Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose

AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ Institute of the Lithuanian Language THE MOST COMMON SPELLING ERRORS IN STUDENTS’ ESSAYS AND BLOGS KEYWORDS: essay, spelling, spelling error, literacy, blog. INTRODUCTION Recently, it has increasingly been claimed that students’ literacy is declining. There are growing assertions that students’ ability to express their thoughts in Lithuanian and, of course, to write without errors is rapidly deteriorating; this problem is often presented as difficult to overcome. Discussions of the impact of digital technologies on spelling (text messages, social networks, and so on) are particularly prominent. All this prompted research into students’ language1, that is, one aspect of language analysis—spelling2. This article examines spelling errors found in texts of different genres written by students: one hundred essays from the 2014 state examination in Lithuanian language and literature3 and one hundred and sixty blog posts written by young people aged 15–18 in 2012–20144. The aim of the article is to identify the spelling errors most characteristic of texts in different genres—students’ essays and blogs—to explore their causes, and to compare the errors. When examining the spelling in texts of different genres, it is necessary to take into account the circumstances that may influence the causes of errors and the tendencies behind them. All students in their final year of secondary school are required to write essays; this is a school-leaving examination, and students must complete the task according to the specified criteria. In writing the essay, a student must understand the topic as formulated, examine it in their work, draw on the specified authors, and so on. The essay is handwritten, approximately 500 words long, and its language must be correct and its text expressive. This work is assessed; the grade received is very important to every student. Thus, when writing, the student 1 Rita Miliūnaitė described in detail the general issues surrounding the assessment of essays in the state examination in Lithuanian language and literature, as well as the concept of standard-language norms in schools, in the article “On the Concept of Standard-Language Norms in Schools,” published in this volume of Bendrinė kalba (Miliūnaitė 2015). 2 In January 2015, the School Lithuanian Studies Group was established at the Institute of the Lithuanian Language. With permission from the National Examination Centre, the researchers working there examine the language of essays from the 2014 state examination in Lithuanian language and literature. 3 The spelling of randomly selected essays is examined in this article; that is, no distinction was made based on the gender or location of the essays’ authors. 4 The average blog post contains about 300 words (Tamulionienė 2014). A school-leaving examination essay is about 500 words long; therefore, 160 blog posts were selected so that the volumes of the texts of the different genres examined would be equal. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 2 should strive to do that work as well as possible, that is, to demonstrate all the knowledge in that field that they possess. Psychological factors may also have an influence: tension and stress while writing final papers may prevent students from demonstrating the results they could achieve. Blogs are written by the most active segment of students. Each text is created by an individual, revealing that person’s linguistic abilities, thinking, and so on. The language of publicly available blog texts is not edited. Blogs are written voluntarily and are not assessed. (For more on the circumstances of blog writing, see Miliūnaitė 2008; Tamulionienė 2014). The first section of the article reviews the relevance of the study; the following sections examine the most characteristic spelling errors in essays and blogs and provide a comparative statistical description of the errors. Throughout the article, all the errors examined are illustrated with examples from essays and blogs. 1. RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY Lithuanian spelling rules are binding on everyone who writes in the standard variety of that language. People communicate in writing when they write, so correct spelling can not only make communication easier (a text written with errors is often difficult to read and sometimes even to understand), but also helps people understand one another. Spelling is “a matter of convention, the external shell of language, and is only indirectly related to the internal structure of language” (Pupkis 2005: 231). Lithuanian spelling is based on three general principles: phonetic, morphological, and traditional; the phonetic principle predominates, that is, we spell many words as we hear them pronounced. The concept, essence, and principles of Lithuanian spelling are described in detail in various publications devoted to Lithuanian spelling and punctuation (LKRS: 9–20; LK 1: 289–293; LKE: 521–523; MRKŽ: 3–6; Pupkis 2005: 230–234; Šukys: 268–279). Liuda Kadžytė-Kuzavinienė (1997: 5–8) has provided an overview of the standardization of Lithuanian spelling in her publication. More complex aspects of spelling are also distinctively commented on and explained in a teaching book by Virginija Vasiliauskienė and Erika Rimkutė (2007). Much has recently been written and discussed publicly about declining literacy5, often understood as declining spelling and punctuation; particular attention is paid to young people’s literacy, and the number of studies being conducted is also growing. Vaida Drukteinytė (2009) studied the most characteristic spelling errors made by university students. Aušra Rimkutė (2012) examined spelling and punctuation errors found in a dictation written by first-year students at the Telšiai Faculty of Žemaitija College. It was established that “a comparison of dictations by those who graduated from secondary school in 2012 or 2011 with those who graduated more than 12 years earlier reveals a huge difference: the former made an average of 22 errors when writing the dictation, while the latter made 9. Thus, literacy has deteriorated almost 2.5 times!” (Rimkutė 2012: 12). In 2013–2014, the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language assessed the language of textbooks used in higher education institutions, master’s theses, and doctoral dissertation abstracts. The study revealed a low level of literacy (more about the study at www.vlkk.lt). In 2014, the journal Gimtasis žodis launched the project “(Il)literacy is not just a school’s concern.” Teachers, students, and the public were invited to take part in this project. In the same year, linguist Bronius Dobrovolskis conducted an experiment, dictating the same text again after 20 years. The results obtained 5 This article does not examine the concept and understanding of literacy in greater depth; literacy is discussed here only as the ability to write without errors. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 3 parodė, kad klaidų skaičius padvigubėjo (daugiau apie tyrimą žr. Jackevičius 2014). Lietuvių kalbos institute taip pat atliekami mokinių kalbos tyrimai: rašybos, skyrybos, sintaksės, leksikos. Tiriami 2014 m. valstybinio lietuvių kalbos ir literatūros brandos egzamino rašto darbai, taip pat kiti mokinių rašiniai, jų vertinimas. Pirmieji (rašybos klaidų) tyrimo rezultatai pateikiami šiame straipsnyje6. Įvairias raštingumo problemas savo straipsniuose aptaria Rita Miliūnaitė (2013, 2014 ir kt.). Kalbininkai ir mokytojai šia tema rašo įvairius straipsnius žiniasklaidoje (interviu su R. Miliūnaite 2010, 2014, 2015; interviu su A. Švenčiktiene 2014). Pasitaiko ir priešingų nuomonių. Štai Loreta Vaicekauskienė savo straipsnyje diskutuoja kiek plačiau apie raštingumo sąvoką ir mano, kad raštingumas dabartiniu metu kaip tik auga (Vaicekauskienė 2013). Journalists also write about this topic, attracting readers’ attention with sensational headlines about declining literacy in society, especially among young people. Here are just a few examples of headlines: Student illiteracy is an eyesore (Krikštapon yte 2006), Lithuanian literacy has deteriorated considerably (2011), Politicians alarmed by declining student literacy (2012), Declining literacy in society: doing nothing is disastrous (2013), Ministry’s fight against illiteracy: Lithuanian language exam for eighth-graders, fewer tests, more reading (2013), Illiteracy is becoming a national disgrace (2013), An educated person today—is not necessarily literate? (2014), Explained why there are so many illiterate people (2014), School exam results: has the time come to greet a generation of illiterates? (2015), Teenagers’ written work assessed: everything is even worse than could have been expected (2015). Students also express their views: High school graduate who got zero on the exam: “I don’t feel illiterate” (2014). Youth literacy is widely discussed around the world, and studies are being conducted on the impact of electronic communication on students’ literacy. For example, in America, teachers are concerned that students’ spelling and punctuation skills are deteriorating and that texts increasingly display features characteristic of electronic communication (Lenhart et al. 2008). Non-English-speaking countries also face similar literacy problems. For example, Serbs have noted the significant influence of English on their spelling. In informal texts, ch is written instead of č, and sh instead of š. The spelling of titles has also become inconsistent—the English-language practice of writing all words in capital letters is being adopted (Anđelković 2014: 21–22). The Latvian press writes about declining reading and its effect on deteriorating literacy (www.tvnet.lv, www.nra.lv, etc.). These are just a few examples showing that other countries also face various literacy problems. Articles on this topic that keep appearing point to the importance of the problem and society’s need to learn about its scale and possible solutions. First, it is necessary to determine which errors are most common at present; only then will it be possible to offer recommendations on how to teach certain aspects of language. This article examines only one aspect of language—spelling errors. The two texts representing different genres were chosen for the study deliberately: it is assumed that assessing the spelling in texts of different genres can provide a better understanding of students’ tendencies to make one kind of spelling error or another. 6 For information on students’ syntactic errors, see Solvita Labanauskienė’s article “The Most Characteristic Syntactic Errors in the Essays of South Aukštaitian High School Graduates” in this Bendrinės kalbos volume (Labanauskienė 2015). BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 4 2. THE MOST CHARACTERISTIC SPELLING ERRORS IN STUDENTS’ ESSAYS AND BLOGS All texts examined in the article were assessed according to the following aspects of spelling: vowels and diphthongs; nasal vowels; consonants; capitalization; writing words together and separately; use of diacritical marks; and spelling in the electronic environment. The article examines spelling errors in essays and blogs together, comparing usage tendencies in texts of different genres. 2. 1. Spelling of vowels and diphthongs In many cases, Lithuanian vowel spelling is phonetic and might seem straightforward—as we hear it, so we write it; that is, vowel spelling is often linked to correct pronunciation. 2.1.1. In spoken language (in both dialects and urban speech), the opposition between long and short vowels is disappearing. Comprehensive studies of students’ pronunciation in Lithuania are lacking. Individual studies (Bukantienė 2006) show that long vowels are pronounced least well—and are also often misspelled—in unstressed positions. In both types of texts examined, the spelling of long and short vowels is most often inconsistent. Long and short vowels are confused most often when writing nouns. As the examples below show, the most common cause of errors is shortening long vowels in pronunciation in unstressed positions: (R) <...> after experiencing painful emotions, a large scar remains in one’s memory.7 In this work, one can notice deep memories <...>. <...> which makes one remember painful events that happened in the past. In my opinion, a great example <...>. <...> a promise to defend against inequality among people. <...> After Lithuania lost its statehood <...>. (T) And we really did spend it having a great time: swinging on the swings <...>. <...> a biology teacher, or else she really has no brains at all and has no idea how to teach children <...>. Let me guess: somewhere in your chest or stomach you feel a pleasant sensation, accompanied by a smile. <...> Christmas trinkets, but near the checkout we saw a shelf with two little sculptures on it. Errors in the spelling of long and short vowels were found in verbs and forms derived from them: students more often write long vowels instead of short ones. (R) <...> the village people should remember for a long time <...>. <...> love occupies one of the most important places in our memories. 7 Here and throughout the article, the language of the examples is reproduced as written; the passages under discussion are marked in red, and in boldface when the location of the stress is also important. Examples from essays are marked with the letter (R) in the article, and those from blogs with the letter (T). BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 5 <...> creates a book that is read by generation after generation <...>. <...> what is alive in a person cannot be erased so quickly. <...> could not affect present-day life <...>. (T) It doesn’t matter that it’s spring and I’m feeling lazy; I need to buckle down with my studies. Less often, short vowels are written instead of long ones: (R) Many people settled near the television tower <...>. <...> without fearing that he might sacrifice his life—he defended his country <...>. (T) Well, I wouldn’t be me otherwise. I want something new, to somehow brighten up my life and get rid of the daily routine. There were, admittedly, far fewer errors involving confusion between long and short vowels, and such errors were also found when writing other parts of speech. They occur in both stressed and unstressed positions. For example, when writing adjectives (R1; T1), as well as adverbs (R2; T2) and pronouns (R3; T3): (R1) They rejoice, but destroy the present <...>. <...> unhappy love or simply a bad day. <...> priests are highly valued and popular. (T1) I express my immense gratitude to the teacher for two years spent together, full of hard work, determination, and innovative ideas. But the afternoon nap helped, and the next training session went more successfully. (R2) They are deeply engraved in our consciousness. However, looking more deeply, we can clearly see <...>. Do people necessarily have to come to terms with a painful loss? (T2) PHP can be learned in a very error-prone way; it is also quite vulnerable at the beginner level, and learning various security tricks takes quite a long time. (R3) <...> which makes our everyday life different. <...>tasks that we people do not really like to carry out <...>. Those that bring to fruition within us <...>. (T3) <...> we must do everything within our power, and luck will only help—it will help when it is needed most. Statistically speaking, as many as 78 percent of all spelling errors involving long and short vowels in essays were found specifically in unstressed positions; there are fewer vowel-spelling errors in blogs (see Fig. 1), with errors involving long vowels in unstressed positions accounting for 69 percent. 2.1.2. Another group of errors comprises confusion between vowels, as well as between vowels and diphthongs. Most of them involve incorrect spelling of the vowels e and ė. In some cases, where e is required, students write ė (e.g., R1; T1); in other cases, conversely, they write e instead of ė (R2; T2): (R1) The money was intended for a wheelchair. <...> and sometimes there is no need to think about the consequences. <...> in this case, the brother did not go off alone <...>. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 6 <...> love is the only thing that can give our everyday lives nobility. <...> decides to play a little tune on the violin at her and Rapolas’s wedding. (T1) And by the way, congratulations to DIMA and SONATA on 3 YEARS of friendship! Yesterday evening I went by car with my aunt, uncle, and aunt’s husband to Panevėžys. (R2) We cultivate it and make use of it at every stage of life. The first Soviet deportations<...> <...>the Latin alphabet was banned<...> (T2) If you believe that Lady Luck will arrive with a little plate bearing the goals you have already achieved, and that you will simply be able to take them, nothing of the sort will ever happen in life. why did you decide to create an ask.fm account? There are many errors involving confusion between the vowels e and ė. The reason is probably clear here too: the distinction between the sounds e and ė is disappearing in pronunciation, making them difficult to spell correctly as well. Statistical analysis of these data showed that confusion between the vowels e and ė was found somewhat more often in unstressed positions. In essays, such cases accounted for 57% of all the errors of this type examined; in blogs, 67%. There were far fewer spelling errors involving confusion between the spellings e–ie and ė–ie, or o–uo: (R) Does love bring nobility to a person’s everyday life? <...>there would be no feeling of love for those close to us <...>. <...>to wake up every morning and feel love for one’s work <...>. <...>people who are not in love are in a good mood. A person is attached to something <...>. (T) You miss the previous lesson, copy down the topic with some hieroglyphics, and understand nothing <...> In the past, while driving and sleeping, I could still feel when the bus stopped; now that sensation is gone. 2.1.3. The essays and blogs also contained spelling errors involving the vowels e and (i)a. The spelling of these vowels is based on the morphological principle and can pose difficulties for students when writing. It is not enough simply to pronounce the sounds of a word correctly and write them down. When writing such words, one must be able to recognize the morphological structure of the word and apply the rules. As the examples show, students make mistakes when writing e and (i)a in the endings, prefixes, and roots of inflected words and verbs. (R) Deportees: children, women, men <...>. <...> to remain virtuous and honest with oneself and one's loved ones. <...> only a few years, and they fly by<...> <...> Vilnius University was closed, which at that time was like the sun in social and cultural life. <...> we relax, replenish our strength and thoughts <...>. <...> could not live without them even for a few days. (T) It is a pity that this holiday is not celebrated more widely. We ate at a pizzeria and just wandered around the shops <...>. Obviously, the photo quality is so-so, but it's still better than nothing;) BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 7 Errors were also found in the spelling of the vowels a, e after the consonant j: (R) So people may have been dead for ages and ages, but for her he was a writer she would never forget. Somewhere deep inside, she still felt <...>. Unfortunately, the people of Lithuania in the 19th–20th centuries did not have <...>. <...> whom you sacrificed yourself for or will sacrifice yourself for <...>. <...> why does what has long since ceased to exist remain alive in a person? (T) <...> because we had set the table, and when she went into the house I lit a candle, met her in the corridor, and sang “Happy Birthday.” With a rested mind, she took in the latest news more easily. As the examples show, pupils most often make mistakes with the vowels e and ia when writing word roots and endings; after the consonant j, pupils most often misspell the vowels ia and e only in word endings (it may be that the sample of texts examined is too small and that no words with this type of error in their roots were found). 2.1.4. A group of words should be mentioned separately: these are cases where spelling errors arise from confusing forms when writing shortened locative forms. Errors occur when the vowel in the long accusative ending and the shortened locative ending is the same: (R) This lesson will remain in his memory for his whole life. <...> when one has to seek the company of others, harmony prevails even in the forest. These people remain in our memory for the rest of our lives. (T) I passed by him many times, and just as often I caught his attention; it was all happening by the seaside <...>. In some cases, stressing the words could help pupils here. For example: Accusative Locative atmintį atmintý (These people remain in our memory for the rest of our lives). 2.1.5. In summary, an examination of vowel and diphthong spelling errors in different types of student texts shows that such errors are numerous, especially in essays. The proportion of these errors differs considerably between essays and blogs (see Fig. 1). FIG. 1. Vowel and diphthong spelling errors in student essays and blogs (percent) BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 8 As can be seen, considerably more vowel and diphthong spelling errors were found in essays. In both types of text, long and short vowels are most often confused i–y, u–ū (47 percent of this group of errors found in essays; 59 percent of this group of errors found in blogs); somewhat fewer errors involve confusion between vowels and diphthongs (46 percent of this group of errors found in essays; 30 percent of this group of errors found in blogs). Errors in writing e and ia in word endings or after the consonant j are less common (7 percent of this group of errors found in essays; 11 percent of this group of errors found in blogs). 2.2. Spelling of nasal vowels When discussing the spelling of nasal vowels, it is customary to emphasize the more complex cases: the spelling of words that must be memorized and the spelling of certain verbs. Errors most commonly occur in the spelling of nasal vowels in word roots. In essays and blogs, however, errors are more common in endings than in roots. 2.2.1. More than half of the errors in writing nasal vowels in word endings occur in the plural genitive and singular accusative cases: (E) After losing love, some people suffer greatly<...>. You can find many stories about things that have already happened<...>. One day, she meets her father<...>. That is why people, expressing gratitude<...>. (B) To tell the truth, after returning, I no longer felt like doing anything. Finally, after getting out of bed, countless thoughts swirled in my head<...>. <...> thoughts are racing, or serious work is interrupted by coughing until tears come. It is also quite common for one word in a given case to be written with a nasal vowel and another without: (E) <...> wrote about two people, a man and a woman<...>. Since ancient times, love has bestowed nobility upon people. <...> love helped him discover that hidden nobility. In my opinion, love provides the strongest source of nobility. (T) With this wise thought, I conclude today's—fourteenth—post. I'd like to do a little fun activity; in the comments <...>. Tell me what you would like to hear my philosophical thoughts, reflections, and answers about. Still, it is better to be addicted to music than to narcotic substances. Nasals are also omitted when writing active participles, as well as the third person of the subjunctive mood: (R) Having returned, they starved, each night looking for a new place to stay <...>. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 9 <...> treat others as you would like them to treat you. <...> we all deserve to experience. (T) Even if I got tired of it, it would only be for a while; after a few days I could start it up again and enjoy it... You had two days to choose the topic for this post by taking part in the poll. So if I had enrolled, I would have been somewhere else, and that would have been a big mistake. They always think they are fat, no matter how perfect their figure is. Fewer errors are made when writing pronominal forms of adjectives and adjective-like words; here, diacritical letters may be mistakenly written where they are not needed, while short or long vowels are written where letters with diacritics are required: (R) Love for one’s homeland makes a person noble <...>. you remember those wonderful feelings, love and warmth with your significant other <...>. <...> “Address to the Dear Reader” encourages readers not to forget their native language. (T) What could be better than getting such grades for a diligent female student? PHP may seem extremely easy at first, but such thinking is superficial—one can learn to code in PHP very incorrectly, and it is also rather vulnerable for a beginner. Returning to the topic of the most recent recovery from the widespread flu fever, with teachers absent and many students ill over the past two days, there were barely 2–3 lessons a day at all. Another common error is the incorrect spelling of neuter forms. Neuter forms are often confused with an inflected form of the same word, leading to errors; most often, the pronoun visa: is written incorrectly. (R) <...> what is memory, and why is it alive? <...>will feel nobility and pass all of this on to future generations. <...> some have seen more of everything and are having a hard time living through it all <...>. And all that has been left to us to this day. (T) <...> lately I understood how to speak with this teacher, so all this no longer bothers me at all. <...> I would have preferred physical geography, but what can you do? I have to deal with everything I have now. Attention should be drawn to a group of errors in which the spelling of nasal vowels is more difficult to explain. Nasal vowels may be written in the third-person singular present-tense endings of verbs, and less often in the endings of other persons: (R) <...> talk about those people who have a lot of money <...>. <...> Tilius does not have lunch but sits and gazes into the distance. <...> when Tilius falls in love with Agnė, he cannot show his nobility <...>. (T) <...> they like making men feel guilty, whether they are guilty or not <...>. Participation in such events increases one's store of knowledge <...>. It may be that students confuse these verbs with active-voice participles. In other cases, grammatical cases may simply be confused; that is, students do not distinguish which case is required: (R) <...> were prepared to reclaim her at any cost. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 10 <...> having become a priest, he still did not feel free. But along with love come pain and suffering. (T) Then I complain about the amplifier’s lack of volume and distortion, and rated it 4/10. I am the person who lives with music <...>. In many cases, the writing of nasal vowels at the ends of words may be influenced by incorrect vowel pronunciation (singular genitive and plural genitive endings); errors in writing nasal vowels in the other cases discussed (pronominal forms and the conditional mood) result from ignorance of the rules. 2.2.2. Fewer errors were found in writing nasal vowels in word roots. Apparently, students avoid writing such words, do not want to make mistakes, and perhaps look for synonyms of the same word. (R) What is already gone cannot be brought back <...>. <...> will never return. <...> had to decide what he wanted to become. <...> would send food to their loved ones <...>. <...> the feeling of love for one’s family will never fade. After all, every person thinks differently. (T) We left around half past seven, I think, but of course I got home much later.. We tried on loads of things, but nothing suited me, so we came back with only bags of candy:3 First of all, an insect bit me on the way when I was at the country house, so I scratched the bite open and most likely “put” an infection into it. Don’t ask why; just take a look, then come back here in a few seconds. I don’t even want to celebrate, and I won’t, unless Mom organizes something:) Such errors were also found in prefixes. Here, however, several groups can be distinguished. One group concerns the spelling of the prefixes į- and są-: (R) <...> or does a person who falls in love always become nobler? That is why they are boldly honest and dignified. <...> his subconsciousness, sobriety determine it<...>. <...> loved his family and his efforts were not in vain. Such events cannot be forgotten <...>. memory helped us remember what happened <...>. (T) But all of that was smoothed over by nonsense, laughter, and fun things that I experience with my dearest friends! I once heard that this might somehow be related to stress or some similar nonsense. Improved, learned... I brought back unforgettable impressions. <...> no matter how “stupid” everything there may be, and whatever nonsense may be going on there—it all takes you back to memories. An examination of prefix spelling shows that students do not always distinguish between the prefixes į- and iš-: (R) <...> whoever has already left and never <...>. <...> during the war years was sent to a concentration camp <...>. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 11 (T) Although it turns out that music is itself a drug....? I was gone for a good reason, but don’t worry, I won’t leave you to your fate! The spelling of certain nasal vowels can be explained by the fact that students perceive a prefix where there is none: (R) Thanks to these and other efforts and ideas of the author <...>. The child, having formed an image of the ideal thief <...>. <...> he looked on ironically, even mockingly. (T) <...> but to program and achieve more, you’ll have to work independently. There are also words whose nasal-vowel spelling is harder to classify and explain: (R) The first time, we Lithuanians <...>. <...> nowadays we are taking a step backward <...>. Where do we know history from? <...> shows how we should love our homeland, our faith. <...> the harm done to another person remains in our minds <...>. (T) My strength is about to run out. <...> and chanting various slogans, we set off toward Gediminas Avenue. And what was there to wander around for? The spelling of the words mentioned in some examples (e.g., mes, kraštą) can be linked to the long pronunciation of vowels; one can only guess that when writing the word žala, the student may have confused parts of speech (cf. the spelling of present-tense verbs šąla, bala, etc.). The spelling of yet other words is difficult to explain (e.g., iššeks). 2.2.3. The examples examined show that in both types of texts, most spelling errors involving nasal letters occur in word endings. Such cases in essays might be explained very simply: students may avoid words with more complex spelling and simply not use them in their essays, wishing to make fewer mistakes, whereas nasal vowels in endings cannot be avoided, since it would be impossible to do without the plural genitive and singular accusative. These errors are apparently also left in blogs. Not all such errors can be corrected by various spelling-checking programs (the programs cannot always determine cases, e.g., distinguish gerą from gerą, and so on). It may be that students do not fully understand the systems of declension and conjugation. Aggregated statistics on nasal-vowel spelling errors are shown in Figure 2. FIG. 2. Spelling errors involving nasal vowels in essays and blogs (percent) BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 12 As can be seen, most of these errors occur in endings (80 percent of all errors in this group in essays; 64 percent of all errors in this group in blogs); far fewer spelling errors involving nasal vowels were found in word roots or prefixes (20 percent of all errors in this group in essays; 36 percent of all errors in this group in blogs). 2.3. Writing Words Together and Separately Regarding writing words together and separately, it should be said that this is the most difficult error category for everyone to distinguish. The abundance of rules and exceptions confuses many people—not only students, but adults as well. 2.3.1. Examination of the most characteristic errors in writing words together and separately revealed that mistakes are most often made when writing particles, especially the particles vis and gi: (E) Do we really need to ruin our lives <...>. <...> the owner drowned him anyway. She nevertheless captivated Liudas with her beauty, her figure. Even so, these days we take a step backward, because we no longer understand what is noble <...>. So memories have a tremendous influence on a person’s life. (B) That’s how it is every year, too. Today, once again, I will not try to philosophize on a topic of my choosing, but will talk about young people. And I truly believe that everyone’s better day will come, the end of routine, so I wish you that;) Everything is in the past anyway; all that remains is to wait for the answers. I guarantee that your opinion will be appropriated anyway from women like those <...>. P.S. No matter how much good you do for those around you, it will still never be enough for them... Students have difficulty writing particles that combine with other words: (R) When someone did something good for you, you can remember that person <...>. <...> for some people, thoughts like these may seem completely absurd because they do not want to forget. There was always something alive in him as well <...>. When someone did something good for you, you can remember that person <...>. Memories are immensely, immensely important to a person. <...> declared a fight for Lithuania at any cost <...>. <...> has a greater influence than anything else. <...> he cut down the grove just to survive <...>. (T) Sold in souvenir shops (I have not yet found out where to get real, stronger weed). For now, it is neither good nor bad—it is interesting. Recently, one from the same company came to an end—yellow, though—and it was utterly fantastic...It did not disappoint. Ah, but I am not too happy, because with that teacher, after studying so much, getting a seven means a lot. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 13 2.3.2. The spelling of the negative particle ne should be discussed separately. As the texts under analysis show, students have not fully grasped when the negative particle ne should be written together with other words and when separately: (R) In human consciousness, not only people and things, but also <...>. He emigrated abroad more than once and worked as an elevator operator <...>. No wonder Maironis is called <...>. But that is not all there is to it. However, not all memories make one feel pleasant. (T) I like learning from my mistakes, but I do not always notice them <...>. It depends on eating and not only <...>. No wonder I received all sorts of comments: some praised me, others criticized me, and still others called me a little fool. No wonder I intend to study a subject related to this field of science. 2.3.3. To briefly summarize the spelling of words together and separately, these errors can be attributed to the abundance of rules (perhaps at some point we should consider simplifying at least some of them), as well as to the inability to distinguish parts of speech and not knowing how those parts of speech are inflected and formed. A statistical summary of errors in writing words together and separately shows that this error group is the most numerous in blogs; slightly fewer such errors occur in essays (see Fig. 3). FIG. 3. Errors in writing words together and separately in essays and blogs (percent) As Figure 3 shows, the largest share of errors in this group consists of errors in the spelling of particles and particle combinations (73 percent of all errors in this group in essays; 81 percent of all errors in this group in blogs). The other, much smaller, group of errors concerns writing the negative particle ne together with or separately from other words (27 percent of all errors in this group in essays; 19 percent of all errors in this group in blogs). 2.4. Spelling of consonants The spelling of consonants, like that of vowels, is often related to pronunciation. Spelling problems most often arise with consonants subject to morphological spelling. To spell them correctly, it is necessary to identify related words that are spelled phonetically. Compared with other spelling errors, very few consonant errors were found in both essays and blogs. Most often, they result from assimilation in pronunciation: BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 14 Both in essays and in blogs, very few consonant errors were found. Most of them result from assimilation in the pronunciation of sounds: (R) Thus, a sense of duty is one of the important reasons why memories live on in a person. <...> however, sooner or later they come to light. Thus, it can be said with confidence that love for the homeland as well as <...>. <...> who managed to return to his homeland <...>. <...> which they had not smelled before. <...> Arvydas Sabonis, although he is now a pensioner <...>. (T) This time we went to bed earlier.:) I would advise the teacher to be somewhat stricter in future about one or another student’s remarks, because this way teachers may eventually lose all authority among students. I don’t understand whether the teachers are so obtuse or whether my pessimism is getting in the way. This group of spelling errors is scarce in the texts examined. It may be assumed that even those few errors were made because of incorrect pronunciation—they were written as they are pronounced. A statistical comparison of this error group in the two types of texts is presented in Figure 4. FIG. 4. Spelling of consonants in essays and blogs (percent) As can be seen, consonant spelling errors account for 3 percent of all errors found in essays and 4 percent of all errors found in blogs. 2.5. Capitalization More capitalization errors were found in essays, whereas such errors are not characteristic of blogs: there are few proper nouns there, and they are written with a capital letter; blogs also contain few titles (often these are English titles of films, games, etc.). Therefore, this article illustrates this group of errors primarily with the most characteristic cases of usage and examples from essays. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 15 2.5.1. An examination of the spelling of various proper names in essays revealed that pupils do not always distinguish common nouns from proper nouns, and even when they do, they do not always know how to spell them correctly. The numerous examples from essays bear this out. Proper nouns are often written with lowercase letters: (E) Balys Sruoga is a famous Lithuanian writer <...>. <...> the image of a free Lithuania remained in people’s subconscious <...>. Balys Sruoga is a famous Lithuanian writer <...>. <...> the organized printing of Lithuanian books in Lithuania Minor and their transportation to Lithuania. He wrote a poem that became Lithuania’s national anthem after the restoration of independence. Another group of examples involves common nouns written with capital letters: (E) Two World Wars broke out, followed by many <...>. <...> in his mind, he hums Lithuanian songs. <...> one March night, when officers of the German political police burst into his home. It is worth noting that most of the examples found in which proper nouns are written with lowercase letters involve the name Lithuania. One possible reason for this spelling may be the influence of texting habits (cf. Nevinskaitė 2011: 289). 2.5.2. Another group of capitalization errors concerns the spelling of titles. Essays contain a particularly large number of titles of works. As can be seen, pupils do not always know how to write compound titles correctly. The spelling conventions of other languages may also have an influence, since capitalization rules are a matter of convention in each language. When learning other languages, pupils may become confused or simply fail to consider that title capitalization differs from one language to another; therefore, it is very important for teachers of each language to emphasize this point. The capitalization errors under consideration can be divided into several groups: titles that begin with a lowercase letter (e.g., E1), and titles in which every word begins with a capital letter (e.g., E2; B2): (E1) <...> I want to mention that in “the white shroud” the main character <...>. <...> her diary became the work “Lithuanians by the Laptev Sea” <...>. <...> wrote a book of memoirs and autobiography, “Forest of the Gods.” (R2) <...> Jonas Biliūnas wrote in the work “A Sad Tale” <...>. It is the novel “White Shroud.” I could give the work “Uncles and Aunts.” (T2) I finished reading the book “Burning Bridges’. This story also somewhat recalls Megė’s story from “Kere’s Diaries.” We learned a group dance to Montvydas’s song “We Want More.” 2.5.3. As the analysis of capitalization in texts of both genres shows, students still do not understand how to capitalize titles. Almost no capitalization errors were observed in blog posts when writing proper nouns, whereas such errors occur in titles. Thus, teachers should further BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 16 It is usually best to explain to pupils once and for all the most important rule for writing symbolic names: if a name consists of several words, it should be written in quotation marks; unless the words are personal names or place names, all words except the first are written in lowercase. It is also very important to draw pupils’ attention to the fact that the rules for writing names may differ across languages. In her article, Ona Laima Gudzinevičiūtė (2015: 6–16) has examined problematic cases and tendencies in the use of capital letters. 2.6. Writing diacritical marks and dots over i, j Another group of errors encountered especially at present concerns placing dots over i, j and writing carons over č, š, ž. These spelling errors are likely caused by the influence of electronic communication (cf. Nevinskaitė 2011: 284–285; Miliūnaitė 2014: 1–16). Regarding this group of errors, it should be emphasized that it is also more characteristic of essays than of blogs. None of the blog posts examined was written in the so-called “unaccented” style. Among the 100 essays examined, there were some in which almost no diacritical marks appeared. It should be noted that the dot is most often omitted over the letter i, and less often over j (such errors cannot occur in a text typed on a computer, since the letters typed on a keyboard include dots). Some essays also omitted the carons over letters. Another tendency became apparent in such essays: in an essay with almost no letters bearing diacritical marks, no sentence-ending punctuation was written at the end of a sentence. Here are just a few examples of what sentences look like when diacritical marks and dots over i, j are almost entirely absent. (R) <...> but always spiritually in her heart. often suffers from food shortages <...>. This young poet describes her love in poems. Such a text is not always easy to read, and its meaning can often be distorted. Pupils should be reminded of these matters and encouraged to bear them in mind. 2.7. Spelling errors in the electronic environment When examining blogs and texts typed on computers, errors not characteristic of handwritten texts were observed. The use of written signs in the electronic environment, as in written text, is also governed by its own rules. It is very important to familiarize pupils with these rules. The use of most of these signs falls within the domain of punctuation; this article discusses only their graphic representation. 2.7.1. A space is a written sign characteristic of electronic texts. There are not many errors involving spaces in blogs; however, it was observed that when abbreviating word combinations in texts, no space is sometimes left between a numerical value and its abbreviation, or a space is inserted before a colon, comma, or full stop: (T) By the way, this year is 2014m.. that means that this year will be very successful for me. <...> they are thus captivated by the foreign language, the noise, the bustle, the rustling of trees, the sounds made by birds, etc. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 17 Here it comes out roughly like this: I pick an apple from the apple tree. <...> The 12th Č. Kudaba national competition, to be held on March 31. <...> they dislike undemocratic, and even unjust, decisions <...>. Another writing error characteristic of electronic text is confusing the dash with the hyphen. Dash-related errors are extremely common in blogs; almost everywhere a long dash should appear, a hyphen is used. In blogs, hyphens are very often used instead of dashes to mark boundaries (a long dash with no spaces should be used). Several things may account for this use of the marks: people may not know that there is a difference between them or how to type the mark on a computer; or perhaps it is simply quicker to type a hyphen on a computer. And here are just a few examples: (T) Thursday passes almost unnoticed, and the next morning—Friday! And the strangest thing is—they break up over absolutely nothing. Theoretically, the main target is still the USA—so many servers and information kept secret from citizens <...>. The problem is that now, apparently, is the worst time for me to take on such fairly large projects—12th grade. <...> I try to sit down at the computer no more than once every two or three days, so there is no time left for new posts. They have done overland trips: 2008 – 2009 and 2011 – 2012, Sweden-Tibet-Australia, and now I can’t remember the exact other one. 2.7.2. Another punctuation error characteristic of blog texts is the use of Lithuanian quotation marks in the wrong form. Lithuanian quotation marks are used almost nowhere in the blog posts examined. Bloggers either do not know how to type them or simply choose English ones. All sorts can be found in the posts: (T) If I were the main blue-haired character (from the book “Deginant tiltus”). I remember how my mother’s cousin, who was my age, and I used to play “Kitas” every day. Well, in the evening Mom and I went for a walk, and when we got back, we watched “Bitės filmą.” On Saturday I bought the book “Deginant tiltus” and felt like dyeing my hair cyan and indigo blue. Unfortunately, the country’s president is “Bashar al-Assado,” whose father and family have ruled the country since 1971. <...>. “Hello, student life!” I greeted this year’s autumn with precisely these words. 2.7.3. Blogs also contain other kinds of errors, known as proofreading errors; these most often occur because of haste or inattention: sometimes different letters are typed instead of the intended ones, letters are mixed up, and so on. Here are a few examples (T): (T) I won’t explain the more specific details, because it would be improper to make them public <...>. I can confidently say what sets this teacher apart from the others—the insistence on politeness. I suppose I should admit like a man that I am the one to blame. I attend events, lectures, and performances. P.S. The 12-year chapter has ended; a new one is beginning. God willing, I’ll get into the place I want to BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 18 2.7.4. Language in the electronic sphere has features of both written and spoken language. Blog texts also have their own distinctive features. They make extensive use of emoticons and other means of expressing feelings, moods, and so on. In examining spelling in blogs, it was observed that bloggers sometimes express their feelings and moods through distinctive spelling; that is, they add extra letters or lengthen certain letters. These features could be considered stylistically motivated. Here are some examples: (T) Pretty tattered, but who cares? It shines. And it’s sooo fashionable. It’s sooo important; they’re quizzing us tomorrow:D There were words—it was insanely fun! Oh, he’s so sad without me;(((How saaad... Anyway, that’s not what we’re talking about:) Frrriday tomorrow; at last, my favorite day of the week is almost here. 2.7.5. Cases where non-Lithuanian letters q, w, x are used in the texts under examination should be discussed separately. None were found in the essays, and such cases are also uncommon in blogs. Isolated instances of the non-Lithuanian letter x were found in blogs (the other letters found, q, w, x, occur only in English words): (T) We went wild, guys, a bit:D I’m glad I’m alive and well. I won’t tell you the details of our shenanigans, because they’ll simply kill me:D But those dudes are pigs:D The fairy-tale titles have been mixed up because a girl named Ugnė (whose role I play) tears up a fairy-tale book and later glues its pages back together incorrectly. In short, pursue your dreams, be maximalists, but don’t forget what you have.:* As can be seen from these few examples, the letter x is used in words of foreign origin. 2.8. Summary and comparison with the features of written school language identified by teachers An examination of the most characteristic spelling errors in students’ essays and blogs revealed certain tendencies in spelling errors. In considering their preconditions and causes, it is important to take into account the areas in which students use written language; that is, it is important to assess the impact of information technology on students’ language. In 2012, the Institute of the Lithuanian Language conducted a survey of teachers about written school language (for more on the survey and its results, see Miliūnaitė 2013: 192–211, Miliūnaitė 2015: 1–16; Vasiliauskas 2013: 27–31). In her article “Teachers on the Impact of Information Technology on Students’ Language,” R. Miliūnaitė clearly categorized teachers’ responses about the impact of information technology on students’ language. The responses obtained8 can be compared with the results of the study examined in this article. Most errors in writing vowels and diphthongs were found in essays (somewhat fewer in blogs). In their responses, teachers did not identify these errors as particularly frequent or directly associate them with information technology. Although errors in vowel and diphthong spelling are commonly linked to faulty pronunciation skills, it may be considered that these errors also arise from electronic communication, in which various abbreviations are especially common. At present, there is a marked tendency, when shortening words, to 8 The article examines only those features of written language identified by teachers that have arisen from the impact of information technology and relate to spelling. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 19 omit vowels and leave only consonants (e.g.: db “now,” kvk “what are you doing?,” nzn “I don’t know,” snd “today,” etc.). Such habits may affect students who lack strong spelling skills: writing words with vowels less often may make it difficult to spell the whole word. This could be one explanation for why so many vowel spelling errors occur in texts written by young people. Teachers identify errors in writing nasal vowels as the most important feature of written language arising from the impact of information technology. Essays and blogs contain many errors in writing nasal vowels at word endings; one possible cause may be related to information technology (e.g., writing text messages, communicating on social networks, etc.). Teachers do not single out errors in writing words together or separately as a distinct group. This group of errors can presumably be linked first and foremost to the abundance of rules and exceptions. It has been observed that in essays and blogs, students write as one word items that the rules require to be written separately. This may also be related to the impact of information technology, since when typing on a computer or phone, spaces are often omitted where they should be inserted. Teachers associate errors in the use of capital letters in proper nouns and titles with information technology; such errors are also abundant in the student essays examined. Teachers also point to errors in consonant spelling, which are often caused by writing words as they sound. However, as in essays, this tendency is not particularly pronounced. Teachers particularly frequently identified errors involving diacritical marks. Clearly, these errors have arisen from the impact of information technology. Such errors were also found in some individual essays. Other features of written language identified by teachers are more characteristic of text typed on a computer than of essays: non-Lithuanian letters q, w, x, word shortening, and non-alphabetic signs used in electronic communication. These tendencies are not characteristic of essays; it should be noted that they are extremely rare in student blogs as well. A comparison of the most characteristic spelling errors in students’ essays and blogs with the features of written school language identified by teachers as arising from information technology shows that some groups of errors overlap. This article examined only the most characteristic spelling errors found in the essays and blogs studied. Examining a wider range of texts may reveal other errors, such as word shortening, writing of surnames and pseudonyms, etc. 3. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MOST CHARACTERISTIC SPELLING ERRORS This section of the article statistically examines the most characteristic spelling errors in students’ essays and blogs and presents a comparative analysis of the errors. Before examining the data obtained in greater detail, it is important to show the total number of errors found in different types of texts9. Thus, different numbers of spelling errors were found in texts of the same length: 917 errors in essays and 371 errors in blogs (see Fig. 5). 9 In the statistical analysis of the data, diacritical marks were not counted, as this would have distorted the results. Only a few students did not use diacritical marks in their essays; counting all the instances found across several essays and comparing them with other spelling errors would have made the data incomparable. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 20 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 21 FIG. 7. The most characteristic spelling errors in students’ blogs (percent) Figure 8 makes it possible to compare the most characteristic spelling errors in students’ essays and blogs. FIG. 8. The most characteristic spelling errors in students’ essays and blogs (percent) As can be seen, far fewer errors of every type were found in blogs than in essays, except for errors involving writing words together or separately. It should be emphasized that this article deals only with spelling; the situation may be different when other types of errors are examined. On the other hand, the research findings were quite surprising. As can be seen, considerably fewer errors of every spelling type were found in blogs—that is, in texts that students create of their own free will and without anyone monitoring them. One might assume that bloggers correct their texts using various spelling-checking programs; in any case, this demonstrates their awareness and responsible attitude toward language. This article has discussed only the most characteristic spelling errors. The research is ongoing. After more essays have been examined, further necessary research has been conducted, and teachers have been consulted, it is hoped that comprehensive research findings can be presented. This would make the causes of these errors clearer and allow specific recommendations to be made on how to avoid them. CONCLUSIONS 1. Since Lithuanian spelling is predominantly phonetic, many words can be spelled correctly simply by pronouncing them properly and listening to their sounds; however, some words cannot be spelled by relying on hearing alone. Applying the rules in this way and avoiding many BENDRINĖ KALBA | 88 (2015) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 AURELIJA TAMULIONIENĖ. Būdingiausios rašybos klaidos mokinių rašiniuose ir tinklaraščiuose | 22 spelling errors is possible only with grammatical analysis skills and an understanding of how words and their forms are derived. Examination of spelling errors in students’ essays and blogs revealed a tendency to spell words according to the phonetic principle. This principle leads to misspellings of words whose spelling should be checked against words with the same root. 2. An analysis of spelling errors in students’ essays showed that most were errors in spelling vowels and diphthongs. The spelling of most of these vowels and diphthongs is phonetic, and the large number of errors indicates shortcomings in students’ pronunciation. The most characteristic error in blog texts was writing words together or separately. This shows that students find it difficult to learn and apply the rules for writing words together or separately. 3. In both types of text, there were somewhat fewer errors involving nasal vowels; most of these were errors in writing nasal vowels in word endings (especially in the singular accusative and plural genitive). One may suppose that the main reason is that students do not always understand the functions of grammatical cases or the relationships between words in a sentence; many shorten long endings, and failure to learn to pronounce long vowels at the ends of words leads to more errors in writing. 4. Essays contained more than twice as many spelling errors as blogs. This result may be explained by the fact that blogs are written by the most active (and possibly also the most literate) segment of students; the spelling in blog texts may be corrected by spell-checking programs. This demonstrates students’ awareness and sense of responsibility for texts published publicly. 5. Students’ essays show a tendency to omit diacritical marks. These spelling errors are likely caused by electronic communication. All the student blog texts examined were written using Lithuanian letters (none were written solely in the so-called “shveplavimas” style, omitting Lithuanian diacritics). This shows that their authors regulate their writing and do not distance themselves from the standard language. 6. Texts typed on computers must follow the established rules. Teachers of all subjects should pay attention to this when assessing or teaching students to write assignments on a computer. 7. The overall results show that spelling is difficult for many students. Students do not always know how to spell individual words correctly and sometimes fail to apply the rules consistently. These difficulties apparently arise for various reasons: the abundance of rules and their exceptions, the teaching of spelling, the impact of information technologies, and so on. 8. To identify more specific causes of spelling errors, it is particularly important to examine separately the spelling features of essays written in different regions of Lithuania, as well as those of essays by students in schools where instruction is provided in the languages of national minorities and by native speakers. 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