Raštingumo problema interneto bendruomenės ir mokytojų akimis
Problem of Literacy in the Eyes of the Internet Community and Teachers

Summary/Abstract: 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 Lithuanian language teaching. None of the above reasons should be considered absolute; nevertheless, they indicate the areas requiring most attention at the level of the state and its education policy.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.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.

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