Lietuvos gimnazistų kalbinės elgsenos požymiai ir perspektyva

The article discusses the most important differences in the sound structure of contemporary Lithuanian and Latvian standard languages, scientific and practical benefits of a fundamental comparative instrumental sound research, reviews possible further innovations in theories and methods of acoustic and articulatory phonetics and phonology, and perspectives as well as tasks of such research.In his monograph Comparative History of the Baltic Languages (2019), Pietro Umberto Dini observes that there is a constant decline in the synthetic structure in the Baltic language systems, most notably as a reduction of the flexural forms of the noun and verb. He argues that the Baltic languages, like all other Indo-European languages, recognise a structural development: agglutination → synthetic → isolation language. According to the author, the isolation stage of development in the Lithuanian language is just starting, and the isolation structure of the Latvian language is becoming more and more pronounced. Pietro Umberto Dini states that “from the Baltic systems, the Latvian language ‘drifts’ faster in terms of structural development, and the Lithuanian language remains the most morphologically conservative of the current Indo-European languages due to the much slower change” (Dini 2019, 577). The author, based on, for example, the growing tendency in the colloquial Lithuanian language to move the accent to the first syllable (where the accent has long been emphasised in the Latvian language), considers that analogous tendencies are observed in both languages, i.e. the Baltic languages are evolving towards convergence. The data presented in this article and the latest synchronous instrumental studies of the sounds of the Baltic languages do not confirm the convergence trends: the sound structure of the Lithuanian and Latvian languages is still quite different (cf. Urbanavičienė, Indričāne, Jaroslavienė, Grigorjevs 2019, 286; see also Jaroslavienė, Grigorjevs, Urbanavičienė, Indričāne 2019). Both Baltic languages are characterised by quantitative vowel opposition, adjective system (polytonicity), sufficiently simple structure of consonant compounds (e.g. CV and CVC syllable types make up 79% of all Lithuanian syllables, see Karosienė, Girdenis 1994, 40), the same phonological opposition of consonants (voting, modal, local). However, the Lithuanian language has a free accent, while the Latvian language has a fixed accent. One of the most important distinguishing features of the current Baltic languages is palatalization: Lithuanian language is characterised by secondary palatalization and opposition palatalised vs. unpalatalised realisation, which presupposes a twice as large inventory of consonant phonemes in the Lithuanian language and, in comparison with the Latvian language, an accurate, precise articulation of consonants.The article highlights certain similarities and differences in the sound structure of the contemporary Lithuanian and Latvian standard languages based on the latest synchronous comparative research of the Baltic sound system: two scientific monographs of the series Sounds of the Baltic Languages in the early 21st Century (Jaroslavienė, Grigorjevs, Urbanavičienė, Indričāne 2019; Urbanavičienė, Indričāne, Jaroslavienė, Grigorjevs 2019), where the sounds of Lithuanian and Latvian languages are instrumentally studied and described according to the same principles. This is an excellent basis to continue the instrumental study of the contemporary Baltic sounds (and to discuss the importance of the research) on other relevant aspects and perspectives (a few new instrumental non-comparative studies already exist, cf. Ledichova 2020); to update and highlight the practical benefits of such studies and audio recordings (by taking into account the assistance in language learning, examining standard language norms, pronunciation tendencies, the importance in medicine, developing tools and instruments for language technology and artificial intelligence), innovations and perspectives of theories and methods. It is a very important incentive to continue instrumental scientific and practical research of Lithuanian sound methodological innovations, drawing increasingly clear prospects for further research.

The family, school, and the general field of public culture affect the formation of pupils’ attitudes towards the value of the Lithuanian language. Studies into linguistic attitudes of different age pupils allow observing the trends of pupils’ values regarding the Lithuanian language and the factors affecting them. The aim of the article is (1) to analyse the prestige of the Lithuanian language in groups of schoolchildren and teenagers based on the 2018–2019 survey of pupils’ language and attitudes towards the Lithuanian language in Lithuanian schools and (2) discuss the trends in the policy of Lithuanian language teaching as one of important factors shaping the language prestige. In order to analyse the attitudes of Lithuanian schoolchildren and teenagers towards the Lithuanian language, a comparative study was carried out in the 2018–2019 academic year. In order to guarantee the reliability of the data, the study involved the major part of Lithuania; schools from six municipalities – those of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, and Druskininkai – took part in the survey. The article presents the analysis of questionnaire data obtained from 360 respondents: 105 third-formers, 128 fifth-formers, and 127 eighth-formers. Respondents of these particular ages were not selected randomly: they were primary school pupils, pupils in the first year of the basic school, and pupils completing the progymnasium. Responses obtained from the representatives of different age groups allowed observing shifts in their attitudes towards the Lithuanian language. Thus, the study material consisted of questionnaires completed by pupils in 2018–2019 and of the legal acts forming the Lithuanian language education policy. The survey was based on qualitative analysis, while the trends, correlations, and interfaces of the survey results were assessed using the quantitative method. The work is synchronic, analytical-descriptive. The study into the pupils’ attitudes towards the Lithuanian language and its prestige shows that as a deep motivating belief, the perception of language as a value is formed at younger school age. The third-formers already demonstrate a strong attitude towards the Lithuanian language concerning its usage and social value, and the impact of family, school, and teachers on the prestige of the Lithuanian language. The family has the strongest impact on the attitudes of primary school pupils’ towards the Lithuanian language, the general cultural field influences the attitudes among basic school pupils, and school influences pupils of all ages. The study revealed that the older the pupils were, the more dominant the English language they use online was. As for the after-school activities, reading books fills the major part of the Lithuanian language experience – regardless of their age, the majority of the respondents read books in Lithuanian. Thus, literature has a great impact on the development of pupils’ language and their linguistic sense. The survey results suggest that positive attitudes towards the value of the Lithuanian language of most of the pupils, especially the younger ones, are formed by parents: in the opinion of over a half of the third-formers and fifth-formers, families pay attention to the Lithuanian language used for communication. The survey results show that the pupils’ most sustainable linguistic attitude is the relationship of identity with the language: the majority of the pupils (three-fourths of the survey participants) are proud of the Lithuanian language and consider it a part of their identity regardless of their age. The comparison of the data of different-age respondents shows that the social prestige of the Lithuanian language decreases with the respondents’ age – the higher the form is, the fewer pupils think that it is necessary to know the Lithuanian language in order to enter a good gymnasium, university, or to find a good job. The analysis of educational documents regulating the process of education, the assessment of academic achievements, and the requirements for teachers’ qualification and competences shows that the provisions of the Law on Education to guarantee the quality of Lithuanian language education are not implemented through the legal acts that regulate Lithuanian language education, assessment of academic achievements, and the requirements for teachers. To sum up, it is evident that the state’s attitude to the sustainability of the Lithuanian language, the guarantee of its continuity, and the enhancement of its prestige is insufficient. It is worth noting that the pupils’ attitudes towards the Lithuanian language are influenced not only by education policy but also by the attitude of the society. Their linguistic attitudes reflect those of their families and the general public. Thus, the prestige of the language also reveals society’s attitude to itself: the status of a linguistic community closely correlates with the prestige of its language.

This chapter discusses how media use changes when everyday life undergoes change, focusing on major life transitions. I briefly introduce different perspectives on evolving media repertoires across the life course, and argue for the relevance of studying periods of destabilization and reorientation, when elements of media repertoires and modes of public connection are temporarily or more permanently transformed. I argue that easily adaptable media technologies such as smartphones tend to become more important in unsettled circumstances, as easy-to-reach for tools for new forms of self-expression, information-seeking or social contact, in accordance with shifting social roles and everyday circumstances. The primary empirical material analyzed in the chapter is a small qualitative interview study with mothers, about their media use the first year with a new-born.

This conclusion summarizes key insights from the former chapters, and highlights political dimensions of media use in digital everyday life. I particularly underline how our more digital everyday lives intensify communicative dilemmas, in which individuals in everyday settings negotiate with societal norms and power structures through their uses of media technologies. I also discuss how everyday media use connects us to different societal spheres and issues, also pointing to global challenges such as the pandemic and the climate crisis, arguing that everyday media use is key to our understandings of society. I discuss how to analyze this in media use research, emphasizing attention to processes of change and disruption.

The title ‘Seditious Spaces’ is derived from one aspect of Britain’s colonial legacy in Malaysia (formerly Malaya): the Sedition Act 1948. While colonial rule may seem like it was a long time ago, Malaysia has only been independent for sixty-one years, after 446 years of colonial rule. The things that we take for granted today, such as democracy and all the rights it implies, are some of the more ironic legacies of colonialism that some societies, such as Malaysia, have had to figure out after centuries of subjugation. While not suggesting that post-colonial regimes should not be held accountable for their actions, it is ironic to see a BBC commentator grilling the leader of a Commonwealth state about repressive laws and regulations inherited from the colonial era. (Even the term ‘Commonwealth’ is itself ironic, implying shared wealth, in reality it commonly meant a colonised country was contributing to the wealth of the metropolitan centre). This research sought to understand how the trajectory of urban development, which is shaped by the colonial legacy, has produced the contemporary geography of contention in Malaysia. Given that public space is shaped by the colonial legacy, how does it facilitate or hinder street protests as a function of democracy, which is also a vestige of colonialism? To do this, rather than going into a long discussion about notions of public sphere and public space, much of which originated from Western traditions, I used postcoloniality as a lens for the topic1. By taking the concepts as a given, the postcolonial gaze allowed me to contextualise particular Malaysian conditions. In this thesis I argued that the postcolonial narrative (democracy, modernisation, development) is ambivalent precisely because the colonial narrative itself is ambivalent; there was no real break between colonisation and the present condition. I examined three aspects in particular. Firstly, colonial architecture as a subversive ‘third space’, where independence amplified the subversive quality of colonial architecture because of the power vacuum left after the colonisers had left. Secondly, postcolonial ‘amnesia’, where certain aspects of history were conveniently forgotten or others selectively remembered in the production of space to build a hegemonic vision of society. Finally, I looked at postcolonial mimicry, where the post-colonial society imitated either the former colonial master or some other references that fit within its narrative. These notions were mapped onto public space which not only provided the backdrop for dissent but also shaped its form and practices. Protest provided a direct line for the interrogation of just how democratic postcolonial public space actually is. The mobilisations, negotiations, and potential conflicts that arise from the moment a street protest is announced reveal a lot about the politics of space as much as the event itself. Public space comprises material and discursive spaces and, at the time of writing, included social media which has become part of the infrastructure of protest. The empirical part of this research came from the Bersih 4 protest in Kuala Lumpur, which took place from 29-30 August 2015. To ground the somewhat abstract postcolonial discussion, methods (outlined below) were used to collect and analyse data. Firstly, to understand the logic behind the control and surveillance of public space I reviewed literature on how architecture and public space are produced and governed in Malaysia. Secondly, I observed protest in both digital and material public space, which means I harvested social-media data about the protest but also observed street protests in Kuala Lumpur. This informed me how protest produces space within which protesters could foster a collective identity, something that is necessary for the continuity of the protest. I then conducted a thematic analysis on a large number of tweets collected during the protest to understand how information about their places were communicated. Other protests that have taken place in Kuala Lumpur since 1998, when new media started playing a role, were also mapped; this was crucial for the understanding of the spatial patterns of the protests. By tracing the production of architecture in Malaysia we can see how the nation-building project was an ambivalent one, evidenced by how the state mapped their aspirations onto the built environment. Postcolonial amnesia is exhibited in how the Malay-Muslim identity is amplified in architecture while other identities were suppressed and only utilised when it seemed productive. Mimicry, on the other hand, can be seen in how certain architecture is created based on an imagined past, and how visions of modernity fluctuate between Occidental and Orientalist visual cues. Malaysian public space is not only a colonial legacy in terms of its material infrastructure and regulations, it also carries traces of colonial practice. Here, mimicry was manifested in how society imitated the erstwhile colonial masters in seeking to avoid the Other (due to the perception that public space is dangerous and uncomfortable, and showing that segregation had moved from one defined by ethnicity to one defined by class). The lack of a clear break between the colonial and the Neoliberal can also be seen in how public space is governed. Undesirable activity was always framed according to its potential for disrupting economic activity, indicating that public space was perceived as being useful only for production and consumption, not for the performance of citizenship. An urban-planning assessment of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (the seat of the postcolonial government) was carried out to see which place could better support protest. Accessibility, land-use patterns, and urban form were all aspects of the city that were decided upon at the urban-planning level and throught to influence the probability of protest taking place. This indicates that a city can be designed to support or hinder the performance of democracy. I found that Kuala Lumpur, founded during the colonial era, was actually more supportive of protest activities than Putrajaya, a city purpose built by the newly independent democratic regime. Analysis based on data collected around Bersih 4 was organised into four themes. I first examined how protest produces space. I did this by tracing how the collective identity, already formed by previous Bersih protests, was cultivated on social media in order to mobilise protesters to take to the streets. The act of converging in the same space and performing these spatial choreographies (marching, knowledge-sharing, occupation) further enhanced the collective identity. Images and descriptions of what took place on the streets then travelled through social media which in turn propelled events in the public space. While protest is shaped by the materiality of the urban environment, protest also produces space. Secondly, a reading of the space revealed the interplay between symbolic places and the spaces of everyday life. Protests are shaped by the existing materiality of space, which the authorities could further control by putting up extra measures. Due to this, Bersih 4 ended up occupying the intersection between symbolic and institutional places and spaces of everyday life. The polite restraint shown by Bersih 4 (in not entering Dataran Merdeka – which was barred to them) served to amplify the distance between the state and the people, further magnified by the fact that the protest coincided with Independence Day (31 August). The junction that Bersih occupied was teeming with people throughout the occupation but Dataran Merdeka was left empty and silent on the eve of the Independence Day commemoration. On the other hand, a thematic analysis of tweets revealed that most of those that mentioned geographical places were inflammatory in nature, in the sense that they were urging people to join the protest. Therefore, while the state could construct the symbolism of the space, it does not mean that the space is viewed in a similar way by the people, which means, in turn, that it can be rewritten. This is one way in which the subversiveness of colonial architecture was manifested. Thirdly, I found that the control of digital and material space was symmetrical. This can be seen in three ways: One, how regulations of both spaces can be used to suppress dissent; Two, how access to space can be blocked, either by blocking certain websites or platforms, or by limiting the access to the material public space; and Three, bottom‑up disruptions – while the Red Shirts disrupted Bersih’s performativity in the material public space, cybertroopers were disrupting protest exchanges on Twitter. Finally, the digital and spatial divide between Bersih and its opponents. The digital divide was not defined by degrees of expertise, but, rather, it revealed a differing logic of operation based on norms shaped by what was available to these different parties. Geographically, it revealed the difference between experience of organising protests for a collective cause versus a lack of experience (compounded by racist motivations). What this indicated was that the cleavage does not only run along communal lines, is also political. The research showed how the production of the Malaysian built environment is ambivalent, as is evidenced by the traces of amnesia and mimicry found in the narrative, where identities are grafted onto projections of modernity. Putrajaya shows that there is a disconnect between what the regime claims itself to be, a democracy, and the city it builds. What Putrajaya seems to demonstrate (ironically, as the seat of a democratic government) is how urban planning can be used to design a city so that it does not support the performance of democracy. It is also ironic how Kuala Lumpur, a city founded during the colonial period, is now more accommodating to street protest, cem

This research analyzes the characteristics of Emirati Generation Z, millennials, and baby boomers, and the influence of social media to explain linguistic changes in the UAE. To do so, we administered a questionnaire containing 100 English words commonly used in Emirati Arabic; We have classified the types of English words and expressions used by the three generation cohorts. Participants also responded to a qualitative questionnaire, concerning the role that English played during the pandemic, Emiratis’ behavior towards social media, and their viewpoint regarding the influence of English in Emirati Arabic. Results showed that Generation Z uses more English words and expressions than the other two generations. Generation Z attended bilingual education in English and Arabic since primary school whereas most millennials and all baby boomers attended school exclusively in Arabic. We have examined that social media contributed to more English words in Emirati Arabic and determined the reasons why Generation G prefers to use English on social media and in their daily lives. We could conclude that Generation Z and most millennials see English positively and as inevitable progress in a globalized world while baby boomers see it as a threat to their language and culture. Generation Z also outperformed the other two generations regarding the pronunciation of words in English when speaking Emirati Arabic.

Teaching & Learning Guide for: Social Psychology and Media: Critical Consideration

Lithuania’s national language policy has been a frequently discussed topic in the broad Lithuanian society over the recent years. Due to this, it has been made known that Lithuania’s national language policy is an issue that is currently significant to various members of the speech community. Understanding how a speech community views and accepts their country’s national language policy is crucial in developing that policy well and having the community embrace it. The aim of the research presented in this article was to assess Lithuanian students’ attitudes towards the country’s current national language policy and the standard Lithuanian language. A qualitative questionnaire, which 125 respondents participated in, was conducted to reach this aim. The analysis of the students’ language attitudes revealed that they tended to view the standard language as highly prestigious and to associate the use of this language variant with socially admirable cognitive qualities (especially with formal education though preconceptions about the personality qualities of such speakers were differentiated, either negative or positive. The students tended to associate the use of non-standard written language forms (colloquially called ‘language mistakes’) with socially unadmirable cognitive qualities (especially a lack of formal education) though they also tended to normalise it and not express strong negative attitudes towards such persons. The students tended to express neutral attitudes towards the current national Lithuanian language standardisation; however, they also named more negative aspects of the current national standardisation practices than positive ones, mainly centered around a perceived dissonance between standard forms and language forms widely used by the speech community, stagnation of national language standardisation processes, as well as excessive or unfunctional translation of foreign terms. The students’ attitudes towards national language standardisation were found to be positively related to their aesthetic attitudes towards the standard language. Positive attitudes regarding the matter were also more prevalent in female research participants and philology students (especially in students of Lithuanian philology). However, the students that had had experience in professional text editing tended to express more negative attitudes. The research presented in this article may be useful in the efforts to improve Lithuania’s national language policy, as well as in the development of further research on the Lithuanian speech community members’ language attitudes.

Background: Among twins, lower linguistic skills emerged when compared with singletons. Considering the association found between parental linguistic input and children's language development, exploring the differences between twins and singletons' linguistic environments could find variables that are potentially associated with the lower linguistic skills of twins.Aim: The current systematic review aims to analyze and systematize the existing literature focused on the comparison of twins' and singletons' linguistic environments within their first 3 years of life. Methodological issues (i.e., the procedure used to assess the linguistic environment, the coding of the linguistic environment's features, the computational method employed to assess the parental linguistic input, and participant characteristics) and differences found among twins and singletons regarding their linguistic environment (i.e., linguistic input quantity, linguistic input complexity, linguistic features of child-directed speech, parental responsiveness, and directiveness, joint attention, and book reading) were highlighted.Method: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement was followed. Eligible studies were searched through EBSCO, PubMed, and Web of Science. From this search, 1,347 study results emerged, and 8 studies were included.Results: To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review focused on the comparison of twins' and singletons' linguistic environments. Differences between the groups were found in all of the included studies. Data against twins were generally identified regarding all the considered linguistic environment's features. However, conflicting results within and between the included studies emerged, mainly according to the computational method employed (i.e., twin moms value, twin direct dyadic value, twin direct dyadic + both value, and input directed toward both children simultaneously).Conclusion: The disadvantaged linguistic environment of twins is likely due to limited parental resources and demands associated with the management of two children of the same age. However, the limited and conflicting data found did not allow for a firm conclusion to be drawn on the differences in the twins' and singletons' linguistic environments. Further studies on the topic are needed.

We shall soon be nothing but transparent heaps of jelly to each other

This research aimed to investigate Indonesian junior high school students' interest in reading books in the digital era, the factors that influence their interest, and the teacher's efforts to increase their interest in reading books in the digital era. The participants of this study were the students and the English teacher of VIII A and VIII B classes of MTs Muhammadiyah 2 Kalijambe Sragen in the academic year 2021/2022. The researcher used a mixed-method research design using quantitative and qualitative data and analysis. The data were collected through interviews and observations. The results revealed that the students' interest in reading books in the digital era was 31%. Several factors influenced the students' interest in reading books, both internal and external. The students' willingness and laziness/boredom were revealed as the internal factors, while the external factors were gadgets, the types of text or reading materials, and free time. The teacher's efforts to increase the students' interest in reading were by providing interesting books, having reading activities together, creating a comfortable place and atmosphere, and analyzing texts together. This study implies the prominent role of a teacher in increasing students' interest in reading books.

The characteristics of social media and its interactivity propelled it to become an eminent medium of marketing for most business organisations, including SMEs. However, SMEs in the hospitality and tourism industry, such as budget accommodations, hardly utilise social media as their marketing medium. Thus, this study investigates factors influencing budget accommodation owners in utilising social media as their marketing medium since digital promotion remains underexplored in SMEs. The current study adopts an expanded research model consisting of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT), where 300 respondents were selected and assessed using the convenience sampling technique. An analysis of Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the research model. Research analysis revealed that the exogenous constructs refer to the internal factor, while external and technology factors jointly explained 71.6% variance of the endogenous construct of social media acceptance. External and technological factors positively and significantly affect social media marketing acceptance among budget accommodation. However, internal factors show insignificant effects. The analysis of mediating effects illustrated that technological factors greatly mediate both internal and external factors on social media marketing acceptance among budget accommodation. In conclusion, the findings of this study provide useful insights into the perspectives of budget accommodation owners in social media marketing, which indirectly contributes to the development of the nation’s tourism industry and economic growth. Keywords: SMEs, budget accommodation, social media acceptance, TAM, IDT.

Stem cell science should be tweeted.

Language standardization ideology prevailing in most European countries sustains a lower social value of dialects in comparison to the standard language. The linguistic variety of social elite, media, public administration, and public use – the standard language – is often rated as ideal or at least more adequate for most domains of language use than local dialects. This paper investigates the situation in Lithuania, analyzes linguistic attitudes towards dialects of upper-secondary school students in Lithuanian cities. The data gathered in the context of the project “Lithuanian language: ideals, ideologies and identity shifts, 2010-2013” group discussions organized in schools of nine Lithuanian cities (Alytus, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Marijampolė, Panevėžys, Šiauliai, Telšiai, Utena and Vilnius) as well as the experimental data, is analyzed for the social value of Lithuanian dialects. The research revealed both overt and covert prestige of dialects. The overtly declared prestige of a dialect is weak and the social value is lower when comparing to the standard language. Moreover, the usage of a dialect is fairly strictly limited and involving only a private sphere, non-official communication. On the other hand, an indirect evaluation when describing stereotypical characteristics of a dialect speaker has shown a rather positive covert prestige of the dialects. Even though dialect speakers are not distinguished by a superior status or social power and are most often seen as coming from a rural environment, which is not modern and associated with old traditions, social attractiveness of a dialect speaker is specifically emphasised, also the dimension of social solidarity and resistance to standardization associated with a dialect is highlighted. The results of the research point out some tendencies of the (not yet extinguished) vitality of dialects.

Government Surveillance and Counter-Surveillance on Social and Mobile Media: The Case of Iran (2009)