Tom 7 (2021): Zeszyt 1 (April 2021)

A prepositional construction consists of a lexical verb followed by a preposition with which it is semantically and/ or syntactically linked. The main focus of this analysis is the lexical verb go occurring within prepositional constructions. The aim of this paper is to present the frequency and distribution of prepositional verbs in written and spoken discourse. We will also determine all prepositional constructions with the lexical verb go, and present their practical use and distribution in different registers. Given that when distinguishing prepositional verbs, the semantic criteria of idiomaticity must be supplemented by syntactic criteria, we will also show all possible meanings of each prepositional construction found in the analyzed material, and determine the type of transitivity of each meaning. Furthermore, we will compare the distribution and syntactic features of each prepositional construction with the lexical verb go in different registers, and show similarities, disimilarities and all characteristics of their practical use in written and spoken discourse.

Many measures are being taken during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. One of the primary concepts that appeared throughout the media was “social distancing”. Over the months, this term rose to become an omnipresent catchword, used over and over in the news on TV, the radio, in newspapers and journals as well as in everyday communication. In this article the term “social distancing” will be examined in relation to the term “physical distancing”. Is it “social distancing” or “physical distancing” that is preventing us from being infected with the virus? The term “social distancing” is analysed from a linguistic, socio-historical and psychological point of view and its use is questioned in the context of the dominant imperative. Furthermore, an attempt will be made to uncover when and in which context the term “social distance” was established and why it has been adopted worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas the term “physical distancing”, which the author considers to be more appropriate within the context of the recommended measures, was neglected, even though this is the term the WHO is using in their instructions and guidelines.

This research will examine the classroom discourse and interactions between a teacher and students in an ESL class. It will analyze how discourse occurs and how it can facilitate language learning. The participants were adult university students or employees. Via live classroom observation and audio recording of classes, the data were collected. The findings suggest that the teacher controlled all students, and led all class activities and the teaching process. The teacher frequently used pronouns ‘you’, ‘we’, ‘I’ while teaching as well as words such as “perfect,” “correct,” and “very good” to motivate students in-class participation. Students mostly used the pronoun ‘I’ to answer the questions. Most of the questions were closed-ended, so students did not have a chance to elaborate or share their ideas. The discourse occurred in an “IRF” - Initial, Response, and Follow up. Lack of coherence and cohesion were widely visible in classroom interaction and most of the sentences uttered were ungrammatical.¹

The emergence of COVID19 on the world scene has become a major challenge for the entire society and, in this particular case for the methods used in teaching and learning foreign languages in Higher Education Institutions. Not only teachers but also students have had to suddenly face the need to achieve their linguistic and intercultural academic goals in a totally new environment, characterized by the massive presence of digital and online teaching tools and by a very big lack of motivation in both teachers and students. In this study, we will analyze the relevance of virtual exchange and collaborative learning with foreign students who remain in their home universities and their contribution to improve the skills included in the CEFR. Starting with a case study of foreign language tuition in German and based on qualitative data, we will show the usefulness of internationalization at home as an effective tool for the development not only of linguistic skills, such as the written expression and reading comprehension, but also of the necessary intercultural competence. Furthermore, we will also examine how internationalization at home can be an equally useful tool or teaching practice to foster motivation in foreign language learning and teaching. We will highlight the relevance of teaching practices and resources at a time when teachers and students have had to get used to new teaching practices overnight. Based on the provided data, and due to its pedagogical relevance, we will be ready to conclude that internationalization at home is a practice that has offered an answer to a problem arising after the imposition of the lockdown and consequently should continue to be used at HEIs in the future.

The paper focuses on developing grammatical knowledge for communication activities, through interactive sample activities in the online classroom, in the process of Romanian language acquisition as a foreign language of study for young adults, between 18 – 21 years of age, who apply for the Preparatory year of Romanian language at the University of Pitești, Romania. Teaching grammar has always been a challenge in every teaching-learning process of a foreign language. Grammar grounded knowledge is the key for communication in terms of accuracy and fluency, because it is important for learners to have a set of rules and constructions to make use of, in order to develop interactive and communicative abilities. Each set of activities focusing on accuracy or on fluency used to create correct examples of language use, requires adaptation to the communicative needs, depending on the level of the learners and their needs. Recent national and international events make it clear that there is an imperative need to adjust the entire process of delivering communicative grammatical content in order to make grammar become functional at the level of online communication the learners have to achieve. The goal during online classes is to use targeted communicative practice activities and performative tasks that best facilitate communicative grammar comprehension and learning, in order to help young adult learners gain confidence to start speaking and communicate online.

This paper attempts to hold a mirror to the existential struggle of an immigrant Muslim woman who is trying to survive on her journey to the west. Mohsin Hamid presents Nadia as one of the main characters in his 2017 novel Exit West. The paradox concerning Nadia is that while her preference for wearing a long black robe confirms the western misconstrued image of Muslim women, her actions, her view of the world, of life and of herself definitely refute the ingrained eastern notion of the suppressed, submissive, silenced Muslim woman. According to the dominant western view, oriental women are still under the strict control of the mechanisms of patriarchy. Among the control mechanisms of patriarchal order are traditions, norms, values and religion. However, Nadia does not fall into this western miscategorization of Muslim woman with her strong, rebellious character, and with her freethinking and insight. Indeed, it is Nadia, who safeguards, directs and in a sense, matures Saeed’s-the other main character-rather timid and naïve personality. What is unexpected in the journey of these two characters is that the one who is need of identity reconstruction is not the female but the male character, for Nadia does already have a firmly constructed identity and she has no intention to transform either her outfit or her world view for the sake of integrating herself into the western culture. In brief, through the character of Nadia, Mohsin Hamid reconstructs the cliché image of oriental woman. In Exit West, Hamid reverses stereotyped gender roles by attributing his female character all the dominant personality traits attached to the male sex.

Alexandre Dumas’s interment in the Panthéon in 2002 prompted a steady reevaluation of his literary reputation, resulting in his increased prominence among his nineteenth-century peers. Several studies have resurrected Dumas’s 1857 argument that his works comprise a vast series entitled La Drame de la France. This argument has become so ubiquitous that it has become an uncontested fact. However, there are certain challenges in studying Dumas’s La Drame de la France. Dumas did not repeatedly make this assertion, which was announced toward the latter portion of his life, and whether it was something that consciously and continuously drove his plans when developing future ideas and concepts for his historical fiction novels is debatable. Therefore, while not disputing the existence of La Drame de la France, its nature (and the nature of its creation) nevertheless makes it so that which novels specifically comprise it has never been definitively established. Coming to some degree of consensus on this point is needed as a first step to advance studies of Dumas in this area. This article seeks to initiate this literary discussion by presenting Dumas’s 36 major historical fiction novels set in France, briefly examining the problems, considerations, and debates that exist in whether each could be accepted as part of the series.

George Gissing’s The Odd Women is an engrossing study of gender role expectations in the Victorian society on the cusp of the twentieth century. It is an examination of Nineteenth century discourses on Victorian gender ideology. The novel charts and explores the life trajectories of the female protagonists within the novel. This research paper has attempted to explicate the dynamics of gender role expectations through the application of a modern theoretical framework of Foucauldian Discourse Analysis to assess how the discourses of the period inform Gissing’s narrative. The research findings suggest that the perceptions of gender in a period are directly proportionate to the norms championed through the dominant discourses. The discourses are intricately woven within the episteme of the period under analysis and a conscious review of the constitutive elements of these discursive practices reveals possibilities of change for the future through arming research investigators with insights that account for gender construction in a given period.

Our contribution focuses on the issue of reading children in a bilingual setting, and the control of two languages is natural to them. In spoken language, children express themselves almost flawlessly, but the problem arises when they begin to read. One language is better, easier to understand, more natural. Our contribution is of a research character. Through an interview with a selected sample of children, we try to uncover the phenomena and patterns that occur when reading bilingual children. The article also deals with the reading habits of pupils from the bilingual environment, pupils’ reading and book relations. We find out which language learners prefer more when reading books, and how their parents have influenced their language preferences and what reader’s interests children have in their early childhood. Children of disease in research are deliberately chosen to meet the requirements of the research goal. We chose four children attending the first grade of elementary school. Each of these children has a second language (English, Norwegian, Belgian and French) besides the Slovak language. Research data was collected through individual interviews with these children. Through this research, we have also sought to identify the importance of reading in the lives of contemporary children.

The role and the importance of images in the contemporary environment has been studied by many researchers. Their presence at an economic, political, social and cultural level has been deemed to be both vital and essential, due to the influence which they exert on each of these fields. Education has not been an exception to this rule. The development of technology and of new technological media has aided, boosted and established their presence in all the activities of human life, with all the positive and negative aspects that this entails.