EXPLANATORY ENGLISH–LITHUANIAN DICTIONARY OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING TERMS FOR PRACTITIONERS

Vilnius, 1998, 112 pp.

This is a small booklet (112 pp.), prepared by the Coordination Centre of the PHARE Vocational Education and Training Reform Programme. The glossary was compiled by Violeta Rimkevičienė, Aurimas Juozaitis, Aldona Puteikienė, and Aldona Vosyliūtė.

The preface states the glossary’s aims: to promote “a uniform interpretation of the key concepts of vocational education and training” and “to ensure that the work carried out in implementing the PHARE Vocational Education and Training Reform Programme in Lithuania can progress on a sound basis for resolving translation problems” (p. 3). It is unfortunate that the compilers overlooked a couple of things important and useful to the reader—a guide to the structure of the glossary and an index of the Lithuanian terms.

On browsing the glossary, several unusual features catch the eye. First, the terms are printed on odd-numbered pages, while the facing page is left blank. Second, terms in the two languages are printed in different colours (English terms in pink, and Lithuanian terms in black). The terms are presented in two ways: alphabetically in nested entries (although the nesting is not indicated graphically) and through cross-references. An English term is followed by a dash and its Lithuanian equivalent (a major shortcoming of the glossary is that the Lithuanian terms are not marked for stress), followed by an explanation of the meaning. Most hyponyms are also listed separately in their alphabetical position as cross-reference entries, e.g.: diagnostic assessment – diagnostinis vertinimas (see assessment) (cf. assessment – vertinimas <…>, diagnostic assessment – diagnostinis vertinimas <…>). However, some hyponyms are not listed separately as cross-reference entries. For example, the entry for leadership – vadovavimas includes the hyponyms action-centred leadership – į veiklą orientuotas vadovavimas; educative leadership – ugdomasis vadovavimas; situational leadership – situacinis vadovavimas, but only action-centred leadership – į veiklą orientuotas vadovavimas (see leadership) and educative leadership – ugdomasis vadovavimas (see leadership), among others, are listed separately as cross-references. In addition, some cross-reference entries were found that do not appear as nested entries under the main term, e.g.: active learning – aktyvus

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mokymasis (see learning); forms of learning – mokymosi formos (see learning); individual project/assignment – individualus projektas/užduotis (see project). Cross-referenced hyponyms often do not match those given in the main term’s entry, e.g.: action plan – veiksmų planas (see plan), action planning – veiksmų planavimas (see planning) (but cf. action plan/planning – veiksmų planas/planavimas; common skills – bendrieji gebėjimai (see core skills) (but cf. core/key skills – pagrindiniai gebėjimai); distance learning – distancinis, nuotolinis, neakivaizdinis mokymasis (see learning) (but cf. distance learning – distancinis, nuotolinis, neakivaizdinis mokymasis/mokymas; individualised learning – individualizuotas mokymasis (see learning) (but cf. individualised learning – individualizuotas mokymas); in-service education and training (INSET) – kvalifikacijos kėlimas/tobulinimas (see education) (but cf. in-service education and training (INSET) – kvalifikacijos tobulinimas/kėlimas); job profile – profesijos paveikslas, profesinė charakteristika, kvalifikaciniai reikalavimai (but cf. job profiling – kvalifikacinių reikalavimų, profesinių charakteristikų/paveikslų rengimas); peer tutoring – mokymas poroje (see tutorial) (but cf. peer tutoring – mokymasis poroje). The presentation of several other terms also varies, e.g.: management by objectives (MBO) – vadyba, orientuota į uždavinius (= į uždavinius orientuota vadyba) (but cf. student-centered learning – į studentą orientuotas mokymas; action-centred leadership – į veiklą orientuotas vadovavimas); pilot – bandyminis, eksperimentinis, e.g., project, institution (but cf. writer – “writer,” compiler (e.g., of learning materials)). Such inconsistency and variation in the presentation of terms may confuse readers and make the glossary more difficult to use.

In this glossary, after a hyphen or a slash, we often find two, three, sometimes four, five, or even six words with entirely different meanings (it is unclear whether they are all considered synonyms) (it should be noted that they have only one English equivalent), while only one definition is given for all the words, e.g.: acceptability – tinkamumas, priimtinumas “the treatment of an object, action, or completed task as adequate, suitable, and meeting requirements”; design – projektavimas, kūrimas, modeliavimas, sumanymas, planas “general planning or creation”; development – plėtra, plėtojimas, plėtotė, rengimas, kūrimas, raida “the act or process of growth or improvement; moving from a less developed state to a more developed one”;

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fairness – teisingumas, nešališkumas, garbingumas “ensuring the conditions for an impartial, fair assessment process based on national standards”; response – atsakas, reakcija, atsakymas, atsakinėjimas “a response expressed verbally or through body language”; videotapes/films – vaizdajuostės/filmai “visual lectures,” whose moving images and dramatic elements may increase motivation. “Useful to show before starting discussions; can be stopped at any time and discussed again”; workshop – pratybos/seminaras/praktinis mokymas dirbtuvėse “a teaching strategy in which students are given the opportunity to develop practical skills in a real or simulated situation,” and so on. Sometimes several definitions are provided, marked with the letters a, b, c, but again the reader has to guess whether they apply to all the terms listed, e.g.: education – švietimas, mokslas, ugdymas, išsilavinimas a) “a purposeful process that creates the conditions and opportunities for an individual to systematically acquire knowledge, skills, and values through teaching/learning activities in educational institutions”; b) “a field of study encompassing multiple disciplines, including teaching/learning, andragogy, didactics, pedagogy, and related social science disciplines”; c) “the activities of the system of educational institutions that create conditions for an individual’s development”; objective – uždavinys, tikslas a) “a specific statement defining the results an individual plans to achieve”; b) “the result of behaviour (product) or expression (process), in either case relating to what the student must be able to do”; c) “a statement defining expected, intended results in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes”; portfolio – aplankas/portfelis a) “evidence collected from various sources over a given period, which is also presented as evidence of achievement; the term is sometimes used to refer to the container in which the evidence is stored”; b) “a collection of documents prepared by a student or teacher to demonstrate their achievements and abilities.” Although there are a few cases where it is specified which term one of the definitions marked with lowercase letters applies to—the term is written again before the definition, e.g.: attendance – lankymas, lankomumas a) lankymas – <…>; b) lankomumas – <…>; management – vadyba, valdymas, vadovybė a) vadyba, valdymas – <…>; b) vadovybė – <…>. Here, distinguishing the meanings is good; it is just not appropriate to list both equivalents at the beginning.

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A few remarks should also be made about the terms themselves. Although L. Jovaiša’s Pedagogikos terminų dictionary (hereafter PT) is listed in the bibliography, the authors, it turns out, were careless, since otherwise they might have found in it the Lithuanian equivalent tikrinimas= for the term verifikation (verification) – verifikavimas (cf. tikrinimas, verification, Kontrolle, проверка PT). Why present an international word and a Lithuanian word side by side when a single, native word would suffice, for example: communication – communication, interaction, transmission; distance learning – distance, remote, correspondence learning; learning contract/agreement – learning contract/agreement; pilot – trial, experimental, e.g. project, institution (incidentally, the word bandyminis is not recommended and should be corrected to bandomasis – see Terminologijos taisymai, Vilnius, 1992); validation – validity/reliability check; validity – validity/reliability. And sometimes a Lithuanian equivalent is missing alongside, or in place of, a loanword, for example: ipsative assessment – ipsative assessment, ipsative evaluation – ipsative evaluation (preferably self-assessment/self-esteem); mentor – mentor (preferably adviser); monitoring – monitoring (the Lithuanian word stebėsena exists).

There are many terms with two or more modifiers, but are they all necessary, for example: summative assessment – cumulative, holistic, final, summative assessment; attainment – final achievement; summative evaluation – cumulative, holistic, final, summative evaluation; interpersonal skills – interpersonal/interpersonal communication skills.

The glossary contains terms that need grammatical correction, for example: group work – work in a group (=group work); peer tutoring – teaching in pairs (=paired teaching); team teaching – teaching in a team (=team teaching); group tutorial – learning in a group (=group learning). The term governance – a particular form of school or college governance is more like an explanation.

Some terms are not defined at all, for example: LEA (local educational authorities) – regional educational administration authority; entry – entrance (e.g. examination, requirements); school governors – school governors’ board; grading – assessment by marks; inspection servi-

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ce – inspection service; inspection guidelines – inspection recommendations; occupational mapping – mapping of occupations, grouping of occupations; pack, package – package, set; pilot – trial, experimental, e.g. project, institution; support – support, assistance, approval. Sometimes the definition does not correspond to the term, for example: internal client – internal client “that is, people working in the organization (=person working), <…>”; subject – subject (taught) (=taught subject), “the main subjects taught in a study programme, into which the education/study programme is divided <…>”. There are also stylistic inconsistencies, punctuation errors and proofreading mistakes.

Neither among the assistants who provided “valuable advice and suggestions” (p. 4), nor among the glossary’s authors themselves, is there a single linguist specializing in terminology. Incidentally, the glossary under review has not been approved by the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language either. From the handful of shortcomings mentioned in this review, one can conclude that although the glossary is attractively published, it was nevertheless prepared irresponsibly, and is therefore unlikely to “be useful to everyone – both theoreticians and practitioners” (p. 3); the opposite is more likely.

Palmira ZEMLEVIČIŪTĖ, Institute of the Lithuanian Language, P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-2055 Vilnius. E-mail: [email protected]

Received 2002-09-30

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