262022-07-26627810.15388/Taikalbot.2022.17.3Mixed Speech Styles in Two Single-Gendered Occupational Groups: Identities in Interaction
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/24449
<p>This paper qualitatively examines mixed speech styles within the context of two single-gendered white-collar Lithuania-based workplaces situated in Vilnius: an IT company and a company producing cosmetics (COSM). In Lithuanian contexts, mixed speech styles could be broadly defined as a flow of speech consisting of linguistic resources from languages other than Lithuanian (mainly English and Russian) incorporated into otherwise Lithuanian talk. The paper focuses on situated usage of mixed speech styles employed in talk at work. It aims to see how the linguistic enactment of mixed speech styles varies according to the working team and how such variation may influence the construction of participants’ complex identities. The research is based on naturally occurring recorded speech, and the method applied could be determined as ethnographically informed Interactional Sociolinguistics. The analysis shows that the two single-gendered communities of practice examined do not draw on the same non-native linguistic resources and that such dissimilar speaker choices and identity work can be predetermined by an intricate interplay of social and situational factors.</p>
Articlesmixed speechworkplace discourseidentity constructioncommunities of practiceDalia Pinkevičienė
Copyright (c) 2022 Dalia Pinkevičienė
2022-07-212022-07-21366110.15388/Taikalbot.2022.17.2Lithuanian Sign Language Poetry: Location as Mean of Expression of Metaphors
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/24321
<p>In order to solve issues in sign language linguistics, address matters pertaining to maintaining high quality of sign language (SL) translation, contribute to dispelling misconceptions about SL and deaf people, and raise awareness and understand of the deaf community heritage, this article, for the first time in a Lithuanian scientific journal, discusses authentic poetry in Lithuanian Sign Language (LSL) and inherent metaphors that are created by using the phonological parameter – location. The study covered in this article is twofold, involving both the micro-level analysis of metaphors in terms of location as a sub-lexical feature and the macro-level analysis of the poetic context. Cognitive theories underlie research of metaphors in sign language poetry in a range of sign languages. The study follows this practice. In view of the abovementioned reasons, this piece of research is new and relevant to Lithuania. The article covers qualitative analysis of 10 pieces of LSL poetry. The analysis employs ELAN software widely used in sign language research. The target is to examine how specific types of location are used for the creation of metaphors in LSL poetry and what metaphors are created. The results of the study show that LSL poetry employs a range of locations resulting in a host of metaphors created by using classifier signs and by modifying the location of the established signs. The study also reveals that LSL poetry mostly tends to create reference metaphors indicating status and power. As the study shows, LSL poets metaphorically encode status by encoding another meaning in the same sign, which results in creating double metaphors. The metaphor of identity has been determined to consist of chest signing. Notably, the poetic context has revealed that the latter metaphor can also be identified as a metaphor of life. The study goes on to note that deaf poets create metaphors related to the importance of various phenomena, significance of the lyrical subject. Notably, the study has allowed detecting locations never mentioned in previous SL research as used for the creation of metaphors. For instance, previous SL research fails to cover temporal metaphors expressed by signing in central and peripheral areas and attitudinal metaphors represented by signing near the eye. The study has also detected a sign that can be identified as a metaphor of death and that is absent in previous SL research.</p>
Articleslithuanian sign languagesign language poetrysign language metaphorsphonological levellocationAnželika Teresė
Copyright (c) 2022 Anželika Teresė
2022-03-292022-03-2993710.15388/Taikalbot.2022.17.1Metafora ir erdvė: 14 pasaulinė metaforų tyrėjų konferencija RaAM14 Vilniaus universitete
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/26417
Reviews, opinions, overviewsnoneInesa Šeškauskienė
Copyright (c) 2022 Authors
2022-02-282022-02-2816In memoriam Nidai Burneikaitei (1964–2022)
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/26418
<p> </p>
OthernoneInesa Šeškauskienė
Copyright (c) 2022 Authors
2022-02-282022-02-2878Editorial Board and Table of Contents
https://www.journals.vu.lt/taikomojikalbotyra/article/view/26293
Front MatternoneMeilutė Ramonienė
Copyright (c) 2021 Authors
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
2024-02-212024-02-211410.15388/