Significant Elements in Text Organization: Some Problems and Approaches

The paper explores the role of key words-nouns and their constant collocates-verbal predicates in the semantic structure of English scientific-technical texts in the field of civil engineering. It is focused on the static and dynamic aspects of the essential content of the text, methods of its formal representation and ways of expression. Key nouns are seen as bearers of the essential static content of the text. They are singled out on the basis of quantitative criterion keeping in view their frequency of occurrence in the text and the number of passages in which they are used. The dynamic aspect of the text is represented by a list of verbal predicates linked by key nouns. Static and dynamic aspects of the text are closely interconnected

Verbal-Nominal Relations in the Structure of English Civil Engineering Discourse

Rakstā no teorētiskā un praktiskā viedokļa iztirzāti dažādi verbālie un nominālie saistījumi un to loma zinātniski tehniskā diskursa struktūrā angļu valodā. Pētījumā aplūkots koherences jēdziens. Daži koherences apakštipi ilustrēti ar piemēriem. Pētījuma rezultātus iespējams izmantot kā zinātniski tehniskā diskursa apstrādē datorlingvistikā, tā arī diskursa analīzes pamatkursā augstākajās mācību iestādēs

Towards Written Scientific-Technical Discourse Analysis:Statistical and Transformational Methods

The paper explores the organization of English scientific-technical discourse from the perspective of cohesion, texture and coherence. Key nouns are singled out from the discourse on the basis of a statistical criterion. Transformational analysis is carried out on the basis of type constructions. The study results are applied in computational discourse processing

Some Problems of Consumer Citizenship Education: Inter- and Transdisciplinary Perspectives

The paper addresses the issue of consumer citizenship education with the emphasis on the development of certain subject competences and skills at tertiary level. This is viewed in the context of integrative tendencies and interdisciplinary links. The focus is on joint planning of curriculum and course content by coordinating and integrating the contributions of specialists in different fields at Departments of Economics of higher education institutions.The concept of social innovation is analyzed both from a theoretical and practical perspective. The benefits of identifying, evaluating and documenting cases of social innovation are analyzed in terms of the development of students' decision making capacities, cognitive and communicative skills and the ability of learning to learn from real-life situations

Some Aspects of Information Structure in Discourse

The paper explores information structure in written discourse. Various definitions of information structure are examined.The focus is on theme/rheme division at sentence level and its interpretation in linguistic literature. The research has shown that there is an interface between syntactic structures and discourse function.In education context, study outcomes can be used in giving a course of lectures on discourse analysis at higher education institutions

The Role of IT and Social Media in the Process of Transition to Responsible and Sustainable Living

The study addresses globalized social media as a platform and a tool for the engagement of people. It focuses on modern digital social media applications and platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones that can empower the public to choose responsible and sustainable lifestyles.The paper examines two kinds of civic participation:1. participation inspired by individuals; 2.participation instigated by institutions. It raises the critical issue whether the participation in the "virtual world" via blogging, online petitions and texting micro payment charity can lead to greater consumers and citizens participation in the actual world and make people more socially responsible. The public engagement in the policy debate is illustrated on activities of self-government in the context of Latvia, in particular Riga City Council. A successful collaboration between municipality and neighborhood inhabitants in the city environment protection with Riga neighborhood development project is highlighted.The activities of Riga City Council on the way to sustainable living are examined through the prism of social media from economic, environmental and social perspectives

Towards the Transition to 'Green Economy' in Latvia: Implications for Responsible and Sustainable Living

The paper explores the issue of "green economy" and its role in supporting responsible and sustainable living. Different definitions and approaches to the concept of "green economy" are given and analyzed from a variety of perspectives. The issue is examined on global, national, regional and local levels. A special focus is placed on the transition to "green economy" in Latvia, in particular in the field of renewable energy (RE). The promotion of the use of alternatives energies is among the priorities of energy policy in Latvia. New initiatives on the wide use of renewable energies have been developed. Various sectors work together. The way we choose to live, our attitude towards life, the patterns of consumption are all in need of redefinition so as to enable a responsible and sustainable living

The Role of the Verb in the Semantic Structure of the Text in Light of EL Teaching/ EL Learning

The present paper is concerned with the role and status of the verb in the semantic structure of English scientific-technical text in the field of civil engineering. This is revealed by determining the types of relationships between semantic subclasses of key nouns and verbal paradigmatic classes. The focus is on most significant main and secondary key words of the text selected on the basis of quantitative criterion taking into account the absolute frequency of the of the word usage in the text and the number of passages in which the word occurs. Linear verbal-nominal combinations were built in order to study the dynamics of the main content of the text and principles of its development. The verbal-nominal pairs were analyzed on three levels of analysis: 1) level of lexis and semantics; 2) level of lexis and grammar; 3) level of object-process coordinates. Each type of these combinations reveals one aspect of the text dynamics but all of them taken together reflect the overall picture of the development of the text content from beginning to end via a medial part. The study results shed light on the regularities of the semantic structure of the text, in particular the function of the verb in the formation of verbal-nominal combinations describing the main content of the text. In addition, observations and conclusions can be used in giving a course of lectures on the semantics of the verb and text linguistics. In the light of ELT, outcomes can be applied for the development of efficient learning strategies for vocabulary acquisition based on key words and lexical chunks

The Verb in the Organization of the Sentence through the Prism of Semantics, Pragmatics and Syntax

The study focuses on the interface between verb semantics, pragmatics and syntax. It examines three main aspects of syntax: (1) structural (or formal) syntax; (2) semantic syntax; (3) communicative syntax. The concept of verb valency is seen as a potential of a lexeme and as a textual- situational realization of this potential. Main approaches to verb valency are explored. Within semantic syntax the verb is a structural and semantic center of the sentence. Verb valency can be marked formally. According to the semantic approach the concept of semantic roles and their main types are examined. Within the current semantic pragmatic approach verbs do not only determine their environment but also are determined by it. Lines of thought are illustrated with examples from English civil engineering discourse. The study outcomes can be used in: (1) lexicography in compiling valency dictionaries for the English language; (2) computational linguistics in semantic parsing of natural language; (3) delivering a course of lectures on lexical semantics, verb semantics and syntax at tertiary institutions

Some Pecularities of Assessing Information in Higher Economic Education in the Focus of Consumer Citizenship

The study addresses the role of assessing information from the standpoint of consumers citizens and impact on their behavior in the context of higher economic education. 'Information literacy' is regarded as the ability to locate, assess, use and share information. Classification and analysis of 'information literacy' types are presented. Information can be evaluated in terms of a producer of information and content. The paper highlights what skills and knowledge a new generation of students will need to evaluate information as consumer citizens and how higher economic institutions will ensure that these demands are met