Language Literature Research Articles

Izloksnes morfoloģisko īpatnību daudzveidība mūsdienu tekstos: „Rucavas sievu stāsti” (2023)

The book “Rucavas sievu stāsti” (Rucava Women’s Stories, 2023) reflects the intangible cultural heritage of the Rucava cultural space, revealing various kinds of traditional knowledge and craft skills. It is written in the modern Rucava subdialect, so there are parallel variations in the use of words and inflexions. It means that both literary forms and dialectal features are used. The article aims to clarify the morphological characteristics of nouns, pronouns and numerals in the book “Rucavas sievu stāsti”. The object of the study is 50 stories, which were evaluated for the morphological means used to depict the contemporary Rucava subdialect. The main research methods used in the study are analytical and comparative methods. Various examples of inflective word classes were extracted from the linguistic material. The comparative method was used to identify the intensity of the use of literary language forms and dialectal features, to collect the data on which morphological language means dominate in the texts, and to find out the proportions of language means. The study concludes that the proportions of morphological forms of the subdialect in relation to the literary language are different. There are cases when certain archaic forms are predominant over the literary language variant, e.g. ē-stems of the nouns, the indeclinable pronouns mana, sava. However, there are cases where an ancient morphological or inflectional form is not used in the text when reproducing the language of a modern subdialect. The different proportions of archaic forms in relation to literary language, their density, and predominance or loss in contemporary spoken and written language may be related to the particular author’s sense of subdialect, description of an event, and representation of an experience. The use of dialectal features in the book creates a lively and joyful atmosphere, revealing the knowledge and skills of Rucava women in various crafts.

Pasīva formas un to lietojums Lejaskurzemes izloksnēs

The passive has not received much attention in studying the verbal system of Latvian sub-dialects: it is rarely mentioned except in the context of the choice of auxiliary verbs. The basis of the classification of the passive used in the article is the semantics of the auxiliary verbs tikt and būt: passive constructions with tikt have the meaning of process (dynamic passive), passive constructions with būt – the meaning of result and state (static passive). The article aims to describe the dynamic and static passive constructions with the past passive participle and the features of their use based on the published and collected data of the Lower Kurzeme dialects of the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century. Sources of the research: manuscripts from the Latvian Dialect Atlas survey of 12 Lower Kurzeme sub-dialects, Kurzeme Institute of Humanities of Liepāja University and the Institute of Latvian Language of the University of Latvia collections of the 2nd half of the 20th century and the 21st-century texts from Lower Kurzeme. The study concludes that, in the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century, static passive constructions in the present or past dominate in the Lower Kurzeme sub-dialects texts. The static passive present is used both with the auxiliary verb (ir // i) and without the auxiliary verb, while the auxiliary verb in the past is manifested by the shortening of the 3rd person form (bija > bij > bi) characteristic of Lower Kurzeme sub-dialects. The passive of the direct object is the most frequent, and the order of its components varies depending on the speech situation and context; therefore, it is impossible to determine the dominant order of the components. The answers to the survey of the Latvian Dialect Atlas confirm that the dominant auxiliary verb of the dynamic passive in Lower Kurzeme in the middle of the 20th century is tikt, although the use of the auxiliary verbs tapt and nākt is not unknown in parts of the area. In the analysed texts from the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century, the use of the dynamic passive is rare: the present and past with the auxiliary verb tikt have been found, the auxiliary verb tapt has not been found, and only in a few cases nākt has been used. All the passive forms recorded in the passive paradigm of literary language are potentially possible in the sub-dialects of Lower Kurzeme; however, as in literary language, some are rarely used.

Metamodern Subject: Towards Metaxy and Fragmentation

The very last quarter of the century is characterised by a large-scale and deep-seated changes which distinguish it from the postmodern epoch. This is in part due to globalisation that has remolded the economic, social and cultural space. Those unprecedented alterations manifest themselves in all areas of human life as the key features of the contemporary cultural landscape. One of its mains, which must not be treated with eyes wide shut, is the reemerged subject that should be taken neither as the old modern nor the postmodern one as it encompasses no transcendental explanations. Concepts like identity, selfhood and subjectivity might continuously be dismantled and deconstructed.The fact that the theme of identity is engaged as an episteme to delineate metamodernist novelists’ conceptions can seem as if snappishly chosen, yet this is not the case. The question comes as follows: why exactly the theme of identity is singled out among others, particularly in metamodernist literature? The thematic should be considered within the historical context of metamodernism, which is not by chance coincided with the twenty-first century transformations. Identity has been one of the debatable issues among scholars from different disciplines since antiquity; it has never been cartelised by a certain discipline or field. However, more than ever before, new-fangled technologies at the turn of the twenty century have made identity a pinnacle compared to other themes. The first-time changes, which have resulted from the rise of technologies, and new forms of communication, have overlapped with the new sensitivity of 'metamodernism. As long as the centrality of language in literary works and linguistics as the study of language has the authority to study literature, the paper adopted linguistic analysis, notably stylistics. By virtue of the latter, it is argued that literary writers, namely metamodernist novelists have contributed to such an exchange over identity. Through a microscopic analysis of forms, functions, and meanings of literary language in a systematic way, it is asserted that the influx, hence, of values, morals, behaviours, and the multiple, fragmented and oscillating self is unequivocally exhibited in the metamodernist novels.

A New Path to Enhance Students' Comprehensive Language Literacy based on Intelligent Language Laboratory

With the acceleration of globalization and the rapid development of information technology, the enhancement of language ability has become an important part of students' comprehensive literacy. This paper discusses the concept of “Intelligent Language Laboratory” and its application in improving students' comprehensive language literacy. By integrating modern information technology, language learning theory and teaching practice, the Smart Language Lab provides an interactive and personalized language learning environment for students. The study shows that the laboratory can effectively improve students' language expression, listening and speaking skills and cross-cultural communication skills, thus opening up a new path for cultivating comprehensively developed language talents.

The Longitudinal Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Literacy Acquisition in Low-SES/High-SES Monolingual Children and Low-SES Bilingual Children

In the present study, we applied a two-year longitudinal design to examine the reading and spelling acquisition of primary school students during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis among three groups with different linguistic conditions and socioeconomic status (SES): low-SES and high-SES monolinguals, and low-SES bilingual children (minority language). Reading speed and spelling errors were examined at the beginning of second grade in fall 2019 (pre-pandemic phase) and tested again, with standardised tests, two years later in fall 2021 (post-pandemic phase) when children attended fourth grade. The results showed that, on average, all the children increased both their reading speed and spelling skills. With respect to the role of the COVID-19 pandemic on basic literacy, we cannot broadly conclude that it hampered literacy, given that all groups (regardless of their linguistic condition) showed development in reading and spelling. However, it is worth mentioning that, in light of the qualitative comparison to the norm, spelling accuracy is noticeably lower in low-SES bilinguals than in monolinguals, whereas reading speed is comparable to the standardised value and does not differ significantly between monolinguals and bilinguals. The results contribute to the debate on the interaction between SES and language literacy acquisition in minority languages, particularly under unique conditions such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Periodization of the Armenian Language in Connection with the History of Its Native Speakers

Modern linguistics interprets the concept of language development as the development of its grammatical factors and lexical composition, which is actually characteristic of its literary version. The concept of language development in its dialects, which is studied in the courses of dialectology and historical dialectology, is interpreted as "gradual and consistent changes" occurring in dialects, which leads to their consistent death under the influence of literary language in connection with consolidating political and economic processes. The article shows that the development of a language as a set of its dialects occurs mainly outside of connection with the development of literary norms and the development of dialects does not lead to their disappearance. The development of the language in its dialects (not a literary language!) is the real history of the development of the national language in connection with the history of its native speakers, which is shown by the example of Armenian. The problem is being raised so fundamentally for the first time and may cause serious objections, as well as become the beginning of a new approach to the study of the history of the language.

Assessing Computational Literacy in First Language (L1) Teaching

This article addresses the multifaceted challenges of assessing computational literacy (CL) within the context of first language (L1) teaching. The article commences by examining the theoretical foundations and the need for an expanded understanding of CL, moving beyond the popular notion of computational thinking (CT). We then present an example from a 5th-grade classroom in a Danish middle school to illustrate how pupils integrate computational skills into their writing practices through a design-based intervention. Subsequent to this example, we propose a cross-disciplinary framework designed to assess CL in L1 settings, focusing on four principles that bridge traditional language arts with computational approaches. Finally, we reflect on how the application of these principles can help formulate new learning goals that better align with the emerging demands of 21st-century education. Throughout the article, we argue that a CL approach provides a more socially rooted and context-sensitive method for integrating computational methods into non-computer science subjects, offering theoretical clarity and practical benefits for both educators and researchers alike. The article commences with a discussion of the CL approach related to assessment.

Grammatical Features of Azerbaijani Words Taken from English

Along with the terms borrowed from English, grammatical elements and suffixes were also included, and as a morpheme could not be used independently in word creation, it acquired a new derivational feature in the composition of individual words. Since English and Azerbaijani are languages with different systems, the transfer of words from one language to another requires its adaptation to norm sources. Therefore, the borrowings that entered the lexical system of the Azerbaijani language through the English language are adapted to the historically formed literary language laws of the Azerbaijani language and were used in the Azerbaijani language in the form of the source language without undergoing any changes.

«Языковая личность» - понятие и роль в современном мире

Relevance: In recent years, the Russian Federation has paid close attention to the official activities of employees of the internal affairs bodies from authorities, public organizations and institutions, and the population. First of all, we are talking about the observance by the employees of the internal affairs bodies of the norms of morality and ethics, rules of conduct in everyday life and speech culture. State policy determines the main areas of activity of the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation. Thus, in the decisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation it has been repeatedly noted that the successful solution of the tasks facing the internal affairs bodies largely depends on the level of training of the personnel. Fostering high civic, professional, psychological and moral qualities in employees, as well as the formation of a high professional culture, one of the key competencies of which is proficiency in language as a means of communication, strengthening the authority of the internal affairs bodies in society, increasing the prestige of the service are priority goals in the activities of the police and are regulated by the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated December 25, 2020 No. 900 "Issues of organizing moral and psychological support for the activities of the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation". Therefore, the problem of general language processes occurring in the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation at present leads to the need to study the features of communication underlying official activity, and therefore to its creator - the "linguistic personality". Statement of the problem: The article considers the issues of state support for traditional values ​​in the Russian Federation, the need to protect the norms of the Russian literary language, the role of language in human life. What are the features of the "linguistic personality"? One of the important conditions for the formation of a person's pedagogical culture is the study of pedagogical thought that has gone through a centuries-old historical path. The article considers the main and most significant stages in the development of the education system in the world, as well as domestic pedagogy, the founder of which is K.D. Ushinsky. Purpose of the study: clarification of the definition of "linguistic personality" based on the presented basic concepts of "linguistic personality" formed in world linguistics. Research methods: analysis of modern scientific definitions of the concepts of "personality", "linguistic personality", generalization of the results obtained. Results and key findings: the conducted research allowed us to formulate and propose the author's definition of the concept of "linguistic personality", which is proposed to be understood as a bearer of cultural and linguistic values, endowed with will and aspirations, moods and assessments, and also fully using language in business communication, professional activities and in everyday life.

On the relations between the grammatical codifications of the serbian and ‘illyrian’ literary languages by Karadžić (1818) and Babukić (1836): plagiarism and adaptation

Contemporary debates regarding whether or not the Croatian literary language is equal to the Serbian literary language seldom touch upon the matter of the Illyrian national revival and its organiser, Ljudevit Gaj (German: Ludwig von Gay). Their Illyrian literary language, whose purpose was to become the common literary language of all Southern Slavs, was codified in Zagreb in the Osnova slovnice slavjanske narěčja ilirskoga by the Croatian linguist Vjekoslav Babukić, first published in the mouthpiece of the Illyrian movement Danica ilirska in 1836. This short grammatical sketch corresponds to Karadžić’s grammar in his dictionary Српски рјечник (1818) far more than it does not, and this fact is dealt with awkwardly in the histories of the Croatian language. In essence, the differences in Babukić’s text with respect to the source text consist in Slovene-Kajkavian lexemes and grammatemes, but they are not great in number. In this article, we propose to analyse the claim that Babukić’s short grammatical sketch constitutes a case of plagiarism and of adaptation with regard to the grammar appended to Karadžić’s dictionary, as seen through the scientific literature covering the Illyrian National Movement.

Distant-Reading Communities: Monolingualisation in Fin-de-Siècle European Literary Historiography

Abstract A return to earlier forms of distant reading multilingual corpora allows us to reflect on the monolingual authorial position that manages and mediates the language diversity and linguistic specificity (literariness) of multilingual corpora with the objective of fostering supranational (imagined) communities of readers (Anderson, 1983). Revisiting the distant-reading practices of fin-de-siècle Britain can help us identify historiographical focal points and priorities, provide an understanding of the scope and circumference of the corpus, and reveal the conceptions of gain and loss perceived as integral to distant reading. The tension between enrichment and dispossession inherent in the practice of literary historiography is acute when it comes to multilingual corpora, compiled to facilitate a crossing and re-weaving of the boundaries of language, understanding, and community. In the 12-volume series Periods of European Literature, edited and, in part, written by the journalist, literary historian, and Chair of Rhetoric and English Literature at Edinburgh University, George Saintsbury (1845–1933), Anglophone comparatists represent the multilingual corpora of exemplar works, gauging the necessity for, or dispensability of, translation, and managing the “great unread”, which, in this case, equates the “great unreadable”. In their desire to build imagined communities of readers of European literature, Saintsbury and his contributors tend to operate in a monolingual supralinguistic sphere in which languages, authors, and works are named, passages are occasionally quoted, but in which no reading of literature, neither on the side of the comparatist, nor of the reader, takes place. Literary language is thus only tangentially part of literary historiography.

Who’s Afraid of Jadidism?: Reckoning with the Legacy of a Cold War Paradigm

Abstract Since the 1990s, scholars in the fields of Central Asian, Volga-Ural, North and South Caucasian, and Crimean history have debated the role of Jadidism in the study of the history of Muslim societies under Russia imperial rule. The concept of Jadidism – variously described as a program for teaching literacy in Turkic languages, a set of educational reforms, and a movement advocating a broad range of cultural, social, and legal reforms designed to “modernize” Muslim communities – made its first appearances in Soviet historiography in the 1920s–1930s. In the 1960s, as the Cold War reached new heights, the Jadid paradigm made its way into English- and French-language historical studies, whence it became the primary lens through which Western audiences encountered and interpreted the histories of Muslims in late imperial Russia. The opening of archival and library collections following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the embrace of new theories and paradigms in Russian studies broke the hold of the Jadid paradigm over Western scholarship. At the same time, a series of heated disputes began over the legacy of the Jadid paradigm and how best to research the intellectual history of Russia’s Muslims in a post-Cold War context. In this essay, I will present a history of the rise and fall of the old Jadid paradigm in European and American scholarship. I will consider how the study of Central Asian intellectual history has evolved since the paradigm’s decline and what this evolution and the contributions to this journal issue suggest about how historians can continue to examine the nature, extent, and meaning of Muslim reform movements without reviving the old Jadid paradigm.

The interplay of conceptualization and case marking in the directional cases of Udmurt

Abstract In this paper I discuss the variation among the directional cases in Udmurt (Permic, Uralic). Udmurt has a spatial case system consisting of seven cases in total, of which four are directional cases. Two of the directional cases, elative and egressive, express the source of an action, and two, illative and terminative, the goal of an action. Previous accounts have established that the distinguishing factor between the pairs is the expression of some limit. Egressive and terminative are used to express beginning and end limit, respectively, whereas elative and illative are seen not to express a limit. This kind of distinction in a spatial case system is typologically extremely rare. Especially a case dedicated for starting limit seems not to be attested anywhere else than in the Permic languages, Udmurt, and its closes relative Komi. The explanation for the variation between the cases given in previous research, namely that egressive and terminative express a limit, whereas elative and illative do not, seems not to be general enough, however. Especially, in the spatial domain there are examples where, e.g., illative is said to express the endpoint of movement, and terminative the end limit of a movement, but the depicted situations seem basically identical. Therefore, I suggest that there is a more general tendency of using the limit cases to construe an event as bounded from the beginning or the end, respectively, whereas the non-limit cases is used when the construal does not include a boundary of the event, or the boundary is backgrounded. To explore this possibility, I conduct a qualitative analysis of the senses of each case, as well as a quantitative analysis exploring the effects of different aspects of verbal semantics on the choice between the limit and non-limit cases in the spatial domain. The dataset is 500 manually annotated and analyzed examples of Udmurt literary language, mostly newspaper texts. The process is done manually, as the automatic annotation of the original corpus yields too many false positives when queried for instances of cases. The qualitative analysis is conducted by the Principled Polysemy approach, which yields reliable results on the semantic structure of spatial elements in general. The quantitative analysis is done by implementing a random forest analysis on the dataset. Random forest is chosen for the method because the dataset is somewhat small, and the data points cannot be considered independent. The qualitative analysis reveals that the limit cases are indeed used to express senses like the beginning or end of a timespan or a change in amount, which seem to incorporate a boundary of the event. In contrast, the non-limit cases are used to express senses where the boundary is implied but backgrounded. The quantitative analysis reveals that the semantics of the verb indeed do play a role in the choice between the limit and non-limit cases in the spatial domain. However, due to the nature of the data and the chosen methodology it is not possible to say how exactly the semantics of the verb affect the choice between cases. Nonetheless, the results firmly point to the direction that the difference between the limit and non-limit cases should be analyzed as a difference in the construal of the events, which then have special cases depending on the exact situation expressed.

Students' Difficulties in Spelling Vowels: Case Study

This paper aims to reflect the difficulties students have in spelling the vowels of the Albanian language. The unified spelling of a language, in our case the Albanian language, is an expression of the crystallization of the national literary norm in all the main links of the phonetic, grammatical, word-forming and lexical structure. It reflects the current state and general trends of the development of our literary language. Given that the basic principle of Albanian spelling is the phonetic principle and seeing the constant spelling errors of Albanian speakers in the use of vowels, we conducted research with primary school students in rural areas, to see the most common errors frequency in vowel spelling. Our goal was to see the differences between students whose parents have primary education and those with higher education. Through this research we have also seen the reasons that lead to the impossibility of writing correctly and how the vowels should be written in different words. Our hypothesis is that children of parents with primary education make more mistakes in vowel spelling than children of parents with high education. We have conducted the research through the theoretical, comparative method, distribution of questionnaires and data analysis. The results have shown that parents' education does not affect children's knowledge of spelling. Received: 27 August 2024 / Accepted: 28 October 2024 / Published: 05 November 2024

Literacy (development) in regional collateral languages of Europe – introduction to the special issue of the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

ABSTRACT This introduction provides the theoretical context of the Special Issue on Literacy Development in Regional Collateral Languages of Europe and an overview of the papers in the collection. For this end, it first discusses contemporary perceptions of the terms ‘literacy’ and ‘literacies’. These go far beyond traditional understandings, even though expressing one's thoughts through writing texts and meaning-making through reading are still at the core of literacies. Then, readers are introduced to the concept and the ideological contexts of ‘regional collateral languages’: These are varieties which are, on the one hand, structurally and ideologically closely related, or ‘collateral’, to major languages, often the main languages of nation states. On the other hand, they are deeply rooted in their regions; the paper therefore argues that they deserve specific attention along the lines of other efforts to maintain and develop autochthonous varieties. Finally, the introduction summarises the papers which focus on Scots in Scotland, Low German in Germany, Csángo in Romania, Silesian, Masurian, and Kashubian in Poland, Võro in Estonian, and Latgalian in Latvia, before identifying common denominators of the case studies and possible topics for future research.

EXPLORING THE ROLE OF L1 LITERACY SKILLS IN L2 READING COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT AMONG SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN GHANA

This study investigated the relationship between first language (L1) literacy skills and second language (L2) reading comprehension and vocabulary development among students in Ghana. The study was grounded in Cummin’s (1970) Linguistic Interdependence Theory (LIT). The qualitative approach was adopted, and three instruments- focus group discussions, interviews and classroom observations- were used to obtain data from the sample of 300 secondary school students and 40 teachers. The researcher assessed participants' views in L1 literacy domains (phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, and reading fluency) as well as their views on L2 (English) reading comprehension and vocabulary. The findings revealed a significant positive correlation between students' L1 literacy skills and their achievement in L2 reading comprehension and vocabulary. Those with more advanced abilities in their native language consistently demonstrated higher levels of reading comprehension and broader English vocabulary knowledge. This underscores the critical role of strong foundational literacy in the first language as a precursor to successful second language acquisition. The study also identified key instructional strategies that could help bridge the gap for ESL learners, such as explicit instruction in L1 literacy, structured opportunities for cross-linguistic transfer, and the incorporation of culturally relevant, mother-tongue materials into the curriculum. The implications of these findings for policymakers, curriculum designers, and teachers working to improve educational outcomes for linguistically diverse student populations are discussed.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0799/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Science in the Language of the Heart: Ukrainian Language and Literature in the New Ukrainiian School as a Driver of STEM Development

The article outlines the pathways for integrating STEM disciplines into the planning of Ukrainian language and literature lessons in secondary education institutions within the framework of the New Ukrainian School. It substantiates the growing need for interdisciplinary approaches that foster the development of core competencies while considering the advantages, potential risks, and limitations of the proposed methods. The emphasis is placed on the importance of combining humanities with natural and mathematical sciences to enhance students' understanding of a holistic worldview, illustrating the need to avoid focusing solely on one aspect of development (so-called «humanitarians» and «technocrats»). The article offers theoretical and practical recommendations for developing STEM projects that engage students in creative literary exploration through applying scientific principles and doctrines. The effective combination of STEM education principles with the field of philology enables the creation of a dynamic and effective educational environment where students perceive the interconnectedness of knowledge, develop a well-rounded intellect, and receive foundational preparation for higher education. Methods of linguistic analysis of scientific texts are discussed, demonstrating how language skills can be enhanced through scientific discourse. To illustrate the material, approximate schemes for planning integrated lessons with specific examples from both linguistic-literary and scientific perspectives are provided. To improve understanding and engagement of modern students, emphasis is placed on using digital tools and platforms that ensure integration, including online resources, interactive modeling, multimedia content and artificial intelligence. The necessity for alignment among educators of various disciplines is evident to ensure a fair assessment of proficiency in the state language and scientific literacy, which is a crucial issue during wartime when language matters become increasingly prominent, alongside scientific and mathematical literacy, for building an intellectually developed country.

Sign language recognition using convolutional neural network

: Sign language detection plays a vital role in enhancing accessibility, communication, and inclusion for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. It is an essential tool that facilitates smooth communication in various environments, such as schools, workplaces, healthcare settings, and daily interactions. By accurately identifying and interpreting sign language gestures, this technology helps bridge communication barriers between sign language users and those unfamiliar with it, ensuring equal access to information and services. In education, this technology supports language learning, literacy, and academic achievement for deaf students. In healthcare, reliable sign language detection ensures that medical information and consultations are conveyed clearly, improving care quality for deaf patients. In the workplace, it promotes inclusivity by enabling effective communication between deaf employees, their colleagues, and clients, fostering equal opportunities and professional growth. Additionally, during emergencies, this technology can save lives by facilitating swift and precise communication between emergency responders and deaf individuals. When incorporated into assistive technologies, sign language detection enables deaf individuals to independently handle everyday tasks, such as accessing digital content, using smart devices, and engaging in online interactions.

Perceptions of Conditions that Characterize Projects as a Development Strategy: A Phenomenographical Study of Eleven Swedish Preschool Development Projects

AbstractThe present study focuses joint school and university development work in preschool-projects try to increase educational quality. The aim of this study was to explore perceived conditions and perceptions of projects among participants in development projects in eleven preschools. In addition, we were interested in the perceived outcomes of the projects. All projects were aimed at strengthening the preschool principal’s and staff’s competence regarding children’s language and emergent literacy development. The studied projects lasted up to three years. The results are based on phenomenographical analyses of thirteen focus group interviews with principals and staff, including eighty-eight participants, during the project period. Follow-up interviews were conducted with twenty-four representatives from the participating preschools one year after the closure of the projects. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Field notes from visits in the preschools contributed to the empirical material. Our findings indicate that the perceptions of a project, contributed to the understanding of a project as loaded with expectations that the development project is limited in time and that it will add extra-curricular work demanding extra resources, which led to the perception that when the project is over, development work is over. The word project, thus, per se functioned as a limiting factor, if on-going development work, was aimed for. Lack of anchoring the development work in the local context was perceived as problematic, with effects for the participants’ experience of agency. Furthermore, difficulties in managing large staff turnover during the project was perceived to cause the development work to come to a stand-still. Active leadership, and shared responsibility were perceived as favorable factors for the progress of the development work. Our conclusions encompass participants’ perceptions of adjustment to the local context, shared responsibility and seeing development work as exceeding time limits as vital components of successful development work.

Difficulties in translating youth slang from English into Russian

This paper discusses youth slang in the English language. The subject of the study is a number of difficulties in adapting and translating youth slang into Russian. The research material was based on slang units from the film «8 Mile», which are most often found on the Internet. For a complete analysis and understanding of the phenomenon being studied our own definition of the concept of «slang» is presented and the main difficulties of translation are highlighted. The functions of youth slang are regulated by standards. They, unlike a literary language, do not have a written encoding and live in the minds of native speakers. For a comprehensive and detailed description theoretical research methods and a comparison method were used. The selection of material was carried out using the continuous sampling method. This article aims to show different definitions of slang, an attempt is made to give our own definition of the concept of slang and to highlight the main problems that can mislead a novice translator when translating such lexical units. The novelty and significance of this paper are due to the complexity of the correct transmission of American youth slang, which is one of the most interesting language systems of modern linguistics. The following works that formed the basis of this scientific research should be mentioned. The theoretical basis of this article is the research of E. Partridge, I. R. Galperin, V. A. Khomyakov, I. V. Arnold. They managed to find a theoretical basis for the concept of slang. In the practical part, methods for describing slang units were used: comparative analysis, generalization, induction, continuous sampling. The research material was based on slang units from the Curtis Hanson film «8 Mile» with Eminem in the title role.