Constant Enrichment of the Mental Lexicon with New Lexis

The paper deals with acquiring new lexis and storing it in the mental lexicon. The results of the research list significant abstract nouns and multiword units in political discourse for the proficient user of English. Discourse analysis is based on the chronology of the most important events and facts from twentieth and twenty-first century Britain

Exploring the development of students’ knowledge of conventionalised similes in english lexicology and phraseology: a comparative study

Idioms are a colourful and fascinating aspect of English which are commonly used in all types of language, formal and informal, spoken and written. Despite the emerging theoretical accounts of idioms up to now, little attention has been paid to teaching and learning idiomatic expressions in English as a Foreign Language, English for Specific Purposes or English for Academic Purposes classroom. Developing idiomatic competence among English language learners in Slovakia remains a formidable challenge. Second-year undergraduates of the study programmes «Teacher Training of English Language and Literature» (single major study) and «Teacher Training of English Language and Literature (double major study) need to master different types of idioms within one-term course in ‘English Lexicology and Phraseology». Their language skills will increase rapidly if they can understand and use them confidently and correctly. The communication role of idiomatic comparisons is often neglected, as well. The aim of the paper is to find out their level of knowledge of standard idiomatic comparisons at the beginning and the end of the course. The paper intends to reveal how students of different nationalities – Slovak, Hungarian, Russian and Ukrainian – are able to explain the meaning of similes used in example sentences in English or their mother tongue. Altogether 51 students are tested twice via tests focused on similes, and their results are compared via a statistical t-Test. The results from the initial test show that their knowledge of idiomatic comparisons was not very wide. However, the results from the final test prove that they were motivated to learn idioms, and thus they extended their knowledge of idiomatic comparisons significantly. In addition, the paper suggests some implications for teaching and learning similes and phraseological units in general

Impact of ethnic war in Sri Lanka on social status of Tamil women

Tato dizertační práce se zabývá vztahem mezi válkou a genderem, se zvláštním ohledem na současný šrílanský kontext. Popisuje specifickou genderovou problematiku příznačnou pro válku, jako je univerzální genderování války a dopad na celkovou strukturu společností postižených válkou. Práce se soustřeďuje na tamilskou společnost na Šrí Lance a ukazuje kořeny současného tamilského genderového stereotypu - starou drávidskou víru v ženskou sílu anangu a prastarý hinduistický Manuův zákoník. Ty vedly ke vzniku tamilského ženského genderového stereotypu 20. století, jenž je založen na konceptu kapu (cudnosti), tj. sebeovládání v každém aspektu ženské existence, s důrazem na pannenství u neprovdaných žen, jejich omezenou interakci s opačným pohlavím a zejména vytyčujících nejpříhodnější stav, ve kterém může žena být - tj. v manželství. Konstruování žen jakožto ctnostných před válkou znamenalo, že setrvávaly zejména v domácí sféře a měly omezený kontakt se světem mimo jejich domovy a sousedství. Avšak etnický konflikt na Šrí Lance (jak popisuje tato práce), jenž vypukl v 80. letech 20. století a trvá dodnes, měl závažný dopad na životy většiny šrílanských tamilských civilistů a jejich společenské normy a konstrukty. Smrt mnoha mužů, vysídlení a všudypřítomná destrukce zapříčinily vznik několika nových fenoménů v...This PhD Thesis focuses on the relationship between war and gender, contextually set in Sri Lanka. It describes theoretical categories and specific gender issues typical to war, such as universal gendering of war and impact on the whole gender structure of war affected societies. The work then focuses on Tamil society in Sri Lanka: it shows the roots of contemporary Tamil female gender stereotype - old Dravidian belief in the female power of anangu and the ancient Hindu Law of Manu. These have resulted into twentieth century Sri Lankan Tamil female gender stereotyping, centred on the concept of kapu (chastity), i.e. self-controlled behaviour in every aspect of female existence stressing virginity in unmarried women, their limited interaction with the opposite sex and highlighting the most auspicious state of a woman - in marriage. Structuring women as chaste implied before the war their role was mainly in the domestic sphere, with very limited interaction with the world outside their homes and neighbourhoods. However, the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict (as described in this work), which started in the 1980s and continues until now, has had a serious impact on the lives of the majority of Sri Lankan Tamil civilians and their societal norms and constructions. Death of many men, displacement and destruction has...Institute of EthnologyÚstav etnologieFilozofická fakultaFaculty of Art

Business and law vocabulary acquisition in the ESP classroom

Undergraduates of the University of Economics in Bratislava need to receive decent economic and legal education to be able to work successfully in different areas of the national economy and in the management structures of all levels. The previous research has shown that Slovakia follows a significant negative trend with performance in reading. Online learning platforms like LMS Moodle are ideal for students in higher education. This paper is a part of the KEGA Project carried out at the Department of English Language of the Faculty of Applied Languages. It demonstrates the work of an experimental group of sixty-four first- and second year students of the Faculty of National Economy in a course “Business English for Advanced Students III” supported by an e-course “Business Communication”. During the semester, students developed reading skills and improved communication by reading and investigating written discourse for unknown words and idiomatic expressions. The rationale for the quantitative research is to compose a corpus of professional articles from English-language periodicals read by “Economics and Law” students. The rationale for the qualitative research is to identify important business, legal and academic vocabulary in them. The method of “Statistical Hypothesis Testing”, T-test, tests the significance of the difference between the knowledge of idioms of the experimental group and the control group (33 students doing a traditional course). The results indicate that LMS Moodle increased students’ motivation to study English. The results prove that “Economics and Law” students enlarged greatly their legal vocabulary and that both groups were interested in learning idiomatic expressions

Improving students’ language skills in business English course: experimental study

It is evident from the PISA 2018 results that a trend in mean performance in reading has been declining in the Slovak Republic. The KEGA Project “Idioms in Business Communication”, run at the Department of English Language, aims at improving reading literacy, widening formal and informal vocabulary and facilitating business communication. Both traditional and modern styles of language teaching are used. The control group of students does a traditional course and the experimental group of students enrols in a “Business Communication” e-course on LMS Moodle platform, as well. With the use of the Internet and supporting materials, this group is involved in various activities. The paper compares the study results of 144 first-year and 97 second-year students of the University of Economics in Bratislava achieved in departmental standardised business English tests after completing three courses in business English for advanced students. The method of Hypothesis Testing (t-Test) assesses the significance of the difference between the levels of knowledge of both groups. The research findings prove that the experimental group of students achieved better results in final evaluation than the control group of students. The results also confirm that an alternative form of business English teaching was effective

Sleep Hygiene of Nurses

Teoretická část odborné práce je věnována spánku a jeho významu pro organismus, biologickému rytmu člověka, některým poruchám spánku, poruchám cirkadiánního rytmu, spánkové deprivaci, následkům směnného provozu. Praktická část se zabývá spánkovou hygienou všeobecných sester, jejich spánkovými návyky, rozdíly v přístupu ke spánku podle stupně vzdělání sester a rozdíly v přístupu ke spánku mezi pracovníky jednosměnného a třísměnného provozu.ObhájenoThe teoreticical part of the thesis follows the question of a sleep and its importance for the human organism, it treats a human biological rhythm, selected sleep disorders, circadian rhythm disorders, a sleep deprivation, and consequences of shift work. Practical part pursues a sleep hygiene of nurses, their sleep habits, differences in attitude to the sleep that is based on nurse education, and differences in sleep habits between one-shift and three-shift workers