No. 2/2010

 The article shows the profile of Professor Jan Tokarski (1909–1982), an outstanding Polish linguist. His main contribution to the description of Polish was uniform and consistent model of Polish conjugation as well as general method of introducing inflectional characteristics to Polish dictionaries, applied in 11-volume Dictionary of Polish, edited by W.Doroszewski. Tokarski was also a precursor of computer works on Polish, particularly morphological analysis of Polish. He worked as a teacher all his life and devoted several books to problems of teaching Polish.

 In his paper the author refers to three well-known publications by professor Jan Tokarski. The title of the paper is based on the chronologically second of those books. In 1967, the PZWS publishers, which had good working relations with professor Tokarski for many years, published a relatively small-sized book (only 7.22 standard publishing sheets), which was nevertheless important for schools and linguistics. The book was entitled Z pogranicza metodyki i językoznawstwa [On the Borderline of Teaching Methodology and Linguistics] and was mainly devoted to syntax and inflection, as taught at schools and universities, as well as parts of speech. In 1966 professor Tokarski published his Gramatyka w szkole [Grammar at School] with the same publisher (2nd edition in 1972), this time focusing on didactic problems, which was reflected in the title (the subtitle read Podstawowe zagadnienia metodyki [Key Issues in Teaching Methodology]). Curriculum design problems were also touched upon. Tokarski’s third book, published in 1979 by WSiP (the renamed PZWS), was entitled Traktat o ortografii polskiej [A Treatise on Polish Orthography]. The importance and role of that book was not full appreciated by the author of the paper until a few years earlier. Further on, the paper deals in more detail with the following inspirations in teaching methodology and didactics originating from professor Tokarski’s works: 1. Schools’ interpretation of the so-called ‘multi-unit words’ such as na biało, na zimno; po polsku, po ludzku, po dobremu; bez mała, od nowa, z cicha, z rzadka, za młodu. 2. The borderline between inflection and word formation in school teaching. 3. Ergative constructions. 4. Case forms as descriptors of verbs in school-taught syntax. 5. The multi-step nature of orthographic norms, particularly in the context of school teaching.

 The paper analyses the definition of the verb given by Jan Tokarski in his book entitled Czasowniki polskie [Polish Verbs]. Jan Tokarski’s definition is based solely on the inflectional criterion. In Tokarski’s opinion the person is the most important grammatical category of the verb. The authors of the paper present advantages and disadvantages of the proposed solution and suggest their own definition which includes forms such as trzeba as well as participles.

 The authors’ point of departure was Zarys leksykologii i leksykografii polskiej [Outline of Polish Lexicology and Lexicography], a book written by Jan Tokarski and Stanisław Kania. The paper shows how the two scholars understood some problems related to those domains and the solutions they proposed. Further on, the paper shows how parallel problems were solved (or could have been solved), drawing on developments in the latest linguistic theories. The discussion is illustrated with analysis of proper names of places and appellative personal names.

 The present paper summarizes the results of a research project concerning the literacy culture of school-age youth. The project was carried out by a team of researchers (Jacek Warchala, Aldona Skudrzyk et al.) and was funded by a government grant (KBN). Researchers focused on passive and active communication competences in the use of written Polish language. The geographical area explored by the researchers, mainly Silesia, has one specific feature which significantly influences children’s acquisition of communication skills: elements of the vernacular are found in the standard language spoken in cities. Other factors of more general nature, such as the increasing role of everyday language (which is genetically oral), also bear upon the conditions of communication within the so‑called written culture. The paper also considers one other factor, usually labelled as pictorial, audiovisual or iconic culture. Taken collectively, these factors have a strong impact on communicative competence in written language, not only among contemporary young Silesians but also young Poles in general. The paper attempts to diagnose textual consequences of these phenomena.

 The paper presents findings of research on the style of texts written by participants of the Polish Literature and Language Olympiad at the regional level. Based on the analysis, three abstract stylistic models actualized in the texts written by higher-secondary school students were identified and described, i.e. the style of a professional interpreter, a reflective interpreter and a reflective professional. The analysis also reveals a far-reaching conventionalization of students’ texts at the level of style, which allows the researcher to posit the existence of a specific ‘school style’ of writing. Generic, situational and thematic factors in students’ stylistic choices are also discussed. In conclusion, the author formulates the need to concentrate on developing stylistic competence in the Polish language classroom.

 Point of departure for this discussion of colloquialisms in writing is a point made by many linguists, namely that colloquial style has moved to a central position in the system of styles (J. Bartmiński). It is important to notice the helplessness of linguists and teachers facing students’ behaviour and their attitudes. In the report, examples of students’ written compositions are analysed. The analysis focuses on concluding devices, colloquial language referring to pictures and everyday experience, as well as sending and receiving strategies accepted by young writers. In the didactic perspective, the recognition of colloquial elements in students’ text would enable us to develop procedures, teaching methods and a range of spoken and written exercises to support successful teaching of text competences. This need arises from the content of new programming documents which have been recently used by schools.

 The paper considers the problem of discursive competence based on anonymous questionnaires conducted among first- and second-grade students in one of Warsaw’s lower-secondary schools. The questionnaire was administered in a group of 106 teenagers (56 females and 50 males). The first- and second-grade students were asked to describe their behaviour in two hypothetical communication scenarios. Based on their statements, the author was able to describe students’ communication efficiency, incl. their language as well as social and pragmatic skills. Discursive competence was defined as the ability to take part in a specific communication scenario. The respondents demonstrated a high level of pragmatic and social skills but a surprisingly lower level of language competence (mainly grammatical skills).

 Construction of narratives is one of the essential and most developed ways of using language. A narrative does not only convey information about a sequence of events but also accounts for characters’ behaviour in terms of motivations and goals. Psycholinguistic research has demonstrated that narrative competence develops in children up to the age of 10. Initially, children learn to understand, and then to create narratives with a cause-effect structure. Causality is reflected in the use of linguistic cohesion markers (structural and semantic cohesion). Building a text does not mean adding one isolated sentence to another in a mechanical way. The presented analysis of cohesion in renarratives created by sixth-grade students (age: 12–13) aims to check if Polish students have fully acquired narrative competence upon completion of their primary education. The author analyses oral renarrations produced by 16 students from a primary school in Warsaw on the basis of four textless picture stories.

 The main inspiration behind this paper was the idea to present the relationship between the language as a quality of human mind and the ability to acquire skills necessary to process linguistic information in social communicative behaviours. The paper presents findings and inspirations from studies on communicative competence and linguistic competence of children with learning disorders. It analyses communicative value and cohesion of linguistic expression produced by this group of students. The author is mostly concerned with how young learners develop their narrating skills, report events and construct an improvised dialogue with a recipient when mastering the generic structure of a letter. Further on, the author discusses the effectiveness of therapeutic process built around stages of children’s cognitive development and teaching of speech genres as an input for the learning process.

 The survey carried out to test it allows us to observe the changes and the direction of evolution, especially in two language systems: lexical and morphological, which undergo the fastest changes and which are the most influenced by the outside language phenomena (foreign languages, the new media – the Internet). Moreover, we present the results of a pilot study made on the group of 100 students of the Polish studies in Poznań (detail results have already been published in a series of a few articles).

 The purpose of this paper is to cast light on certain peculiarities characteristic of formal forms of address in the linguistic behaviour of young Poles in Lithuania. The characteristics of the address system formed in this environment have evolved in a tangle of various factors: regional tradition, the influence of the Lithuanian and Russian languages, and the expansion of Eastern models. The linguistic data analysed in the paper come from a questionnaire completed by 50 students of Polish philology and Russian philology who had previously graduated from a Polish school. Of interest for this paper were only formal forms of address, which are in opposition to informal forms involving the use of the pronoun ty (you-singular). Assuming that forms of address may be expressed through two different types of figures of speech, the author separately discusses syntactically non-integrated vocative expressions and syntactically integrated pronominal expressions and verbal forms.

 The study describes the influence of selected media on teenagers’ language, focusing on films, advertising and new modes of communication (Internet and mobile telephones). The research reveals that many features of teen language reflect the trend which has already been discussed in studies on media communication (dialogicity, ellipticity, text shortening, hybrids of orality and literacy). A particularly notable traits of teen language include the universal striving to shorten texts, to combine verbal and iconic codes (emoticons and acronyms being very common in school communication) and to use new vocabulary and proverbs (loanwords, computer-inspired neologisms, quotations from films, advertising and stand-up comedians). All of those features form a kind of ‘media talk’ that integrates young language users.

 The article starts with the explanation of the notions such as the linguistic behavior and cultural patterns. The main topic is the analysis of photostory, namely the genre which appears in the girls’ periodicals. The authors discuss the teaching assumptions, composition, subject master, language and vocabulary. The authors draw the attention to the behavioral stereotypes, linguistic prototypes and artificial forms. They also compare them to the contemporary language the young master.

 The paper analyses linguistic politeness exhibited by participants of one Polish TV programme for pre-school children entitled Jedynkowe przedszkole. In the first part of the paper, the author analyses strategies and forms of politeness used in the programme as well as their functions. In the second part, she describes two politeness rules applied in the programme, considered by K. Ożóg (2005) to be essential in the Polish politeness model (based on the rule of autonomy, importance and human dignity as well as kindness). Drawing on her analysis of linguistic material, the author concludes that the TV programme concerned does not present proper polite behaviours. First of all, the described behaviours are characterised by a high degree of formality and weak expression, which is why they may be perceived as insincere. Secondly, although the programme format does enable the teaching of proper, polite behaviours (such as introducing oneself, saying hello to an unknown adult or to a peer, replying to praise etc.), these opportunities are not leveraged in the programme script.

 The main goal of this paper is to present selected linguistic behaviours of young people who host a TV show for the young audience. As an introduction, the paper briefly presents Teleranek, the only Polish TV show hosted exclusively by children and teenagers and intended for the young audience. Elements discussed include ways of greeting viewers, saying goodbye and motivating the audience to watch Teleranek regularly. As an important part of the analysis, the paper describes forms of address which play an essential role in establishing rapport and maintaining contact with viewers.

 In this paper the author analyses selected conversations carried by characters in selected children’s cartoons: The Cramp Twins and Johnny Test (Cartoon Network), Clifford the Big Red Dog and The Secret World of Benjamin Bear (MiniMini). Her attention is focused on family conversations, notably: participants, role switching (sender/recipient); the goal of the conversation; the topic and its verbalisation (i.e. what is being discussed and how); the temporal and spatial context as well as the atmosphere, or the trace left in participants’ minds. The analysis shows considerable differences between the way conversations are carried in MiniMini cartoons as opposed to those shown on Cartoon Network, while pointing to the different functions fulfilled by cartoons aired on the analysed channels: the educational function represented by MiniMini and the entertainment function which is the focus of Cartoon Network.

 The linguistic picture of the boundaries of home in children’s poems is delineated by the roof, the floor, doors, walls and windows. The roof, covered with red tiles, with a chimney on top (an element that any prototypical roof would have) shelters the home but also, contrary to linguistic conventions, symbolises the transition between what is close and what is remote. On the one hand, the poetic picture of walls is close to the linguistic convention but, on the other hand, children’s poetry transfers the image of home walls into to the space of the home town. The floor, marking the lower boundary of the home, becomes an upper boundary in children’s poems: beneath it a mysterious world of dreams lies hidden. The door enables a transition from exterior to interior space and a symbolic transition from childhood to adulthood. Windows do not only serve as a perfect observation post but also a way to connect with the cosmos and nature. Children’s poetry attempts to give a new meaning to archetypal themes: windows turn into a boundary that prevents contact with the cosmos. In children’s poems, the linguistic picture of the boundaries of home involves convention and creation. Strictly speaking, it represents a structure located between linguistic convention and creation.