Based on the syntactic analysis of the essays composed in the course of the matura examination in 2019, the article seeks to answer the following major questions: How well are 12th grade pupils ...capable of observing the syntactic norms while writing a fluent text? Which syntactic phenomena do pupils find the most troublesome?A quantitative study revealed that the pupils have an insufficient knowledge of syntactic norms. Pupils find case government, the combinability of words, the choice of word forms in a phrase and in a sentence the most troublesome. The greatest syntactic problem is the incorrect use of cases. What is most obvious and problematic concerning case-related mistakes is the use of the instrumental case to express a state instead of the second component of double cases. The expression of the indefinite amount of things and the whole is also rather troublesome (the use of the accusative case instead of the genitive case expressing an indefinite amount or a part). In their essays, pupils often make mistakes in the use of the gerund. The mistakes related to the composition of the complex sentence are also rather numerous.It should be noted that the teaching of language system-related topics should pay adequate attention to the practical issues of language teaching as well as to tasks focusing on the correct usage of the spoken and written language.The errors made by 12th grade pupils show that it is essential to improve the skills of the correct usage of syntactic constructions in the final grades with due regard to the individual needs of pupils and the class.
Based on the syntactic analysis of the essays composed in the course of the matura examination in 2019, the article seeks to answer the following major questions: How well are 12th grade pupils ...capable of observing the syntactic norms while writing a fluent text? Which syntactic phenomena do pupils find the most troublesome? A quantitative study revealed that the pupils have an insufficient knowledge of syntactic norms. Pupils find case government, the combinability of words, the choice of word forms in a phrase and in a sentence the most troublesome. The greatest syntactic problem is the incorrect use of cases. What is most obvious and problematic concerning case-related mistakes is the use of the instrumental case to express a state instead of the second component of double cases. The expression of the indefinite amount of things and the whole is also rather troublesome (the use of the accusative case instead of the genitive case expressing an indefinite amount or a part). In their essays, pupils often make mistakes in the use of the gerund. The mistakes related to the composition of the complex sentence are also rather numerous. It should be noted that the teaching of language system-related topics should pay adequate attention to the practical issues of language teaching as well as to tasks focusing on the correct usage of the spoken and written language. The errors made by 12th grade pupils show that it is essential to improve the skills of the correct usage of syntactic constructions in the final grades with due regard to the individual needs of pupils and the class.
The research object of this article is the essays written during the Lithuanian language and Literature State matura examination in 2019. The aim of the research is to investigate the essays from the ...perspective of punctuation, identify the most common punctuation mistakes based on the applicable punctuation norms and present methodological recommendations concerning the teaching/learning of punctuation of various syntactical units in the comprehensive school.The quantitative study of the essays confirmed the insights provided by earlier studies concerning a strong tendency of deteriorating pupils’ punctuation skills. By their frequency the mistakes of punctuating the clauses in a complex sentence significantly exceed other mistakes. More troublesome cases include the punctuation of attributes, parentheses and explanatory parts of the sentence. Unmotivated punctuation, which is not based on the internal structure of the sentence, is also rather common in the language practice of pupils. The high number of such mistakes is determined by the poor skills of syntactical and punctuation analysis. Apparently, the overestimation of intonation as a punctuation criterion plays an important role in the occurrence of mistakes.The compulsory punctuation rules are mainly based on syntax. Therefore, it is very important to strengthen the skills and abilities of syntactical analysis. The source of mistakes is both the lack of and poor knowledge of the rules. It is important to make pupils aware that the variety of the variants of optional punctuation is only useful for those who are well versed in punctuation and understand which rules are elementary, compulsory and helping to grasp the thought and which only show its nuances and a different intonation.
The research object of this article is the essays written during the Lithuanian language and Literature State matura examination in 2019. The aim of the research is to investigate the essays from the ...perspective of punctuation, identify the most common punctuation mistakes based on the applicable punctuation norms and present methodological recommendations concerning the teaching/learning of punctuation of various syntactical units in the comprehensive school. The quantitative study of the essays confirmed the insights provided by earlier studies concerning a strong tendency of deteriorating pupils’ punctuation skills. By their frequency the mistakes of punctuating the clauses in a complex sentence significantly exceed other mistakes. More troublesome cases include the punctuation of attributes, parentheses and explanatory parts of the sentence. Unmotivated punctuation, which is not based on the internal structure of the sentence, is also rather common in the language practice of pupils. The high number of such mistakes is determined by the poor skills of syntactical and punctuation analysis. Apparently, the overestimation of intonation as a punctuation criterion plays an important role in the occurrence of mistakes. The compulsory punctuation rules are mainly based on syntax. Therefore, it is very important to strengthen the skills and abilities of syntactical analysis. The source of mistakes is both the lack of and poor knowledge of the rules. It is important to make pupils aware that the variety of the variants of optional punctuation is only useful for those who are well versed in punctuation and understand which rules are elementary, compulsory and helping to grasp the thought and which only show its nuances and a different intonation.
The determination of syntactic potency (valency) of words and the choice of word forms ina word phrase or a sentence cause a lot of troubles for language codification. The norms of theobject genitive ...and competing constructions are not always stable in contemporary usage. Thearticle analyses the peculiarities of expression of the direct object (genitive-accusative ratio) andthe general tendencies in the case of double government, i.e. when it is affected by the negativeverb and the infinitive of the positive transitive verb.The accumulated data of contemporary usage and their analysis make it clear that the genitivecase is firmly established in the actual usage; it is more commonly used than the accusative case(their quantitative usage ratio is 71% : 29%). Such a tendency of contemporary usage correspondsto the principles established in the works on standardization.The usage of the accusative case manifests itself when: a) the word used as an object of theinfinitive of a transitive verb is at a greater distance from negation; b) the infinitive of a transitiveverb and the case of a governed object or the case of a single object is not in its usual position(preposition in respect of the negative verb).The patterns of usage of the negative genitive and accusative and the variation of these casesin the so called intermediate position are determined by specific factors: a distance between thenegative verb and the object case, a position of the word used as an object, grammatical andsemantic relations between words, stylistic requirements.
Based on linguists’ corrections, recommendations and standardisation works, the article
reviews the tradition of standardization and codification of constructions of the dative of goal
(purpose) with ...the infinitive and the peculiarities of development of the norms.
The use of the dative of goal (purpose) with the infinitive has been extensively covered in
Lithuanian linguistics. Jonas Jablonskis was the first to describe the dative phrases with the
infinitive and their use in the meaning of goal in Cases and Prepositions (1928). The use of these
constructions was in the focus of attention of the language standardizers in later times as well.
The major question is: can we use the dative with the infinitive in such a sentence which does not
have a noun denoting the means for achieving that goal? Juozas Balčikonis argued that only such
constructions of the dative with the infinitive should be used, which contain a noun denoting the
means for achieving that goal. Such a position was also supported by Vytautas Būda, proposing
to establish the correctness of the dative with the infinitive by way of transformations. According
to Vytautas Ambrazas, the definition when one or another noun may and may not express a tool
or a means is unnecessary.
The considerations and corrections proposed by linguists show that it is not easy to set the limits
between the dative of goal (purpose) and the object accusative with the infinitive. In principle,
it is agreed that the construction of the dative with the infinitive means the purpose of a certain
item being a performer or a tool of the action expressed by the infinitive, occasionally – the place or time of the action expressed by the infinitive. After the understanding of the means proposed
by J. Balčikonis was expanded, it is agreed today that the norm of the use of the dative is not
that strict and that we should not correct all datives used in combination with abstract nouns
(Kalbos patarimai 2, S 1, 2003). Most problems arise in the attempt to define when one or another
noun can express a tool or a means (the dative is used) and when cannot (the accusative is used).
Therefore, diverging evaluations, various discussions show that the criteria for the correct use
of the dative and accusative with the infinitive are still unclear and the problem of standardization
of the constructions under analysis has not yet been solved.
Advertisement is one of the most common text types in contemporary society. The syntactic features of the advertisement published on Lithuanian websites have not been well researched. Based on the ...data of the websites of Lithuanian telecommunication companies, the study of the structure of attributive word phrases used in the texts of online advertising is presented in the article. The typological analysis of the structure of attributive word phrases used in online advertising led to the following conclusion: the attributive word phrases of more complex structure are slightly more prevalent than simple attributive word phrases. A single text of online advertising often contains several simple and several more complex attributive word phrases. The dependent component of a simple attributive word phrase is usually expressed by an adjective which does not only seek to communicate objective information – to characterise a specific good or service – but also to render an emotional impact on the addressee (skaidri kainodara, geriausios kainos, ištikimiausi klientai). An obvious tendency to form the sets of attributive word phrases can be
observed – the principal component is linked with more than one independent word by several relations (maža minimali sąskaita, visi esami ir nauji privatūs mūsų klientai). The frequent use of attributes in larger groups (various chains and sets of attributive word phrases, combined attributive word phrases) is determined by the peculiar features and intentions of online advertising texts – to inform, persuade and remind consumers of a company or its goods.
The adjective denotes a quality of a thing but it is not the only way to express it. Adjectival numerals and pronouns are also used in the attributive function. The said parts of speech determine the ...noun but each of them serves this function in a different way – depending on their lexical meaning and semantic relation with the principal component of the word phrase. The word phrases of quantitative description denote a feature of a thing in relation to number. Semantically, two sub-types can be distinguished: denoting a quantitative relation (septynios mylios, šešeri metai) and a countable position in a row (trečia diena, tūkstantasis kartas). The word phrases of indicative description give a general, non-specific, indication of a quality of a thing and remind of its presence. Such attributive word phrases can be further divided into sub-types by the semantics of an attributive component (pronoun), which determines the specific meaning of the entire word phrase: the word phrases ofdefining (demonstrative) – šitokia žemė, ta vasara, interrogative-relative – koks triūsas, keli žmonės, non-defining description – kuris nors kaimynas, visas kaimas.
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