Exploitation of linguistic ambiguity in Polish and English jokes

English & Polish jokes based on linguistic ambiguity are constrasted. Linguistic ambiguity results from a multiplicity of semantic interpretations motivated by structural pattern. The meanings can be "translated" either by variations of the corresponding minimal strings or by specifying the type & extent of modification needed between the two interpretations. C. F. Hockett's (1972) translatability notion that a joke is linguistic if it cannot readily be translated into other languages without losing its humor is used to interpret some cross-linguistic jokes. It is claimed that additional intralinguistic criteria are needed to classify jokes. By using a syntactic representation, the humor can be explained & compared cross-linguistically. Since the mapping of semantic values onto lexical units is highly language specific, translatability is much less frequent with lexical ambiguity. Similarly, phonological jokes are not usually translatable. Pragmatic ambiguity can be translated on the basis of H. P. Grice's (1975) cooperative principle of conversation that calls for discourse interpretations. If the distinction between linguistic & nonlinguistic jokes is based on translatability, pragmatic jokes must be excluded from the classification. Because of their universality, pragmatic jokes should be included into the linguistic classification by going beyond the translatability criteria & using intralinguistic features to describe them.

Dialogic Signals In Argumentative Discussions of Advanced Polish Learners Of English

The first part of the paper deals with characteristics of classroom interaction as a type of institutional talk in a conversational analytic perspective. Next, the thesis is discussed concerning developing learners' interactional competence to foster learner discursive independence in argumentative discussions in English as a foreign language. Finally, after a short review of dialogic signals, the article presents a preliminary analysis of selected dialogic signals: evaluating reformulations and piggybacking as the ways of achieving reciprocity in argumentative discussions.

Dialogic Signals In Argumentative Discussions of Advanced Polish Learners Of English

The first part of the paper deals with characteristics of classroom interaction as a type of institutional talk in a conversational analytic perspective. Next, the thesis is discussed concerning developing learners' interactional competence to foster learner discursive independence in argumentative discussions in English as a foreign language. Finally, after a short review of dialogic signals, the article presents a preliminary analysis of selected dialogic signals: evaluating reformulations and piggybacking as the ways of achieving reciprocity in argumentative discussions.

Transformation from natural (thermal contraction) to anthropogenic (resource exploitation) depressions in the Krotoszyn-Koźmin-Raszków area (Polish Lowland)

An exceptional concentration of almost identical depressions exist near the small towns of Krotoszyn, Koźmin and Raszków (southern Wielkopolska). Their origin is, however, different from that of the typical post glacial-relief: they are Man-made enlarged thermal-contraction structures that developed at the very end of the Middle Polish (Warthian) glaciation and during the North Polish (Weichselian) glaciation, most probably under periglacial conditions.

La traduction en polonais des textes d'ancien français: une compétence spécifique

This paper is relating a practical experience of teaching Romance philology students the translation from ancient French into Polish. The main scope is a restitution of an ancient text respecting not only the equivalence at the Iexical and syntactical level, but also the discourse structures, such as the linear sequence of events and events related from different points of view: some examples of solving particular problems are discussed. The whole procedure resembles that of translating from Latin, rather than a translation from one modern language to another.

Gender-dependent language anxiety in Polish communication apprehensives

This paper analyzes the relationship between communication apprehension and language anxiety from the perspective of gender. As virtually no empirical studies have addressed the explicit influence of gender on language anxiety in communication apprehensives, this paper proposes that females are generally more sensitive to anxiety, as reflected in various spheres of communication. For this reason, language anxiety levels in communication apprehensive females should be higher, unlike those of communication apprehensive males. Comparisons between them were made using a student t test, two-way ANOVA, and post-hoc Tukey test. The results revealed that Polish communication apprehensive secondary grammar school males and females do not differ in their levels of language anxiety, although nonapprehensive males experience significantly lower language anxiety than their female peers. It is argued that the finding can be attributed to developmental patterns, gender socialization processes, classroom practices, and the uniqueness of the FL learning process, which is a stereotypically female domain.

Synoptic conditions governing upwelling along the Polish Baltic coast

The study analyses atmospheric feedback to the occurrence of upwelling along the Polish Baltic coast. Upwelling events were identified on the basis of daily mean sea surface temperature (SST) maps from the period 1982–2010 derived from the NOAA OI SST V2 High Resolution Dataset. Synoptic conditions favourable to the occurrence of upwelling were determined on the basis of the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. On average, there are approximately 23 days with upwelling each year along the Polish Baltic coast, which account for approximately 13%

Information Security as Exemplified by Clandestine Collaboration and Influence Exerted by the Polish Internal Security Agency Officers on Journalists - De Lege Lata and De Lege Ferenda Regulations

The text addresses the issue of information security as exemplified by clandestine collaboration and the influence exerted by the Internal Security Agency officers upon journalists. The texts analyzes the de lege lata regulations as well as the de lege ferenda ones. As for the former, the penal provisions of the Act, that is Articles 153b–153d (Chapter 10a) are applicable, whereas as for the latter, the applicable regulations are the 2013 Bill Articles numbered 197-199 (Chapter 10). In both the 2002 Act on the Internal Security Agency and Foreign Intelligence Agency as well as in the 2013 draft Bill of the Internal Security Agency, the legislator penalizes the employment by the officers of the information acquired while fulfilling or in connection with official duties for the purpose of affecting the operation of public authority bodies, entrepreneurs or broadcasters, editors-in-chief, journalists and persons conducting publishing activity. Also, the text analyzes regulations concerned with the penalization of clandestine collaboration engaged in by ABW officers with a broadcaster, editor-in-chief, a journalist and a person conducting publishing activity.

Made in “Polish village” – modern ethno-design vs. traditional culture of Polish countryside

Tradycyjna polska wieś – kolorowa, wesoła, zintegrowana z naturą i rządząca się swoimi prawami to zbiorowy mit, odległy w czasie. To klasyczny temat wielu poszukiwań etnografi cznych – terenowych, naukowych opracowań i porównań. We współczesnym świecie mamy do czynienia jedynie z wybranymi elementami – tradycjami jeszcze żywymi lub przetworzonymi i dostosowanymi do wymogów współczesnego odbiorcy – turysty, ale także artysty i projektanta. Obecne zainteresowanie polską sztuką ludową i rzemiosłem to kolejna fala mody folkowej. Ten ogólnoeuropejski trend, poszukujący w kulturze egalitarnej natchnienia i inspiracji swój początek bierze w I połowie XIX wieku. W polskiej sztuce dekoracyjnej (wzornictwie przemysłowym) także nastąpił powrót do źródeł, a w ludowości i wiejskości doszukiwano się narodowego ducha, inspiracją dla polskich artystów był angielski Ruch Arts and Craft, a w ich projektach widoczne były echa fi lozofi i Johna Ruskina oraz Williama Morrisa m. in. odrzucających masową produkcję, mającą wg nich zły wpływ na jakość produkowanych przedmiotów, jednocześnie na piedestał wynoszących umiejętności rękodzielnicze i rzemieślnicze. Po okresie PRLu utożsamianym głównie z funkcjonowaniem Cepelii i sprowadzeniem produktów inspirowanych ludowością do roli masowych dekoracji, stanowiących często synonim kiczu, powróciła moda na polskie rękodzieło, tradycyjną sztukę ludową oraz na inspiracje wypływające z obserwowania wiejskiego stylu życia. Współczesne poszukiwania polskich twórców w obszarze tworzących w ramach nurtu zwanego etnodizajnem przebiegają dwutorowo. Z jednej strony to inspiracja tylko przejawami ludowości, jej konkretnymi wytworami, które stanowią głównie dekorację dla współczesnych rozwiązań formalnych i technologicznych. Jednak coraz silniejszy jest drugi nurt,starający się wniknąć głębiej, którego celem jest zrozumienie istoty tradycyjnej kultury ludowej polskiej wsi. To inspiracja wiejskim stylem życia, wraz z jego zaletami i wadami, to wreszcie inspiracja zmieniającym się krajobrazem kulturowym i poszukiwanie nowych rozwiązań, dzięki którym odbiorca zbliży się do natury. Projekty zaliczane do nurtu etnodizajnu cechuje przede wszystkim różnorodność wykorzystanych materiałów (tradycyjnych i nowoczesnych), sposób ich przetworzenia, zachowanie pierwotnej funkcji lub nadanie nowej. Większość tych projektów sytuuje się też w nurcie eko-artu, sztuki nawiązującej do natury, z wykorzystaniem ekologicznych materiałów. Jest więc etnodizajn XXI kontynuacją ideologii stworzonej już w wieku XIX – przeciwstawieniem dla przemysłu, technicyzacji i umasowienia. A dla współczesnego człowieka – miejskiego – może być etnodizajn powrotem do źródeł.

The Polish EU presidency in Polish press: Did we actually notice it?

The aim of this paper is to present the findings of a quantitative content analysis of the Polish print media. Sharing the codebook and procedures with an international team, we were able to gain a broad perspective on the media coverage of the first Polish EU presidency. In particular, we focused on: (1) the number of items covering events related to the presidency, (2) the prominence of the topic, (3) genres, (4) main topics, (5) authors of news, (6) authors of opinions, and (7) the way Polish journalists evaluated Poland’s performance during the EU presidency. The findings showed that although Polish print press reported the first Polish EU presidency, the topic’s prominence was not very high. Media organizations rather rarely presented the topic on the front page and they did not change their regular editorial policy. Most of the news items, as well as opinions and comments, were written by staff members. Furthermore, journalists seemed to be more interested in the opinions of national politicians, rather than experts. As a result, the framework of the coverage was predominantly domestic. Journalists working for daily newspapers focused mostly on providing news and their own interpretations of the reported events. On the contrary weekly magazines provided comments and interviews, but again, most of the opinions were expressed by their own journalists and editors.

The priorities of the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union

The paper discusses the Polish presidency of the EU Council in terms of its priorities. It analyzes the circumstances of their formulation, selection and implementation. The authors answer the question of what influenced the selection of Poland’s priorities and what selection mechanisms were applied. Additionally, they examine how the national agenda was ‘concealed’ in Community rhetoric. Thus, the analytical part discusses the political and legal path that determined the priorities. The EU agenda, Polish ambitions and the context of the trio is also presented. The paper concludes with the authors’ assessment of the implementation of the priorities.

The role of musical aptitude in the pronunciation of English vowels among Polish learners of English

It has long been held that people who have musical training or talent acquire L2 pronunciation more successfully than those that do not. Indeed, there have been empirical studies to support this hypothesis (Pastuszek-Lipińska 2003, Fonseca-Mora et al. 2011, Zatorre and Baum 2012). However, in many of such studies, musical abilities in subjects were mostly verified through questionnaires rather than tested in a reliable, empirical manner. Therefore, we run three different musical hearing tests, i.e. pitch perception test, musical memory test, and rhythm perception test (Mandell 2009) to measure the actual musical aptitude in our subjects. The main research question is whether a better musical ear correlates with a higher rate of acquisition of English vowels in Polish EFL learners. Our group consists of 40 Polish university students studying English as their major who learn the British pronunciation model during an intense pronunciation course. 10 male and 30 female subjects with mean age of 20.1 were recorded in a recording studio. The procedure comprised spontaneous conversations, reading passages and reading words in isolation. Vowel measurements were conducted in Praat in all three speech styles and several consonantal contexts. The assumption was that participants who performed better in musical tests would produce vowels that are closer to the Southern British English model. We plotted them onto vowel charts and calculated the Euclidean distances. Preliminary results show that there is potential correlation between specific aspects of musical hearing and different elements of pronunciation. The study is a longitudinal project and will encompass two more years, during which we will repeat the recording procedure twice to measure the participants’ progress in mastering the English pronunciation and comparing it with their musical aptitude.