PORADNIK JĘZYKOWY

ISSUE 4 / 2014

ARTICLES AND DISSERTATIONS

  • Anna Żurek : Nie ma ijo haka or about language strategies in children’s speech
    The research perspective assumed in this study is derived from the theory of second language teaching and learning (L2 T/L), in which the dichotomy between learning strategies (including but not limited to cognitive strategies) and communicative strategies is an object of a heated debate. The notion of interlanguage (a certain intermediate language which is under continuous transformations) introduced by Selinker (1972) was used for the purpose of research on first language acquisition. Two types of strategies applied by pre-school children are described in this study on the basis of the collected empirical data. These are cognitive and communicative strategies. The former group of strategies is oriented directly towards the linguistic knowledge acquisition process and comprises the following phenomena: overgeneralisation, application of prefabricated linguistic patterns, replacement of one linguistic structure with another, paraphrase, multiple repetition, formation of new words and patterns. The latter, in turn, supports interpersonal communication through making attempts to interact despite linguistic shortcomings. They were divided into risk strategies (i.e. multiple repetition, asking another person for help, self-correction, and application of non-verbal signals) and avoidance strategies (phonological, lexical and semantic avoidance, change of subject and conversational avoidance). Adapting the theory of strategic speech acts to the research on child speech seems interesting and innovative since no systematic studies have occurred in Polish literature to date.
  • Barbara Boniecka : Children’s indirect and direct speech acts

    The author wishes to address children’s utterances and examine the extent to which children express their thoughts indirectly and directly, and under what circumstances they do so.

    She wants to show that indirect speech acts (proving the acquisition of communication competence) are involved in shaping child speech from the earliest years to a greater extent than direct ones, and that it can be a sign of children’s learning effective and polite speech at the same time.

  • Halina Zgółkowa : W przedszkolu jestem trochę grzeczny, a trochę niegrzeczny (I am a bit good and a bit bad at pre-school ) – about pre-school children’s linguistic etiquette
    This paper is dedicated to verbal manners of expressing politeness/impoliteness by pre-school children. The research is based on the collected corpus of authentic spontaneous utterances obtained from children. A specific correlation between speech (verbal) acts and emotional needs as well as relations between the child and the adult community is noticed. The impact of educational efforts (or the lack thereof) on manifesting politeness/impoliteness is also visible. A highly probable hypothesis about clear generational relativisation manifested by differences in children’s speech acts (including with respect to politeness/impoliteness) can be formulated. This is related to the need to collect as extensive corpuses of utterances of children representing different generations as possible and to carry out insightful comparative studies with the application of such corpora.
  • Ewa Haman, Krzysztof Fronczyk, Magdalena Łuniewska : Applying the notion of a norm to quantitative research on mental lexicon development
    This paper presents an interpretation of the notion of a norm in interdisciplinary research verging on the domains of psychology (including psychometrics), psycholinguistics and applied linguistics. The empirical descriptive norm is contrasted with the prescriptive norm, also called the postulative norm. The authors point to the need to elaborate empirical descriptive developmental norms for tests designed for the purpose of diagnosing linguistic competence in children and describe the recommended elaboration methods. The discussed issues are illustrated with examples derived from Obrazkowy Test Słownikowy – Rozumienie (Picture Vocabulary Test: Comprehension) (OTSR, Haman & Fronczyk, 2012). This test is a standardised psychometric test for assessing the passive vocabulary size in children aged 2-6. It can be useful as a component of a child’s overall language development assessment.
  • Anna Czeniek : The same school, the same class, but is the Polish language the same? – about diverse levels of acquisition of Polish among children of Polish descent on the example of essays written by children living in Great Britain
    Children of Polish descent living outside Poland acquire the Polish language to varying degrees, which results from diverse family circumstances, the number of years spent abroad, and motivation to learn the language, as well as individual learning capabilities. The author intended to demonstrate how considerable the differences among children who not infrequently go to the same class in the Saturday school might be by analysing four selected idiolects. In order to obtain as complete information about the examined persons as possible, the author decided to apply several different research techniques, such as analysis of five essays written by each student, a survey questionnaire which they completed, and a grammatical and syntactic test which they took. The results of the conducted analysis confirmed significant differences as to use of syntax between children born in England and those who have immigrated there recently. On the other hand, the examinations showed that the syntax of both groups of children was poor because the majority of them did not acquire the written variety of the language well. Moreover, in the case of the children who have recently come to the British Isles, gradual regression of competence in Polish is expected due to limited contact with the language.
  • Kinga Banderowicz : Przepona nadaje mocy słowom (...) (The diaphragm gives power to words...) – the knowledge of voice production among students of Polish studies (reconnaissance)
    Voice production is an obligatory subject for those philology students who wish to obtain teaching qualifications. The level of rudimental knowledge with this respect among students beginning their university education is the object of this paper. What became the point of departure was the questionnaire survey conducted among the respondents who did not attend phonetics and phonology classes. The survey questionnaire comprised 5 questions: How is voice produced?; What is diaphragm? What function does it fulfil in (spoken/sung) voice production?; Define voice production. What is this discipline concerned with?; How do you understand the terms ‘diction’ and ‘articulation’?; Enumerate characteristics of a wellproduced voice. The knowledge of the respondents proved to be wrong or incomplete, it reinforced common perceptions, it was simplified and grossly schematic. The results of the analysis of student statements presented in this paper can be considered interesting from the documentation point of view and valuable because they show the extreme significance of precision in explaining notions from the primary discipline. They can also serve teachers of this subject, who will work on establishing the knowledge of voice production and theory of phonetics.

OLD AND CONTEMPORARY DICTIONARIES

  • Mirosław Bańko : Samuel Bogumił Linde, Słownik języka polskiego (Dictionary of Polish), Warsaw 1807–1814

POLISH GRAMMAR

REPORTS, NOTICES, POLEMICS

  • Aleksandra Kalisz, Ewelina Tyc : Bilingualism, multilingualism and multiculturalism – opportunities and threats on the way to communication

REVIEWS

  • Przemysław Wiatrowski : Ewa Binkuńska, Higiena i emisja głosu mówionego (Spoken voice hygiene and production), Bydgoszcz 2012

EXPLANATIONS OF WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS

  • Agnieszka Piela : Hipsterscy hipsterzy w hipsterskich ciuchach się hipsterzą (Hipster hipsters hipster in hipster clothes)

WORDS AND PHRASES