Tarptautinė mokslinė konferencija „Aktuāli valodas prakses jautājumi“

Terminology | 2008 | 15 255 International Scientific Conference Current Issues of Language Practice SOLVITA LABANAUSKIENĖ Institute of Lithuanian Language 2008 was declared the Year of Latvia in Latvia to commemorate the centenary of theories of the Latvian language, history and culture in the context of the 90th Latvia. The aim of the Letonika program is to create new literary-motivated anniversary of the proclamation of its Republic and the present. One of the events of the Letonika programme was the international scientific conference and round table discussion Aktuāli valodas prakses jautājumi (Current issues of language practice), held on 24 October 2008 in Riga, at the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Academician Valentīna Skujiņa and Ojārs Bušs, Ph.D., who gave the introductory speech, raised the main question of the project: What is most dangerous for the Latvian language? In the first section were read presentations showing the experience of contact languages. Juris Baldunčiks, Ph.D. in philology from Ventspils University of Applied Sciences, in his presentation Valodas kultūra un dominējošās kontaktvalodas spiediens: angļu valodas ietekmes desmit izpausmes veidi (Language culture and the pressure of the dominant contact language: ten ways of the influence of English) spoke about the overloading of the Russian language by English and the damage this phenomenon causes to the structure of the Latvian language. Ieskats angļu valodas praksē (An overview of English language practice) – this was the title of the presentation by Maja Brede, Professor of the Department of Accelerated Linguistics and Translation of the Faculty of Modern Languages. Emphasis is placed on the variants of rap, hip-hop language expression, as well as the emergence of the terms tintnīcas (literally ink-filled) – so-called long words, which require a lot of ink to write. Visiting lecturer from the University of Helsinki, associate professor from the University of Latvia Laimute Balode discussed Finnish language practice in her presentation No somu valodas prakses pieredzes (From Finnish language practice experience). According to the researcher, Finland has a strong tradition of spoken 256 language: slang is spoken in the country, shortening the language is popular. The official language of Finland is Finnish, but the Finns also speak Swedish, so they like to call themselves Swedish-speaking Finns. This shows tolerance and respect for another language. True, such bilingualism also creates a lot of inconveniences. The representative from Russia Pavel Kolubkov in his presentation Par valodas kultūras stāvokli Krievijā (On the state of language culture in Russia) presented information about Russian language habits. Solvita Labanauskienė, a doctoral student from the Lithuanian Language Institute, discussed the topic Aktuālais valodas praksē Lietuvā (On issues of language practice relevant to Lithuanians). Not only the existing language problems (influence of English, spelling of mobile messages and e-mails, etc.) are highlighted, but also the preventive measures taken by the State Lithuanian Language Commission, the Lithuanian Language Institute and other institutions. Dr. Regina Kvašytė – associate professor of Šiauliai University – continued the topic about the experience of this university (Šaulių universiteto patirtis). The first part of the conference was concluded with a presentation by Vitos Kalniņos-Kalnarājas entitled Aktuāli risināmi problēmjautājumi: lielie sākwererti ES tiesību aktu tekstos (Current issues to be solved: capital letters in EU legislation). EU legislation texts). Current issues of Latvian language practice (Aktuālais latviešu valodas praksē) were discussed in the second section of the conference. Latvian terminologist Dr. Iveta Pūtelė read the presentation Valodas prakses vērtējuma aptaujas rezultāti (Resultates of the language practice assessment survey). Latvian linguists, journalists, teachers, students and other groups of language users who participated in the survey provided answers to important contemporary questions, e.g. : Based on the current language practice, assess the level of language culture – 54.5% of respondents rate it as satisfactory, more than 40% as unsatisfactory; What, in your opinion, is the most important issue of language culture to be solved or What linguists should do – follow the processes taking place in language, but not be didactic; make more popular what linguists do; to accelerate the development of Latvian terminology in areas that are rapidly developing, etc.1 1 In the autumn of 2008, the Lithuanian Language Institute conducted a survey on the current situation of the language and the most important issues of language culture. Linguists and Lithuanian students participated in the survey. In their opinion, the most important language issues to be solved are the creation of Lithuanian terms and the preservation of international words; solve the problem of anglicisms; raise the prestige of the language; give up major speech errors; normalize the relationship between language professionals and language users; linguists to take care of the language education of young people, emphasizing respect for the Lithuanian language, etc. Solvita Labanauskienė | Tarptautinėmokslinėkonferencija... Terminology | 2008 | 15 257 Dzintra Šulcė, associate professor of the Liepājas Pedagogical Academy, spoke on the topic Valodas prakses pētījumi Liepājas Universitātē (Studies of language practice at Liepājas University). According to student surveys, special attention should be paid to the art of speaking, therefore students should be given the opportunity to speak in public more often. Ilze Ilziņa, Honorary Doctor of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, talked about the basic methods of terminology. In the report ISO standartu ietekme uz latviešu valodas praksi: informātikas terminoloģijas izstrādes pieredze (Impact of ISO standards on Latvian language practice: experience of terminology management in information technology), four methods of terminology development were mentioned – the use of existing forms and the creation of new forms; the formation of terms using abbreviated forms; making terms by logical extension; term creation using borrowings. According to the rapporteur, newly created terms should be immediately uploaded to the database and should be able to be changed if users suggest a better option. PhD student Anita Ščucka (Riga) presented the paper No Terminoloģijas un valodas kultūras grupas sēžu pieredzes: ieskats vēsturē (From the experience of the meetings of the Terminology and Language Culture Group: a historical perspective), which mentioned the main tasks: monitoring of periodicals devoted to the language; provision of oral and written advice; organizing language practice days and language weeks; organizing language practice meetings to resolve disputed issues. Frequently asked questions during the consultation (Frequently asked questions during the consultation) – the topic of State Language Agency consultant Dita Liepa. Attention was drawn to the existence of two current language problems – the spelling of Latvian language and the spelling of actual nouns in the future. According to the speaker, there are also interesting things, for example, requests to remove the parasitic word “let’s say” from the speech of one or another politician, etc. To the rhetorical question Quo vadis, latviešu valoda? (Where are you going, Latvian?) was answered that the language situation is critical and the current period can be described as confusion. Professor Maija Baltiņa continued the talk on the confusion of language styles – Valodas prakse kultūru kruscelēs (Language practice at the crossroads of cultures). Agris Timuška, Director of the State Language Centre (report State Language Centre for Latvian Language Practice), regretted that no funds are allocated for language work, and the most acute problem of this period is the capitalization of various names. 258 At the end of the international conference “Current issues of language practice” organized by the Latvian University Agency “Institute of Latvian Language of the University of Latvia”, the participants presented a resolution, which highlights the following essential issues of language practice: dissemination of information on current language issues; promotion of language culture in schools, universities and other institutions; strengthening the relations of the language institutions with the public, as well as with Latvians living in other countries, etc. The problems of Latvian language practice are not foreign to Lithuanian language. We have something to learn from each other. Retrieved 2008-12-12. Institute of Lithuanian Language P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius, Lithuania Email: [email protected] Solvita Labanauskienė | Tarptautinėmokslinėkonferencija...