Raštingumo problema interneto bendruomenės ir mokytojų akimis

192 Kalbos Kultūra | 86 Language and Society RITA MILIŪNAITĖ lietuvių kalbos institutas Problem of Internet Communities and Teachers aOthers KEY WORDS: spelling, linguistic dispositions, language teaching, codification. 1. INTRODUCTION In recent years, there has been a lot of public discussion about literacy in society – both in the narrow sense of the ability to write without errors (and read written text), and in the broader sense of cultural literacy (knowledge), which includes the ability to create text, recognize it, understand it, interpret it1. The first is secondary school: it is here that the basics of literacy are acquired, so every person who has completed secondary education should be literate. However, obvious signs and not yet very abundant studies of the current state of Lithuanian spelling, due to the lack of which, when examining this topic, it is more often necessary to rely on opinions and discussions published in the media, show that literacy is declining not only among pupils: this phenomenon is spreading in other social groups as well. for example, in one interview, the philosopher Vytautas ališauskas, a lecturer at Vilnius University, states that, although education is widespread, its overall quality is declining, and one of the proofs of this is the illiterate students (Jackevičius 2013): 1 there is an even broader concept of literacy: it is the ability to perceive and use various non-language applied sign systems, e.g.: computer literacy (ability to use a computer and applicable software), economic literacy, mathematical literacy, etc. r. miliūnaitė. raštingumo problema interneto bendruomenės ir mokytojų akimis 193 Many students today write very poorly – not only do they make many grammatical mistakes, but they have great difficulty expressing their thoughts in writing. and this is natural – however, most people cannot claim the status of an intellectual elite, whether it be in the natural sciences or in the humanities. It could only be clarified that in order to achieve the status of a literate person, it is not necessary to claim to be an intellectual elite. o changes in gumo linkme itin ryškūs. Pavyzdžiui, pateikiami tokie Žemaitijos kolegijos the illiteracy of society in this faculty results of the annual first-year students' dictation (rimkutė 2012: 13–14): Comparing the dictations of those who graduated from secondary school this year or last year with those who graduated from secondary school more than 12 years ago, there is a huge difference: the former, writing the dictation, made an average of 22 errors, the latter – 9. The situation is such that even those who had already developed spelling skills in school sometimes admit that they are losing them. A separate problem is the gap between Lithuanian children growing up in emigration and the Lithuanian written and spoken language environment. there is something to worry about, because illiteracy is seen as a threat to the development of society: illiterate people cannot be free and creative – they are a crowd of cheap labor that is easy to manipulate2. the problem of literacy is sometimes presented as an almost insurmountable problem. eglė Kanapinskienė, a Lithuanian language teacher at Žiežmarių secondary school, says in an interview (Jablonskaitė 2013): Language use consists of four parts: I read, I write, I listen and I speak. In the age of computer games and online noise, listening carefully becomes difficult because attention is not focused. Speaking is difficult because the vocabulary is very limited. writing is difficult because we don't know the rules and we don't apply them. reading is boring, because the book is overshadowed by interactive entertainment. a vicious circle. thus, for some time in the shadow of other educational problems, this problem has already been noticed not only by specialists, but also by the whole society. 2 Similar processes are taking place in other modern societies as well (for example, in Great Britain there is concern that soldiers serving in the British army are getting worse and worse in writing and numeracy), but a detailed discussion of these processes would exceed the scope of this article. 194 Language Culture | 86 and the data of international literacy and reading abilities surveys, the prepared and approved Plan of Measures for Improving the Teaching of Lithuanian Language and Cultural Literacy 2013–2016, it is true that there are other opinions – that there is no such problem, it is inflated artificially, and the main culprits are those who set literacy criteria and language norms in general (Vaicekauskienė 2013): [...] why is it concluded that every third of our pupils is illiterate? because literacy is assessed according to the current general Lithuanian language norms, and the norms are understood rather narrowly and inflexibly. […] If our pupils were assessed according to different standards of norms, we would probably say that literacy is increasing. but the society itself, as the comments of similar articles show, finds such a justification for its illiteracy. požiūriui nėra linkusi pritarti; jis parankus nebent tiems, kurie mėgina What causes the emergence of the literacy problem, what causes and factors drive the inability (or unwillingness) of an increasingly electronically communicating, thus supposedly double-literate society to adhere to the spelling rules of the Lithuanian language that have existed until now indisputably? This article, based on the narrower, more commonly accepted concept of literacy, sometimes referred to as functional literacy, examines how the Internet community views the problem of literacy: it summarizes the linguistic attitudes that emerged in a 2013 online discussion. also presents the results of a survey of Lithuanian teachers about literacy in school, carried out in 2012. The study of these linguistic attitudes is important in finding concrete ways to reduce illiteracy by mobilizing the efforts of teachers, parents and the whole active society. On 7 May 2012, an article by journalist Mindaugas Jackevičius was published in the delfi.lt online news portal entitled “Generation of illiterate: doctoral dissertations have to be rejected due to errors” (Jackevičius 2012). It presents similar thoughts of teachers, university lecturers and linguists: the literacy of pupils and students is decreasing, and “according to various ratings, thesis at the best Vilnius University (VU) are rejected because of a multitude of errors”. One of the reasons for this situation is the decision taken in 2002-2003 to teach the mother tongue according to foreign language teaching methodologies, emphasizing the communicative purpose of the language. Vilnius St. Dainora eigminienė, an expert Lithuanian language teacher at Kristoferio gimnazija, says: [...] mother tongue is much more than any foreign language learned and it is not only for conversation. A person thinks about the r. miliūnaitė. raštingumo problema interneto bendruomenės ir mokytojų akimis 195 world most naturally in his native language. It is the basis of a person’s existence, an important part of identity. its role must therefore be constantly reflected upon. 10 years have passed and we already have the consequences of such “modern” education. therefore, in primary school, we need to return to systematic language teaching, not as it is now – teaching in pieces, segments, breaking up the system, ignoring consistency3. Šis straipsnis surinko daugiau kaip 600 komentarų. Juose portalo lankyfrom their own experience, they assessed the current state of literacy and raised questions about the reasons for this state of affairs. Aistis ignacio savukynas, who signed under his name and surname in comments4, described this state as follows: By the way, let us dare to say publicly that illiterate are not only schoolchildren, students. I wonder how many illiterate doctors of science who write articles and even books have appeared! Strangely enough, it's easier to get a few diplomas from the world's universities now than to learn a native language. instead, by going the easiest way, we simplify divorce, because it is “too hard” for the rats to learn! Unfortunately, we could hardly expect anything else when even writers on social networks no longer bother to write capital or Lithuanian letters... Doing everything as simple as possible is a feature of today’s society. „nesivarginimą“ dėl rašybos kai kurie komentuotojai įvardija kaip bendrą žmonių apsileidimą: I would add – the land of those who are inclined to write in Lithuanian. It’s sad to see – they have a Lithuanian keyboard at home and don’t want to, are afraid to write. for they all, those who do not want, are lying. They are afraid to show their illiteracy. says, I don't have a Lithuanian keyboard. […] I think there is another problem here – lack of attention and responsibility for what you do. 3 By the way, at the end of the 20th century, when people began to talk about new teaching methods, including the integration of subjects and the importance of text analysis in Lithuanian language lessons, they were warned, but they remained unheard: “it is important that such a fragmentary connection of individual language subjects does not ruin the overall image of the language system and that such fragmentary connections themselves form a methodologically sound system. Where there is no system, there is always a risk of chaos. [...] text analysis, besides all its advantages, also hides the danger of forming a chaotic attitude to language, perhaps even a certain superficiality, especially if the analysis is primitive, poorly thought out.” (see akelaitis, labutis 1995: 19, 21). 4 The language of the comments (spelling, punctuation, grammar) has been slightly corrected, while maintaining the style of their authors. 196 Languages and Culture | 86 The nihilistic attitude to various political, economic and social processes in society, which has been developed in the public in recent years, does not bypass the subject of language. Therefore, as one of the important causes of illiteracy, internet commentators point to negative linguistic attitudes of the public, which are related to the general attitude to the state, its heritage, present and future: The current generation no longer cares about Lithuania, its language or its history, does not feel [...] pride in being a Lithuanian. Some commentators say that they do not baltų gentys, susijungusios į valstybę, pavadintą lietuVa. see the point of learning Lithuanian, because it is not a value („language is only a means of communication“), and as the nation disappears, it will disappear with it („Lithuanian is an aboriginal language, it will soon be no more“; „who needs the language of a dying nation?“). Young people who do not have a future in Lithuania, and abroad they will not even need it: and for what is the Lithuanian language? in Lithuania there is no place for Lithuanians, and in London spoken foreign language is enough. Lithuanian language is facing the fate of North American Indian languages, because other people will live in this territory. they will show their dark-eyed children wooden caregivers and tell them about primitive aboriginal culture. As a counterpoint to such thoughts, other commentators point to the fact that Lithuanian is one of the official languages of the European Union, so it is no worse than other languages, and we should only be proud of it, “the more so because the fewer of our Lithuanians remain in the world, the more prestigious and exotic it is to speak it”. general negative attitudes need to be changed, and the school must do this first. teachers must collect positive examples from their environment about the importance of literacy (and there are certainly some) and in discussions with students, but not in boring preaching, properly present arguments motivating the learning of the Lithuanian language, along with its spelling. Commentators also emphasize the unfavorable general linguistic environment, in which it is becoming increasingly difficult to learn a correct language and not lose its skills: the conditions for learning Lithuanian even for Lithuanians living in Lithuania are much more difficult than 20 years ago: computers, phones simply force to distort the spelling of Lithuanian, […] school with innovative methodologies cannot cope against the background of innovations. Parents should pay more attention to their children's mother tongue. but many of them are limited in their capabilities... r. miliūnaitė. raštingumo problema interneto bendruomenės ir mokytojų akimis 197 neraštingumą, pasak komentuotojų, skatina viešojoje erdvėje vartojama prasta, su klaidomis kalba („dabar kasdienybe tapo net straipsnių antraštės with errors, and not just some hard-to-understand punctuation or style, but basic ones: the spelling of consonants, nasal letters“): in the press only errors, TV hosts knows the hell what slang language, books are also full of grammatical and style errors, and the language of politicians is below criticism. the old ones translate everything from Russian, and the young ones use the English method to make sentences […]. [...] while on the radio and television we will not hear the state language, but some kind of jargon, and the standard will be the salary. Soon, let's forget about the literacy of the nation... in the commentaries examined, one of the most important conditions for the education of a literate person is considered to be reading5, and the current social and cultural environment does not encourage reading, so the low level of reading can be considered another important reason for illiteracy: Why read a book if you can watch a movie? and after all, reading books develops visual memory, then even without knowing the spelling rules, words can be written without errors. Why write on the internet or in text messages with Lithuanian characters, if without them the handwriting looks much “sweeter”... the problem is that young people do not read books at all, so they have no opportunity to enrich their speech and to memorize examples of correct writing. read, read, read and read again – that’s how we were taught. so we can express our thoughts more easily and write without mistakes. Where did the dictations, the chalkboard lessons disappear from the schools? Some commentators – teachers and pupils’ parents – from their own experience write about inappropriate educational policies („education reform has done its thing, it is said to be able dabar vidurinėse mokyklose gramatikai skiriama mažai pamokų“, svarbiauto understand texts, and there is little coherent text created): How will they not be illiterate, if in schools during all lessons tests, tests, tests, where you have to answer yes or no, or mark a circle, plus, minus, mark, 5 Organisation for Economic and Social Cooperation and Development (oeCD) international study of the abilities of fifteen-year-old pupils conducted every three years PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment; in 2012 it was implemented in Lithuania by the Ministry of Education and Science, and conducted by the national exam center) revealed that in terms of reading, those fifteen-year-olds mo gebėjimus iš 65ių tirtų šalių yra statistiškai žemiau už vidurkį. taip pat nustatyta, kad whose parents read books in childhood and especially in primary school are much more receptive to reading, regardless of their social status (see. Sister, the article also refers 2013; Audenienė 2013). 198 Languages Culture | 86 and to the first place multimedia, where children see pictures, ready-made tables, notes, how much they write, create – little. to the frequent incompetence of teachers, criticizes inappropriate Lithuanian language teaching methodology, programs and textbooks, and calls exercise books “mind killers”6: in my opinion, first of all we need to throw away […] all exercises that are expensive and have zero benefit. we have to go back to notebooks, as 20 and more years ago we wrote everything with our handwriting and did not die, so we still write without errors, or at least fewer errors than just graduated scientists. Now they just translate the pages, write letter by letter and what they can learn. The educational system has gone down so far that there is nowhere else to go. When a person writes an essay, he thinks, and when he answers the test questions, it is then determined by guessing the right answer, but not by knowing it. Since there is no need to analyze essays, it is a big problem to write the most elementary essay without mistakes after graduating from high school. When prizes are paid not for the correct answer in various radio or television games, but for guessing, then there is no need to learn. Since I follow what my son is learning, I am not at all surprised by the results, because the current Lithuanian program and the textbooks and exercises prepared according to it in primary classes are for drawing, cutting, gluing, etc., but not for writing (well, there are one or three lines left on the page to fill in, but that’s all). In class, as far as I know, they “do all kinds of projects” to improve communication skills, etc., but they don’t write at all. I told the teacher about my remarks, and she replied that today's children write on the computer, there they check the errors, so why should they learn to write...One student is angry that the Abitur exam is not about the knowledge and skills that are needed in life: Look at what kind of Lithuanian language exams we have in 10th and 12th grade. If there are some grammar tasks in class 10, there are none in the Abitur exam. 6 Similarly – as methodologically inappropriate – exercise books for other subjects are also evaluated. For example, Leonas Narkevičius, a mathematics teacher expert at Kaunas University of Technology, has the following opinion: “After comparing the knowledge of previous and current ninth-graders, the teacher noticed that it has deteriorated, and in part this can be blamed on the exercise books, disappearing rewriting and the fact that children no longer read the text, but enter letters and numbers automatically. “Workbooks are probably the biggest problem: write down the missing letters, numbers. A colleague, having a first-year son, told me that the exercises are written the condition of the problem, even addition or subtraction operations, you only need to choose numbers. There is no problematic teaching.” (audenienė 2013). r. miliūnaitė. raštingumo problema interneto bendruomenės ir mokytojų akimis 199 of course, others will say, you can get 10 points for good grammar from the essay. but it’s funny – out of the 100 points you can get in the exam, you will get 10 points for grammar at best!!! and this is only in writing, where you can construct sentences yourself and if you do not know what word, you can simply replace it with another, easier word. I myself took exams last year and I know that the most important part of the exam is to understand the text. to understand what the author himself sometimes does not understand. Another cause of illiteracy mentioned by many is related to the use of information technology: The QWertY keyboard or whatever it is – the Lithuanian (nose, long) letters are removed from the common alphabet, as if those letters were not equal to other letters, but as some kind of addition, which can be abandoned … we have to admit openly: our lack of understanding and insight, what damage will do e-mail programs and computer and mobile phone keyboards, not adapted to Lithuanian language, in about 15 years caused hardly repairable damage to an entire generation of young people: Computers are the main culprits for the deterioration of Lithuanian language, I myself remember well how difficult it was to learn to write without Lithuanian letters with the first computers and the Internet. Now you have to get used to the other way around, but look at how uncomfortable it is when you constantly have to set the Lithuanian keyboard, and the English one is switched automatically. that's why our high-level IT specialists can't fix it, for example, in France the opposite – the French keyboard automatically turns on... or shows them, [...] kuo daugiau vaikai rašo kompu, tuo mažiau galvoja, nes kompas taiso klaidas so the brain no longer works in the direction of correct spelling and atrophies. The less writing on computers in schools, the better the situation will be. give the kids to rewrite the text from the books, 5 pages a week, with other tasks, and the situation will improve. Sometimes, based on research on electronic communication among English-speaking young people, an overly optimistic view is held that “writing messages even positively affects reading skills and phonological awareness” and the most important thing is to distinguish speech codes, however, it is recognized that the Lithuanian language has specific writing features (see nevinskaitė 2010: 282–283): On the one hand, for Lithuanian language users too, writing messages could have a positive effect, encouraging young people’s linguistic creativity, creating more opportunities to rašyti. tačiau lietuvių kalbai didžiausią įtaką turėtų daryti kiti (anglų kalbai neak- 200 Language Culture | 86 taulūs) spelling features – writing letters without diacritics, which can make it more difficult to distinguish short and long vowels, forgetting the spelling rules. The same spelling problems arising from the impact of information technology are faced by other languages with specific scripts (see Wells 2000: 249–272). for example, some of our closest neighbours, the Poles, are reacting actively at the level of state institutions7: Polish language experts have launched a campaign calling for the preservation of the complex spelling system with all its diacritics, saying that due to the Italian [...] pressure, many are giving up nose-marks, dots and checks. The initiative launched on Thursday by the State Commission for the Polish Language, which is a computer keyboard without Polish characters, is a sarcastic reminder that in writing all the characters that allow the correct perception of the text are important. without them the text loses dalis unesCo Gimtosios kalbos dienos renginių. Kampanijos pavadinimas „Język polski jest ąę“ (lenkų kalba yra „an“ ir „en“), kurį sunku perteikti paprassome of its meaning and would be read incorrectly. According to the linguist Jerzy bralczyk, diacritical marks are a visual mark that helps to recognize Polish texts. He added that these signs have their own meaning and enrich the language. exchange information not only verbally and in writing – a large flow of information flows through digital channels, and communication in the electronic medium takes place in much more diverse ways, which can be investigated using various methods, including “visual design grammar” (see liubinienė 2012: 74 and the literature cited there): [...] in the language of new media, communication in written text is only one of many ways of expressing thoughts. Increasingly, users share non-verbal information, transmitted by hypertext links, communicate with each other by exchanging video, music, text comments are replaced by graphic signs. therefore, a person must also be computer-savvy – to understand how to operate digital tools and receive and present information not only in words, but also in other means: static and moving images, sound signs. However, verbal communication remains important, because in the virtual space much more communication takes place in writing than in the pre-internet era. 7 See: Polish linguists are in favour of preserving a complex system of writing. – www.alfa.lt, 2013 02 21. Accessed via the Internet <http://www.alfa.lt/straipsnis/15081716/lenkijos.kalbininkai.pasisako.uz.sudetingos.rasybos.sistemos.issaugojima=2013aj02aj21_15aj52>. r. miliūnaitė. raštingumo problema interneto bendruomenės ir mokytojų akimis 207 perhaps the most common request of teachers is to standardize, simplify the spelling of some cases and reduce the number of exceptions. However, the arguments presented by the teachers show that their own spelling system is not always completely overused, sometimes only individual forms are seen and their interrelationships are not understood. there should be a distinction between where spelling is a matter of agreement (e.g. uppercase and lowercase letters, writing words together and separately – here there are certainly things to be dealt with) and where spelling norms are determined by the language system. agreed rates are easier to change if the procedure for changing them is well thought out. but, for example, by removing the nosines in the roots of present tense verbs, the pronunciation of these forms would first be baptized, because the absence of the nosines indicates that in an unpronounced syllable a, e must be pronounced shortly. It should not be forgotten that the present tense vowel length of the verbs of this group is natural (i.e., it is maintained even in unpronounced syllables) and the nasal letters reflect the development of the Lithuanian language sound system. Although in current Lithuanian usage there is a strong tendency to shorten long vowels in unpronounced syllables at least to semivocals (this is not a codified norm of general pronunciation), in the absence of broader research, it is difficult to say how widespread is the shortening of the former nasal vowel in unpronounced syllables, e.g., [šalù]. at least some people still pronounce such vowels long or at least semi-long. the pronunciation of these forms, especially the prepositional ones, with the elimination of the nasals, e.g.: šla, šąlù – nešla, nešąlù, *šãla, šaūd lù – *nèšala, nèšalu (like kãla, kalù – nèkala, nèkalu); bla – išbla, *bãla – *ijšbala (like mãla – ijšmala). Such verbs themselves would then have to change to another type of personification, thus changing the grammatical structure: šąla – šalo → šala – šalė (like kala – kalė) → nèšala – nèšalė. The spelling of the forms of this group of verbs should not be a major problem, because there are few actively used such verbs, and the present tense forms are all the more rare in usage. Schools would have enough of them counted to 10-11 or even less (40 years ago they were taught more or less in this order: šąla, bąla, sąla; gėsta, glėžta, mąžta; šąšta, tęžta, trąšta; klėra, gvęra), without burdening students with specially constructed artificial exercises of their spelling examples14. 14 For more counter-arguments to the change in the spelling of nasal vowels, see In the information of the State Lithuanian Language Commission about the conclusions of the working group formed to review the spelling rules: "discussions on the spelling of šlala, bąla, gėsta, mąžta...", 27 May 2008. Accessed via Internet: <http://www.vlkk.lt/lit/naujienos/naujiena.1068.htm>. 208 Kalbos Kultūra | 86 On one thing, teachers are absolutely right, saying that in schoolblėsti nių užduočių rengėjai kartais per daug smaginasi, pateikdami archajiškų, nebevartojamų, neaktualių retos rašybos žodžių ar formų: kręšta, tęvas, and so on such words and their spelling should be left for olympiads or quizzes, and not presented as learning in everyday language practice. iŠVaDos 1. the study of the linguistic attitudes of the Internet community and teachers’ attitudes to literacy problems reveals the most important causes of illiteracy, both external, evolving in society, and internal, formed in the education system: a) negative language attitudes of society, b) unfavorable linguistic environment, c) negative impact of information technology, d) ill-considered educational policy and faulty methodology of teaching Lithuanian language. none of these reasons can be made absolute, but they point to areas that require the greatest attention from the state and its educational policy. 2. the teachers’ answers to the questionnaire questions discussed in the article show that the causes of illiteracy can by far not be linked only to the mainly cited negative impact of information technologies. Although there is a direct link between the use of electronic means of communication (mobile phones, computer and tablet keyboards) and some spelling problems (for example, not writing nasal and other diacritics), many spelling problems for students are caused by the abundance of rules and exceptions, and most importantly, by the inability to understand the language system. 3. Pateiktus mokytojų svarstymus dėl kai kurių rašybos taisyklių keitimo whether corrections need to be critically assessed and taken into account in the discussion of spelling norms and their codification, as well as in the development of teaching materials and the improvement of spelling teaching methodology. 4. it is necessary to ensure that the audio teaching tools used in schools (audio literature, educational films, educational games, etc.) meet the standard of common Lithuanian pronunciation, therefore, research in this area is needed to clarify the current situation. r. miliūnaitė. raštingumo problema interneto bendruomenės ir mokytojų akimis 209 5. Lithuanian language teachers need the professional assistance of spelling specialists and mutual cooperation based on detailed studies of the state of pupils’ literacy and its changes. literatūra a k e l a i t i s G., l a b u t i s V. 1995: about integration, text analysis and Lithuanian language in school. – Mother tongue 8–9, 18–21. a u d e n i e n e n ė r. 2013: Poor achievements of fifteen-year-old students or unreliable research revealing them? – www.alfa.lt, December 14. Access via Internet: <http://www.alfa.lt/straipsnis/15168588/Prasti.penkiolikameciu.moksleiviu.pasiekimai.ar.nepatikimi.juos.atskleidziantys.tyrimai.= 20131214_1349>. D u k y n a i t ė r., s t u n d ž a m. 2013: oeCD Pisa results presentation. Accessed via Internet: <http://www.smm.lt/uploads/lawacts/docs/598_ cda4378e649b22e73413af209144d0d1.pdf>. Retrieved 2013-12-20. (in Lithuanian) J a bl o n s k a i t ė D. 2013: lietuvoje neliko vidutiniškai rašančių vaikų – arba puikiai, arba daug klaidų. – www.15 min.lt, April 1. Accessed via Internet: <http://www.15min.lt/naujiena/ziniosgyvai/interviu/lietuvojeė nelikoovidutiniskaiarrasanciuuvaikuėarbaėpuikiaiėarbaėgausybeėklaiduė599ė 321144>. J a c k ev i č i u s m. 2012: Generation of illiterate: dissertations have to be rejected because of errors. – www.delfi.lt, May 7. Accessed via Internet: <http://www.delfi.lt/ news/daily/education/berasciuukkartaodelnklaiduujauuttenkaoatmestieiirrdisertacijas.d?id=58666579&com=1&s=1>. J a c k ev i č i u s m. 2013: Lost in Google: Which generation was the smartest? – www.delfi.lt, December 29, 2008. Accessed via Internet: <http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/education/pasiklydeegoogleekuriekartaebuvooprotingiausia.d?id= 63432888#ixzz2pudgf5pu>. l i u b i n i e n ė V. 2012: Components, Contexts and Users of New Media Language. – Language Studies 21, 74–83. Access via Internet: <http://www. kalbos.lt/zurnalai/21_numeris/10.pdf>. n ev i n s k a i t ė l. 2010: characteristics of the spelling of short messages. 2012: Literacy of first-year students of the 83, 275–296. College: perhaps the Lithuanian language does not need nasal letters? – Mother Tongue 12, 13–17. Va i c e k a u s k i e n ė l. 2013: Is youth literacy declining? let's not make an idol of the Lithuanian language. – www.delfi.lt, April 17. Accessed via Internet: <http:// www.delfi.lt/news/ringas/lit/lvaicekauskieneejjaunimoerrastingumasschmazejaas nedarykimeeststaboeisschlietuviuukkalbos.d?id=61155115>. 210 Languages and Culture | 86 Va s i l i a u s k a s s. 2013: ar mokytojai patenkinti savo mokinių raštingumu? – 1, pp. 27–31. We l l s J. C. 2000: orthographic diacritics and multilingual computing. – Language Problems and Language Planning, Vol. 24, no. 3, 249–272. Accessed via the Internet: <http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/dia/diacriticsarevised.htm>. (Accessed 2013-09-12.) Received 09/12/2013 Adopted on 20 December 2013 Problem oF literaCY in tHe eYes oF tHe internet CommunitY anD teaCHers Summary the article addresses the approach of the society towards the problem of literacy, which has lately been actively discussed by spelling specialists and in the public domain. such problems are especially common in those languages which have a greater or lesser number of characters of different type in comparison to the english language dominating online. the survey of language attitudes of the internet community and the approach of teachers towards the problems of literacy (based on the comments of online articles and the survey of lithuanian language teachers) reveals the principal external reasons of illiteracy developing in society as well as internal reasons of illiteracy evolving in the system of education: 1) negative language attitudes in society, 2) unfavourable linguistic environment, 3) negative impact of information technologies, 4) inconsiderate education policy and faulty methodology of lithuanevertheless, they indicate the areas requiring most attention at the level of the state and its education policy. nian language teaching. none of the above reasons should be considered absolute; the answers of teachers to the questions of the questionnaire analysed in the article show that the reasons of illiteracy cannot be associated solely with the negative impact of information technologies, which get into the centre of attention these days. even though there is a direct correlation between the use of electronic communications (mobile phones, computer and tablet keyboards) and certain spelling difficulties (for example, omission of nasal letters and other diacritical signs), a lot of difficulties of spelling faced by pupils derive from the abundance of rules and exceptions and, most importantly, the inability to comprehend the language system. r. miliūnaitė. raštingumo problema interneto bendruomenės ir mokytojų akimis 211 the considerations of teachers regarding the change or correction of certain spelling rules presented in the article should be evaluated critically and taken into account in the consideration of spelling norms and their codification as well as in the development of teaching aids and the improvement of the methodology for the teaching of spelling. the considerations of lithuanian language teachers on illiteracy, its causes and specific manifestations in pupils’ written works show that teachers themselves are in need of professional assistance of spelling specialists and mutual cooperation based on indepth studies of the situation of pupils’ literacy and its changes. KEYWORDS: orthography, language attitudes, language acquisition, codification. rita miliūnaitė lietuvių kalbos institutas Petro Vileišio g. 5, lt10308 Vilnius, Lithuania [email protected]