Eesti Rakenduslingvistika Ühingu aastaraamat
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Sõnavara ja konstruktsioonid noore keeleõppija kirjalikes tekstides
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.01 Artikli eesmärk on anda ülevaade eesti keelt teise keelena omandavate 9–10-aastaste keeleõppijate kirjalike tööde leksikaalsete vahendite ja grammatiliste konstruktsioonide arengust kuue kuu jooksul (2023. a sügis – 2024. a kevad). Kokku 10 õppija sõnavara ja grammatilisi konstruktsioone kirjeldatakse sõnavara ulatuse, sõnaliigilise jaotumuse, eri keeleoskustasemete sõnavara ulatuse ja grammatiliste konstruktsioonide põhjal. Kirjalike tööde sõnavara ulatus kuue kuuga oluliselt ei muutunud, sõnavara arengut näitas tegusõnalekseemide ja sidesõnade ning kõrgemate keeletasemete sõnavara lisandumine. Konstruktsioonide arengut ilmestas peamiselt keele mitmekesisuse suurenemine, üksikud uued konstruktsioonitüübid olid komplekssemad ja variatiivsemad. Vaadeldes kirjalike tekstide sõnavara ja konstruktsioonide seoseid, selgus, et pikem tekst tähendas ka ulatuslikumat sõnavara, rohkem kõrgema keeletaseme sõnu ning rohkem eri tüüpi konstruktsioone. Samas ei olnud seos sõnade ja konstruktsioonide vahel üksühene: komplekssemad konstruktsioonid ei pruukinud sisaldada komplekssemaid sõnu ja keerukamaid sõnu ei kasutatud tingimata keerukates konstruktsioonides. *** "Vocabulary and constructions in the written texts of young language learners" The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the development of lexical resources and grammatical constructions in the written works of 9–10-year-old learners acquiring Estonian as a second language over a period of six months (autumn 2023 – spring 2024). The vocabulary and grammatical constructions of a total of 10 learners are described based on variety of vocabulary, distribution of word classes, vocabulary across different language proficiency levels, and grammatical constructions. The variety of vocabulary in the written texts (measured by the Guiraud’s index) did not change significantly over six months. However, vocabulary development was indicated by the addition of verb lemmas, conjunctions, and vocabulary from higher language proficiency levels. The development of constructions was mainly characterized by increased linguistic diversity, with a few new construction types becoming more complex and varied. Examining the relationship between vocabulary and constructions in the written texts revealed that longer texts contained a broader vocabulary, more words from higher language levels, and a greater variety of constructions. However, the relationship between words and constructions was not one-to-one: more complex constructions did not necessarily include more complex words, and more advanced words were not necessarily used in complex constructions.
Tehisintellekti rakendamine erialakeele arendamisel riigikaitseterminoloogia näitel
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.02 Suurte keelemudelite ja tehisintellekti kiire areng pakub võimalusi nende mitmekülgseks rakendamiseks, mh erialakeele arendamisel. Artikli eesmärk on analüüsida riigikaitsevaldkonna terminitöö näitel välistoelise genereerimise (RAG) sobivust ja tõhusust definitsioonide ja allikaviidete väljatoomisel alusdokumentidest. Esialgsed tulemused näitavad, et RAG-süsteem leiab alusandmetest täpselt definitsioone ja allikaviiteid, mis teeb sellest sobiliku abivahendi terminoloogi töö tõhustamiseks. Seega on alust eeldada, et RAG-süsteemi abil saab toetada teisigi terminitöö etappe, nt pakkuda mõistekirje koostamiseks välja vajalikku infot, aidata visandada mõistesüsteemi, viidata võimalikele probleemidele algtekstis jm. Süsteem ei suuda terminoloogi küll asendada, ent abivahendina on RAG terminiarenduses perspektiivikas. *** "Applying artificial intelligence in specialized language development: The example of Estonian national defense terminology" This article explores the application of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for extracting definitions and source references in defense terminology. By integrating external data during generation, RAG enhances large language models, reducing hallucinations and improving accuracy. This capability is critical in fields like defense terminology, where precise definitions and reliable references are essential. The study found that RAG accurately extracts definitions and references from foundational documents, achieving a precision of 89.6% for definitions and 98.9% for references. However, challenges exist, particularly in parsing documents like PDFs, which can lead to occasional inaccuracies. These issues highlight the importance of terminologists for ensuring data quality, as RAG cannot fully replace human oversight. Despite these limitations, RAG holds promise as a tool to support terminology work by efficiently retrieving relevant data and assisting in dictionary compilation. It also offers potential for enhancing other stages of terminology development, such as suggesting synonyms and identifying issues in source texts. Further improvements, such as refining document parsing and reference validation, could enhance RAG’s reliability, making it a valuable tool for terminologists.
Üld- ja oskuskeele keerdkäikudest kriisiuudiste valgel
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.03 Artikli eesmärk on heita valgust oskuskeele sellele osale, mida kasutatakse tänapäeva uudistekstides, ning selitada näidete varal üld- ja oskuskeele piiriala. Ajakirjanduse põhitõdesid on, et uudis ei pea järgima oskuskeele normingut ja tava, vaid edastama erialast infot üldsusele mõistetavalt. Kuidas suhestub see tänapäeva uudistega, kus sageli kajastatakse sügavalt erialaseid teemasid, nagu rindeuudised, relvahanked, viiruste ja vaktsiinide anatoomia, kliima- ja keskkonnaküsimused? Millised mõttekohad tekivad pingeväljas uudistekst– erialakeel ja milliseid järeldusi saab selle põhjal teha ühest küljest erialakeele, teisalt tänapäeva uudistekstide kohta? Tuginen riigikaitse näidetele, ent usutavasti on mõndagi ülekantavat teistelegi ühiskondlikult aktuaalsetele valdkondadele. Riigikaitseuudised paistavad silma mitmekesise ja -plaanilise erialaslängiga, mis omakorda komplitseerib üld- ja oskuskeele piiride mõtestamist. Ajakirjandustekstilt eeldatakse, et see sõnastab aktuaalse info lühidalt ja lihtsalt ümber. Selleks aga on vaja ümberöeldavast aru saada. Nii võib mõistetavus lugejale osutuda näiliseks: tavakodanikul võib tekkida mõistmisillusioon, enam asjaga kursis olijal aga mõistmistõrge. Aktuaalsete valdkondade kajastamisel peaks ekspertide võrgu olemasolu olema üks toimetustöö põhinõudeid. *** "The relationship between general and specialised language: A case study of Estonian crisis news" This article explores the relationship between general and specialised language in Estonian media reports during the times of crisis. News media, by nature, bridges these two linguistic registers, requiring the transformation of specialised information into an accessible format for a broad audience. Contemporary news frequently covers highly specialised topics, such as military operations, arms procurement, and scientific advancements. What are the defining features of language in these reports, and how is specialised language integrated and simplified? Using examples from Estonian national defence news, the article examines how these dynamics unfold. This analysis categorises examples into three groups: variation/non-differentiation, specialist jargon, and the illusion of comprehension/the defamiliarisation effect. The variation of terms is a natural phenomenon in specialised language, and even more so in news media. In the case of news, the need for variation arises from the requirement to be understandable to the public, which often entails preferring simpler vocabulary, generalizing, or omitting precise information. It becomes evident that rephrasing and simplifying are not always within the capabilities of news editors. However, comprehension is generally supported by the surrounding context. The analysis reveals that specialist jargon introduces an additional layer of complexity beyond the challenge of “translating” specialised language for general audiences. Still, when journalists lack expertise, the text can create an illusion of comprehension for the general audience, while the more familiar may, on the contrary, experience the defamiliarisation effect. To mitigate this problem, newsrooms should have a network of experts to consult when reporting on topical issues in society. Moreover, recognising the reciprocal influence between the specialised use of language and news texts is important, as both shape one another. In the context of national defence, this fact is particularly significant for countries whose defence is based on a reserve army.
Eesti vanade sõnakujude tuvastamisest suurte keelemudelitega
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.04 Artiklis kirjeldatakse suurte keelemudelite võimekust vanade (17. ja 18. saj) eesti keelt sisaldavate sõnastike sisu analüüsimisel. Autorid korraldasid kolme suure keelemudeliga (GPT-4o, Gemini 1.5 Pro ja Claude 3 Opus) kokku kolm katset. Esimese katse valimis olid vanad ametinimetused ja sotsiaalsed rollid, teises valimis lõunaeesti sõnad, kolmandas vanad laensõnad. Katsete tulemused näitavad keelemudelite suurt potentsiaali vanade sõnakujude ühendamisel nüüdiskujudega: tulevikus saaks seda rakendada sõnastikes märksõnade diakroonilisel kirjeldamisel koos viidetega varasematele esinemisaegadele ja -kohtadele. *** "Identifying Old Estonian word forms using large language models" As large language models (LLMs) have gained more and more visibility and momentum in society since 2022, numerous researchers have studied the possibilities of applying these new technologies for research in lexicography. This article deals with historical sources: how useful are LLMs in identifying old word forms in 17th and 18th-century German-Estonian and Estonian-German dictionaries? More precisely, can these technologies reduce the time burden on human researchers to identify old word forms and connect them with the same words’ modern written forms (even if the original word itself has been substituted by a completely new one over the centuries)? To answer these questions, the authors conducted an empirical qualitative study with three major LLMs: GPT-4o, Gemini 1.5 Pro and Claude 3 Opus. The study consisted in analysing the LLMs capacities and success rates using API-request-based prompts in three main tests, each with different samples: 30 old professional titles and societal roles’ denominations (6 sources ranging from Stahl 1637 up to Hupel 1780); 54 dialectal words (in Gutslaff 1648) and 20 borrowed words (in 3 sources: Stahl 1637, Gutslaff 1648, and Göseken 1660). In these tests, Claude generally outperformed all the others. However, the results show variations due to the sample words’ characteristics (words with a similar orthography are more easily recognised). The high success rate, ranging from 74% to 90%, incites the authors to consider the possibility of carrying out tests with a larger sample, possibly encompassing whole dictionaries. This would significantly help lexicographers to create a diachronic historical development path for different words in the entries of large Estonian monolingual explanatory dictionaries.
Teises keeles õppimine: Tartu muu kodukeelega lastevanemate vaade
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.05 Artikkel käsitleb Tartu muu emakeelega lastevanemate vaadet eesti keeles õppele. Autorid viisid 2023. aastal kahes Tartu üldhariduskoolis läbi kvalitatiivse uuringu eesmärgiga kaardistada lastevanemate küsimusi ja murekohti eestikeelsele haridusele ülemineku protsessis. Teoreetiline raamistik toetub rahvusvahelistele uuringutele vanemate hoiakute ja arusaamade mõjust laste õppimisele teises keeles. Uuringu tulemused näitavad, et suur osa Tartu vene kodukeelega vanematest peab oluliseks eesti- ja venekeelsete õpilaste edaspidist hariduse omandamist kõigile ühises kooliruumis ja eesti keeles. Vanemate arvates on aga üleminekul palju väljakutseid, sh hariduse kvaliteedi võimalik langus eesti keelt ja ainesisu valdavate pedagoogilise pädevusega õpetajate puuduse tõttu; laste koormuse kasv ja stress mitte-emakeelses õppes; sobivate õppematerjalide puudumine; vanemate suutmatus last eesti keele vähese oskuse tõttu kodutöödes aidata; laste kaugenemine omakultuurist; eesti keeles õppimiseks vajaliku motivatsiooni vähesus. *** "Learning in a second language: The attitudes of parents with non-Estonian first language in Tartu" From September 1, 2024, Estonia started the transition to Estonian-language education, with the aim of ending the dual Estonian and Russian school system that was established during the Soviet occupation and lasted after Estonia regained independence in 1991. In 2023, the authors conducted a qualitative study based on discussion evenings (n = 4, with 250 parents) at two bilingual schools in Tartu. The study explores parents’ (L1 non-Estonian) views on the transition, highlighting positive aspects, challenges, concerns, and their beliefs about second-language acquisition and their role in the process. Data was drawn from researchers’ diary notes documenting these discussions. The theoretical framework focuses on how parents’ attitudes affect children’s learning in a second language. Parents’ opinions on the transition to Estonian-language education vary. While some see positive aspects, however, there are also those who oppose it, as well as parents who are confused and concerned. Furthermore, parents worry that their children will distance themselves from their mother tongue and culture due to Estonian-language education. Parents are concerned about the potential decline in their children’s education quality. They fear that learning in a second language will reduce their children’s subject knowledge and academic performance. Parents feel responsible for their children’s academic results but are concerned that they won’t be able to help their children with schoolwork, as their own Estonian skills may not be sufficient. They also question school personnel policies, which the parents think prioritize Estonian language proficiency but don’t account for teachers’ experience in managing linguistic diversity and multilingual classrooms. However, during the discussion evenings, parents made several suggestions to reduce their fears about the transition to Estonian-language education. They believe children with different mother tongues should study together in the same school, and that all-day school programs and joint activities with Estonian speaking kids outside of school are needed. Support should also be provided for teaching the mother tongue and culture to children who do not speak Estonian.
Argumendid ja nende kasutamine seaduseelnõude menetlemisel kahe parlamendi näitel
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.06 Argument on loomuliku keele lausung või lausungite järjend, mis koosneb väitest ja ühest või mitmest eeldusest. Lihtsaim argument sisaldab üheainsa eelduse ja väite, mis võivad (kuid ei pruugi) paikneda samas lausungis. Argumentide vahel esineb kolme liiki suhteid: argument võib toetada teise argumendi väidet või eeldust, rünnata teist argumenti või selle eeldust või kummutada teise argumendi. Artiklis võrreldakse seaduseelnõude menetlemisel kasutatud argumentide ülesehitust kahes parlamendis – Eesti Vabariigi riigikogus ja Ühendkuningriigi parlamendis. Võrdlemine põhineb parlamendiistungite stenogramme sisaldaval argumendikorpusel, kus on märgendatud argumentide struktuur, suhted argumentide vahel ja dialoogiaktid. Seaduseelnõu menetluse käiku kirjeldab parlamendiliikmete toetavate ja ründavate või kummutavate argumentide vahetamine. *** "Arguments and their use in the processing of bills on the example of two parliaments" An argument is a natural language statement or sequence of statements consisting of a claim and one or more premises. The simplest argument contains a single premise and a claim. There are three types of relationships between arguments: an argument can support the claim or premise of another argument, attack another argument or its premise, or rebut another argument. The article compares the structure of arguments used in the proceedings of bills in two parliaments – the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia and the British Parliament. The comparison is based on the argument corpus containing transcripts of parliamentary sessions, where the structure of arguments, relationships between arguments and dialogue acts are annotated. The course of the procedure of the bill is described by the exchange of supporting and attacking or rebutting arguments by members of parliament.
Indefiniitpronoomenite "keegi" ja "miski" käändevormide varieerumine suulises keeles
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.07 Artikkel käsitleb gi-/ki-liiteliste indefiniitpronoomenite keegi ja miski käändevormide varieerumise ulatust ja varieerumist mõjutavaid tegureid kahe eesti keele suulise kõne korpuse, Eesti Rahvus ringhäälingu raadiosaadete korpuse ja Eesti taskuhäälingukorpuse põhjal. Kokku analüüsisin 975 käändevormi, millest 487 moodustasid pronoomeni keegi ja 488 miski vormid. Tulemustest selgus, et keegi puhul esinesid vormid, kus -gi/-ki paiknes käändelõpu järel, ning vormid, kus see paiknes käändelõpu ees või kahe ühesuguse käändelõpu vahel üsna võrdselt, vastavalt 54,2% ja 45,8%. Miski puhul oli nimetatud vormide osakaal 85,3% ja 14,7%. -gi/-ki asukoha varieerumist käändevormides mõjutas keegi puhul statistiliselt kõige tugevamalt kõnetempo ning miski puhul kõneliik. Binomiaalse logistilise regressiooni segamudeli järgi on 65% käändevormide varieerumisest seletatav kõnelejate individuaalsete erinevustega. *** "Variation in the case forms of the indefinite pronouns keegi ‘someone’ and miski ‘something’ in spoken Estonian" In the case forms of the indefinite pronouns keegi ‘someone’, miski ‘something’, kumbki ‘either’, and ükski ‘none’, the -gi/-ki can be placed after the case ending (e.g., kellelegi), before the case ending (e.g., kellegile), between two case endings (e.g., kellelegile) or before and after the case ending (e.g, kellegilegi) (Rull 1917, Saareste 1923). This variation has a strong dialectal background: forms with -gi/-ki after the case ending have historically been common only in Southern and Northeast Estonia (Saareste 1955: 16). In this article, I used data from Estonian Public Broadcasting’s Radio Corpus (Lippus et al. 2023a) and Estonian Podcast Corpus (Lippus et al. 2023b) to provide an overview of the extent of variation and to describe the factors influencing this variation. Results indicate that for keegi, -gi/-ki appears after (54.2%) and before or between two case endings (45,8%) at nearly equal frequencies, while for miski, the proportions are 85.3% and 14.7%, respectively. The primary factors influencing this variation for keegi were speech tempo, and for miski polarity.
Supporting early years L1 and L2 grammar acquisition through an e-learning game: A case study of Estonian go + destination construction
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.08 The article describes a pilot Estonian grammar game developed for young learners’ L1 and L2 acquisition of the Estonian go + destination ‘minema + kohasõna’ construction created on the ALPA Kids platform and explores the general possibilities of supporting the acquisition of grammar through a digital game environment. In the development of the game, the Octalysis Framework (Chou 2019) and the options of grammar acquisition tasks introduced by Doughty (2003) are combined. The data collection method is gamified crowdsourcing, and data collected through the application are used to investigate which factors contribute to success rates of the grammar game and what differences can be found among Estonian and Russian native speakers in the support of the acquisition. In the study, implicit grammar teaching is integrated into an e-learning game by embedding grammar rules within engaging tasks. The results showed that repeated gameplay improved performance, leading to the conclusion that gamification can effectively support grammar acquisition, although personalised approaches are needed to address specific challenges. *** "Noore E1 ja E2 õppija grammatika omandamise toetamine digiõppemängu abil: eesti minema + kohasõna konstruktsiooni uuring" Artikkel kirjeldab eesti keele grammatika digiõppemängu projekti, mis on arendatud noorte keeleõppijate E1 ja E2 omandamise toetamiseks ALPA Kidsi rakenduses. Mängu eesmärk on toetada eesti keele minema + kohasõna konstruktsiooni omandamist, kasutades arendusel Octalysis mängustamise raamistikku (Chou 2019) ja Catherine Doughty (2003) pakutud grammatikaharjutusi. Andmekorje meetodiks on mängustatud ühisloome. Rakenduse kaudu kogutud andmeid analüüsitakse, et uurida, millised tegurid mõjutavad mängu edukust ning milliseid erinevusi võib leida eesti ja vene emakeele kõnelejate tulemustes. Uuring kinnitab, et implitsiitne grammatikaõpetus on edukalt integreeritud digiõppemängu, kus grammatikareeglid on põimitud kaasahaaravatesse harjutustesse. Tulemused näitasid, et korduv mängimine parandas sooritust, viies järelduseni, et mängustamine võib tõhusalt toetada grammatika omandamist, kuigi oluline on võtta arvesse õppijate personaalseid vajadusi.
Mapping boundaries: Microprosodic and dialectal variability in the perception of Estonian long and overlong quantity
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.09 This paper presents the results of a web-based perception experiment that tested the distinction of long (Q2) and overlong (Q3) quantity degrees in Estonian. Firstly, we observe an effect of segmental quality on the perception of quantity. Most of the quantity experiments have used one or two minimal triplets, typically with open back vowels, not considering variation due to intrinsic properties. The stimuli were created from words with 8 different segmental combinations. The second aim of this study is to map the dialectal variability in Estonian quantity perception. There has been some evidence that listeners from East and South dialect areas are less sensitive to pitch cue than those from North and West. The current study was carried out with 290 participants of different regional backgrounds. The results showed that different segmental quality sets have slightly different Q2–Q3 category boundaries. Also, the precision of quantity identification was considerably lower in the case of a nonsense word set. Unexpectedly, we were not able to find a clear dialectal background effect. *** "Piiride kaardistamine: mikroprosoodia ja murdetausta varieerumine eesti pika ja ülipika välte tajumisel" Käesolev artikkel esitab tulemusi suuremast veebipõhisest tajukatsest, millega uuriti teise ja kolmanda välte eristamist eesti keeles. Uurimusel on kaks peamist huvipunkti. Esiteks soovime uurida häälikukvaliteedi efekti vältetajule. Enamik varasemaid vältetaju katseid on kasutanud mõnda üksikut minimaalkolmikut, tüüpiliselt on selleks olnud [sαtα] – [sα:tα] – [sα::tα]. Samas mõjutab hääliku omakestus oluliselt selle pikkuse tajumist ning väldet iseloomustavad kestussuhted võivad olulisel määral varieeruda sõna häälikulise koostise kombinatsioonist lähtuvalt. Siin uurimuses genereeriti stiimulid kaheksast erinevast häälikujärjendist. Stiimulid resünteesiti manipuleerides vokaalide kestust ja põhitoonikontuuri. Uurimuse teine eesmärk oli kaardistada vältetaju võimalikku murdetaustast tingitud varieerumist. Varasemad uurimused on näidanud, et Põhja- ja Lääne-Eesti murdetaustaga katseisikud on toonitundlikumad võrreldes Ida- ja Lõuna-Eesti taustaga katseisikutega, kes tuginevad vältehinnangutes rohkem kestuse varieerumisele. Käesolevas uuringus osales 290 eesti emakeelega katseisikut üle kogu Eesti. Tulemused näitasid, et esisilbis kõrge vokaaliga stiimuliseeriates oli teise ja kolmanda välte piir varasem kui madala vokaaliga stiimuliseeriates. Samuti oli tähenduseta sõnade välte kategoriseerimise täpsus oluliselt madalam kui tähendusega sõnade puhul. Vastu ootusi ei õnnestunud leida selget seost toonitundlikuse ja osalejate murdetausta vahel.
“Pealkiri paneb rattad käima”: uurimus pealkirjadest ja pealkirjastamise protsessist
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.10 Artikkel annab ülevaate kahest katsest, millega uuriti eestikeelsete tekstide pealkirjastamist kui kirjutamisprotsessi üht vastutusrikkamat sammu. Esimeses katses paluti osalejatel (28 üliõpilast) pealkirjastada kuut liiki tekstikatkendeid. Teises katses tuli osalejatel (52 üliõpilast) pealkirjastada nelja eri liiki tekstikatkendeid ning lisaks etteantud pealkirju hinnata ja oma mõttekäike põhjendada. Mõlema katse tulemuste analüüs näitas, et kõige sagedamini kasutati nimisõnafraase, ent eristus ka mõni teine tendents – näiteks pandi luuletusele sageli ühesõnaline pealkiri, samas kui arvamuse, juhendi ja õpetuse puhul otsustasid mitmed osalejad küsilause kasuks. Etteantud pealkirjade seast sobivaima valimisel olid tulemused vastupidised: nimisõnafraas polnud ühegi teksti jaoks populaarseim valik. Osalejate põhjendused näitavad, et teksti pealkirjastamisel lähtutakse ennekõike teksti sisust ning vähemal määral ka sellest, kuidas võiks pealkiri kujuteldavat lugejat kõnetada või mida peetakse sellele teksti liigile omaseks pealkirjatüübiks. Tegu on esimese taolise empiirilise uurimusega eesti keeles ning selle tulemused on edaspidi kasuks nii deskriptiivsetele kui ka preskriptiivsetele käsitlustele pealkirjadest. *** "‘A Title makes the world go round’: A study on titles and the process of titling" The article presents two experimental studies which investigate the writing of titles for different types of texts in Estonian. The participants were asked both to title various passages and to evaluate pregiven titles, while explaining their reasoning. The results from both studies demonstrated that noun phrases were most commonly given as titles. For certain texts, other tendencies also emerged: for example, a poem often received a one-word title, whereas an opinion, a guideline and a tutorial were often titled with a question. When choosing the most fitting title from a set of pregiven ones, the results were opposite: a noun phrase was not seen as the best title for any of the texts. The participants’ explanations reveal that the most important factor when deciding on a title is the content of the text. To a lesser extent, the participants also considered how the title could help a potential reader to find and understand the text or what is considered to be the usual style for a title of a certain type of text. This was the first empirical study of its kind in Estonian and the acquired results are relevant for both descriptive as well as prescriptive accounts of titles in Estonian.
Rääkimisoskust arendavad õppetegevused täiskasvanute B1-taseme eesti keele kursustel
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.11 Rääkimisoskuse arendamine on teise keele õppes väga oluline, kuid sellega on õppijail ka palju probleeme. Üheks rääkimisoskuse arengut mõjutavaks teguriks on tunnis kasutatavad õppetegevused. Artikli alusuuringus arendati rääkimistegevuste klassifikatsiooni, rääkimistegevused jagati keelelise eesmärgiga harjutusteks ning suhtluseesmärgiga ülesanneteks. Selle klassifikatsiooni alusel analüüsiti üheksa täiskasvanute eesti keele kui teise keele B1-taseme õpperühma rääkimistegevusi ja nende mahtu. Tulemused näitavad, et kursustel räägiti küllaltki palju, kuid teadlikku rääkimisoskuse arendamist esines vähem. Kokkuvõttes kasutati tundides rohkem harjutusi ning vähem ülesandeid. Enim rääkimistegevusi viidi läbi kogu õpperühmaga, mis vähendas iga üksiku õppija rääkimismahtu. Rääkimisoskuse arendamine varieerus küllaltki palju sõltuvalt õpetajast ja õppematerjalist. *** "Learning activities that develop speaking skills in B1-level Estonian language courses for adults" This study examines the teaching of speaking skills in Estonian language classes. It aimed to investigate the activities used to develop speaking skills in B1-level Estonian language classes for adults. Research material was collected through lesson observations (n = 27) from nine adult B1-level Estonian language study groups. The average class size was 9–14 learners, exept for one group with 4 learners. The duration of one course was 120 academic hours, held 2–4 times a week. The observer attended three study meetings of each study group (2–4 academic hours at a time) and collected the following data: 1) list of all the activities related to developing speaking skills 2) a log of time spent on these activities, and 3) the speaking time of learners. The experience of teachers teaching Estonian L2 varied from two years to more than 20 years. Teachers had generally graduated from Estonian language and literature or Estonian as a foreign language/second language. Some teachers had previous experience in teaching Estonian to adults at the B1 level. In addition to adult courses, teachers also teach in general education, vocational education and the university. The activities were categorised as exercises or tasks. Exercises were considered to be fully supported (e.g. reading phrases, repeating what you heard) or partially supported (e.g. practicing grammar forms according to a model) reproductive activities. Productive speech activities that develop communicative skills or prepare for situations that require spontaneous speaking (e.g. improvisation, role-playing games) were considered tasks. A distinction was made between activities for monological and dialogical speaking. We also examined the use of the teaching material. Speaking activities were done a lot in classes – an average of 61% of the total learning time. Speaking activities included more exercises – 34% of the total speaking time – and fewer tasks – 27% of the total speaking time. There were used many receptive exercises. Of the types of tasks, the largest number of conversational tasks were used. The largest number of speaking activities was done with the whole group (56%). 34% of the total speaking time was used in pairwork and 10% in a small group (3–5 people). The results of the study show variation between the courses. There was also visible a link between the teacher and the use of the teaching material. The subsequent stage of the study examines the development of learners’ speaking skills during the course. In the final stage of the study, the relationship between the speaking activities used in the course and the development of speaking skills and motivation are examined.
Eesti keele konstruktikoni poole: ülesehituse peajooned
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.12 Artikkel käsitleb eesti keele konstruktikoni kontseptsiooni – grammatika esitamist sõnastikulaadselt – ja esitleb esimest visiooni sellise ressursi ülesehitusest. Artikkel on sisuliseks jätkuks varasematele (Vainik jt 2024a,Vainik jt 2024b), milles kirjeldati konstruktsioonipõhist keelekäsitust ning rahvusvahelist konstruktikonide loomise kogemust ja väljakutseid. Siinses artiklis defineerime kõigepealt eesti konstruktikoni kontseptsiooni ja visiooni mõistmiseks vajalikud põhimõisted ning põhjendame ettevõtmist nii rakenduslikust kui ka teoreetilisest vaatepunktist. Käsitelu põhiosas esitame konstruktikoni makro- ja mikrostruktuuri kirjeldused ning juhtumianalüüsina pakume välja visandid kahe hulgafraasi konstruktikograafilisest kirjeldusest. *** "Towards the Estonian Constructicon" This article outlines the main approach for presenting grammatical information on Estonian in a dictionary-like resource known as a constructicon. We justified the need for such a resource from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Theoretically, the need for a constructicon arises from construction-based linguistic theory, which treats vocabulary and grammar as a continuum, making it reasonable to describe them in a unified format. This approach would allow for the systematic description and compilation of constructions that cannot be precisely captured in traditional grammar. From a practical standpoint, the constructicon would help standardize and enhance existing grammatical descriptions, offering a unified, web-based language resource that is easily accessible to learners, researchers, and language technology developers. It would improve access to linguistic information, as grammatical knowledge is often fragmented and available only in book form. The constructicon would have applications in language learning, helping users grasp word and phrase meanings more comprehensively. Additionally, it would support language technology needs, including natural language analysis, machine translation, and dialogue system development. We thus defined the primary target audience for the constructicon as L2 learners and teachers of Estonian, though we are designing the resource to also serve language experts and language technology applications. The diversity of the target audience influences the macro- and microstructure of the proposed resource. The plan is to cover a wide range of construction types and provide descriptions in multiple metalevels: general, linguistically precise, and machine-readable. We presented sketches for describing complex quantifier phrases as constructicon entries that pose challenges for language learners.
Nimisõnafraasi ja hulgafraasi piirimail: "osa", "enamik" ja "enamus" hulgasõnadena
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.13 Artiklis vaatleme hulgasõnast osa, enamik ja enamus ning mitmuslikust komplektisõnast moodustatud fraaside struktuurilist ja semantilist varieerumist tänapäeva eesti keeles. Lähemalt keskendume hulgasõna arvu (nt osale inimestele, osadele inimestele), komplektisõna käände (enamikku inimesi, enamikku inimestest) ning verbi vormi valikut (enamus inimesi läheb ~ lähevad) mõjutavate tegurite analüüsile. Nii hulgasõna valikut kui ka kõiki kolme varieerumise aspekti on varasemalt seotud käimasoleva keelemuutusega, milles hulgasõnast põhi ja komplektisõnast laiendiga kvantorifraas on asendumas hulgasõnast laiendi ja komplektisõnast põhjaga nimisõnafraasiga. Keelekasutajaid on võinud sealjuures motiveerida vajadus eristada hulgasõna kvantifitseerivat ja määratlevat funktsiooni. Uurimuse tulemused kinnitavad paljusid varasemaid, väiksema materjali põhjal tehtud või intuitsioonil põhinevaid tähelepanekuid, ent toovad lisaks esile fraaside süntaktilise rolli olulisuse: fraasisisese arvuühildumise võimalikuks lähtekohaks on tõenäoliselt adverbiaalid, samas kui hulgasõna määratlev funktsioon on kinnistumas pigem subjektina toimivates fraasides. Muu hulgas näeme keelemuutuse levikul ka selget žanri ja tekstiloome spontaansuse mõju. *** "On the border of noun phrases and quantifier phrases: osa ‘some’, enamik ‘most’, and enamus ‘most; majority’ as quantifiers" In this article, we examine the structural and semantic variation of phrases which are formed with the quantifiers osa ‘some’, enamik ‘most’, or enamus ‘most; majority’, and plural set nouns in contemporary Estonian. We focus specifically on the analysis of factors influencing the number agreement of the quantifier (e.g., enamikule inimestele, enamikele inimestele ‘to some people’), the case form of the set noun (e.g., enamikku inimesi ‘most people,’ enamikku inimestest ‘most (of the) people’), and the verbal number agreement (e.g., enamus inimesi läheb ~ lähevad ‘most people go’). Both the choice of quantifier and all three aspects of variation have previously been linked to an ongoing linguistic change, in which the quantifier as the head and set noun as the modifier in quantifier phrases are being replaced by noun phrases with quantifier as the modifier and the set noun as the head. The motivation behind this change might stem from the need to distinguish the quantifying and specifying functions of the quantifier. This study’s results confirm many previous observations, made either on a smaller data set or based on intuition, but additionally highlight the importance of the syntactic role of phrases: the potential source of number agreement within phrases is likely adverbials, while the specifying function of the quantifier is increasingly solidifying in phrases where it serves as the subject. Among other things, we also see a clear effect of genre and the degree of text editing in the expansion of this linguistic change.
“Mulle oli isegi tšau võõras”: vene õppekeelega põhikoolist eestikeelsesse gümnaasiumi
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.14 Käsitleme vene õppekeelega põhikoolist eestikeelsesse gümnaasiumi siirdunud õpilaste keelelist toimetulekut. Tuginedes poolstruktureeritud intervjuudele viie Tartu gümnasistiga, analüüsime nende kogemusi keele varieerumisega seotud väljakutsete osas. Tulemused näitavad, et eeskätt tekitavad raskusi spontaanse suulise keele jooned (hääldus, kõnetempo, suhtluspartiklid, viisakusväljendid, noorte keele leksika, idiolektid), milles orienteerumiseks võib omandatud keelelistest ressurssidest jääda vajaka. Koolikeskkonna suulise keelega toimetuleku eeldus pole intervjuude põhjal mitte senine edukas keele õpe koolitunnis, vaid varasem eestikeelsete noorte suhtlusringkond. Suulise keele registritega kokkupuute vähesus raskendas koolielus ja õppetöös kohanemist ennekõike alguskuudel. Tulemused osutavad, et eesti keele kui teise keele õppes peaks senisest enam toetama keele varieerumise mõistmist ja seeläbi suhtluspädevuse arengut, et hõlbustada sujuvat lõimumist eestikeelsesse õpilas- ja ühiskonda. *** "“Even ‘tšau’ (‘Hi’) felt foreign to me”: From a Russian-speaking school to an Estonian-language gymnasium" In this article, we examine the linguistic adaptation of five students who completed their basic education in Russian-medium schools and transitioned to an Estonianlanguage gymnasium. The focus is on adapting to different registers of the Estonian language within the school environment. Based on semi-structured interviews with five gymnasium students from Tartu, we analyse their experiences with the challenges of sociolinguistic variation in Estonian. The results indicate that the main difficulties stem from features of spontaneous spoken Estonian, including pronunciation, speech tempo, discourse particles, expressions of politeness, youth slang, and idiolects. The data show that transitioning to a different language of instruction creates uncertainty in adapting to spoken language registers, especially for students with no prior personal experience communicating with Estonian-speaking peers. In some cases, the linguistic resources acquired in basic school were insufficient for navigating the diverse learning and communication situations in the new language environment. The initial months in the gymnasium were particularly challenging due to the lack of experience with informal spoken registers. A key factor in adaptation was prior exposure to Estonianspeaking peers rather than classroom-based language learning. The primary registers students had to adapt to included the teacher register and various idiolects, which differed significantly from what they were accustomed to in their Russian-medium basic school. Additionally, they had to navigate Estonian youth language, the linguistic features used by young people, and the characteristics of spontaneous everyday speech. Some elements of spoken Estonian were perceived as markers of acceptance into Estonian-speaking social networks. One example is the greeting tšau (‘Hi’), especially when Estonian-speaking youth use it to address a Russian-speaking peer. Many of the adopted linguistic elements can be seen as bridges that help cross linguistic and cultural boundaries, fostering communication between young people with different native languages. The results suggest that Estonian as a second language instruction should place greater emphasis on understanding linguistic variation to better support the development of communicative competence. This would help students integrate more smoothly into Estonian-speaking peer groups and society.
Vestluskaaslase identifitseerimine telesarja “Õnne 13” telefonikõnedes
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.15 Artiklis analüüsitakse vestlusanalüüsi meetodil, kuidas telesarja “Õnne 13” telefonikõnedes vestluskaaslane identifitseeritakse. Enamasti näidatakse neis kõnedes vaid üht osalejat, kes imiteerib dialoogi. Vestlejate tavapärasele vastastikusele identifitseerimisele lisandub ülesanne televaatajatele teada anda, kes on teine suhtleja. Seetõttu kasutatakse uuritavates telefonikõnedes eksplitsiitsemaid vahendeid kui loomulikus suhtluses. Keskne identifitseerimisvõte on üte, mida kasutati 2/3 kõnedes. Partneri nime ütlemine võib sealjuures väljendada nii äratundmist kui mitteäratundmist. Nimele võib lisanduda üllatusele viitav marker. Vaatamata sellele, et omavahel suhtlevad pereliikmed ja sõbrad, osutatakse sageli küsimusega partneri mitte äratundmisele. Kui näidatakse mõlemat suhtlejat, poleks eksplitsiitset identifitseerimist televaataja jaoks tarvis, kuid ka nendes kõnedes kasutatakse samu võtteid. *** "Identification of the conversation partner in the phone calls of the TV series “Õnne 13”" The paper analyzes phone calls from the Estonian Television series “Õnne 13” (“Happi ness Street 13”). The study follows the methodological approach of conversation analysis. The data consist of 60 everyday phone calls from various seasons (1994–2024). A characteristic feature of these calls is that usually only one participant is shown, who imitates a dialogue. The central analytical technique of conversation analysis, the next-turn proof procedure, allows for hypothesizing the missing turns of the interlocutor based on how the speaker interprets the previous turn. A key characteristic of film dialogue is the need to consider the audience’s knowledge: the turns must be designed not only with the conversation partner in mind but also with the viewer. When only one phone call participant is shown on screen, the viewer must be able to understand who the interlocutor is. The content of the conversation may not always reveal this. Therefore, the phone calls under analysis use significantly more explicit means of identifying the partner than in natural communication. Some of the techniques used are typical in authentic conversations, while others are not. If both participants are shown, verbal identification would not be necessary for the viewer, yet the identification methods do not differ from those used in calls with only one participant. In two-thirds of the calls, the speaker addresses the partner by name, which is rarely done in natural conversations. In the caller’s turns, there is often a long pause after the name, marking the partner’s reaction or the expectation of it. In this case, saying the name may indicate an identification problem. In the recipient’s turns, saying the partner’s name expresses recognition. The name is usually said in a surprised and/or laughing tone, often accompanied by a marker indicating surprise (e.g., aa ’oh’; sina elistad ’it’s you calling’). This differs from natural phone conversations: in none of the phone calls from the Corpus of Spoken Estonian does the recipient express surprise at receiving the call. In seven calls, an identification question is asked (e.g., kes räägib ’who is speaking’). The conversation partner is not recognized, even though family members and friends are talking to each other. As one method of identification, the recipient tells a face-to-face partner who is calling. In such a phone call, there is no explicit identification of the interlocutor. The same identification techniques are generally used for both landline and mobile phones. No special attention is given to the fact that, with a mobile phone, the caller can be identified from the screen before the call begins.
“Keeleteadlane raputab lausemalle korpusest loendisse”: lausemallide automaatse tuvastamise esimesed sammud
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.16 Artiklis kirjeldatakse arvutilingvistilist katset, mille eesmärk on luua esmane töövoog eesti keele lausemallide korpuspõhiseks automaattuvastamiseks. Materjalina on kasutatud märgendussüsteemi Universal Dependencies alusel automaatselt ja käsitsi annoteeritud korpusi. Testandmestikuna on kasutatud 28 liigutamisverbi lausemalle. Pakutud meetod moodustab verbist ja selle otsestest alluvatest paarid, eemaldab need paarid, mis jäävad alla 5% sageduslävendi ning kombineerib allesjäänutest lausemallid. Meetod osutus efektiivseks verb-alluva paaride tuvastamisel, kuid terviklausemallide tuvastamise kvaliteet oli halvem. Artiklis analüüsitakse põhjalikult tuvastusvigade tüüpe ning põhjusi, pakutakse lahendusi iga konkreetse veapõhjuse kõrvaldamiseks ja määratakse edasiarenduse suundi. Meetod osutus kasulikuks ka verbiüleste ja seni kirjeldamata mallide tuvastamiseks. *** "Extracting valency patterns from a syntactically annotated corpus" The article presents a computational linguistics experiment focused on automating the detection of Estonian valency patterns, specifically using caused-motion verbs as a case study. The goal is to develop an initial workflow for corpus-based automatic detection of valency patterns in Estonian, leveraging the Universal Dependencies annotation system (de Marneffe et al. 2021). A dataset comprising 28 motion verbs was employed to test the proposed method, which pairs verbs with direct dependents and filters statistically significant results to form valency patterns. The method showed high performance in identifying verb-dependent pairs (81.2% recall, 69.9% precision) but was less effective at detecting complete valency patterns (33.7% recall, 33% precision). The analysis addresses various detection errors, offering targeted solutions to improve performance. Key obstacles included the misidentification of adverbial modifiers as arguments, the failure to detect certain oblique cases (notably the illative), and the exclusion of some arguments. Despite these challenges, the method succeeded in identifying previously undocumented valency patterns, such as a unique structure for the verb liigutama (‘to move/to touch’) with an emotional context and another for pistma (‘to put’) denoting specific syntactic roles (Goal and Recipient). The author’ evaluation underscores methodological limitations, such as filtering biases and insufficient corpus size, which impacted precision and recall. Proposed improvements include adjusting frequency thresholds, refining filters for phraseological verbs, and enhancing argument-adjunct distinctions. These advancements aim to refine automatic valency pattern detection and enhance grammatical information presentation within Estonian lexicographical resources. The study contributes significant insights for the computational processing of Estonian syntax and suggests further directions for the efficient representation of valency patterns.
Linking adverbials in Estonian school-leavers’ English state examination essays
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.17 This exploratory study investigates the use of linking adverbials (LAs) in argumentative English essays written by Estonian school-leavers as part of their state examination in English. Using a sub-corpus of 150 essays from the English State Examination Corpus (ESEC) and comparing it to British students’ A-level1 essays from the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (LOCNESS), this paper examines the frequency, variety, and semantic categories of LAs employed by Estonian school-leavers. The results indicate that, compared to native speakers, who demonstrate a more balanced and varied use across semantic categories of LAs, Estonian L1 learners markedly overuse enumeration and addition adverbials (e.g., firstly, secondly, also). The study highlights the tendency of Estonian learners to rely on familiar LAs, often resulting in formulaic and overly structured essays. This overuse may be attributed to teaching practices that emphasise explicit marking of cohesion – or to insufficient instruction in the use of other cohesive devices. *** "Konnektiivlaiendid gümnaasiumilõpetajate inglise keele riigieksami esseedes" Artiklis analüüsitakse siduvate üldlaiendite ehk konnektiivlaiendite kasutamist Eesti koolilõpetajate inglise keele riigieksami arutlevates esseedes. Uurimuse käigus võrreldi inglise keele riigieksami korpuse (ESEC) 150 õppijakeelset esseed LOCNESS-i (Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays) Briti keskkooli lõpuesseede alakorpusega. Tulemused näitavad, et Eesti õppijad kasutavad teksti sidustamisel oluliselt rohkem loendamise või täiendamise põhitähendusega konnektiive (nt firstly, secondly, also) võrreldes emakeelsete kirjutajatega, kelle siduvate üldlaiendite kasutus on mitmekesisem ja tasakaalustatum. Emakeelsed kirjutajad kasutavad rohkem tulemusele ja järeldusele viitavaid laiendeid (nt therefore, thus) ning mitmekesisemaid vastandavaid ja kontekstipõhiseid laiendeid (nt however, on the other hand). Lisaks esineb nende tekstides muid sidustamisvahendeid (nt leksikaalne sidusus, seisukohamarkerid). Õppijate keeletasemete (A2, B1, B2) võrdlemisel selgus, et konnektiivlaiendite kasutus muutub keerukamaks ja mitmekesisemaks keeletaseme tõustes. Siiski on kõigil keeletasemetel domineerivaks semantiliseks kategooriaks loetelule ja täiendamisele viitavad siduvad üldlaiendid. Üks peamisi põhjusi, miks Eesti õppijad nimetatud laiendeid üle kasutavad, võib olla see, et inglise keele õpikud ja õppemeetodid rõhutavad eksplitsiitset sidusust ega pööra piisavalt tähelepanu ülejäänud sidustamisvahendite kasutamisele. Selle tulemusena võivad esseed muutuda n-ö šabloonseks ja ülestruktureerituks. Näeme vajadust täiendada õpetamispraktikaid, et julgustada õppijaid kasutama laiemat valikut konnektiivlaiendeid ning neile lisaks teisi sidustamisvahendeid. Abi võib olla ka korpustööriistade kasutamisest inglise keele tundides, tutvustamaks õppijatele konnektiivlaiendite loomulikke kasutusmustreid koos teiste sidustamisvahenditega.
Sõnavaratesti väljatöötamine arengulise keelepuude tuvastamiseks kakskeelsetel lastel
https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.18 Arengulist keelepuuet esineb võrdselt üks- ja kakskeelsete laste seas. Kakskeelsetel on aga suurem valediagnoosi risk, kuna kakskeelsete laste veatüübid mittedominantses keeles sarnanevad ükskeelsete keelepuudega laste veatüüpidele. See risk on aktuaalne paljude vene kodukeelega suktsessiivsete kakskeelsete laste jaoks, kes käivad eestikeelses lasteaias. Et toetada keelepuude diagnoosimist, on vaja kakskeelsel valimil normitud teste. Artiklis kirjeldame taolise eestikeelse sõnavaratesti koostamist 4–7-aastastele lastele. Test on välja töötatud rahvusvahelise LITMUS võrgustiku sõnavaratesti põhimõtete ja protokolli alusel. Materjali väljavalimiseks viisime läbi kolm eeluuringut täiskasvanud kõnelejatega ning kaks prooviuuringut lastega. Anname ülevaate ka 2024. aastal läbiviidud normimisuuringu I etapi tulemustest. Tulemuste põhjal võib järeldada, et test on jõukohane nii üks- kui kakskeelsetele lastele, eristab mõlemas rühmas keelepuudega lapsi eakohase arenguga lastest ning sobib koos teiste LITMUS testikomplekti testidega kasutamiseks keelepuude diagnoosimisel ja laste keeleliste oskuste kirjeldamisel. *** "Developing Estonian Cross-Linguistic Lexical Tasks for identifying DLD in bilingual children" Developmental language disorder (DLD) is as prevalent among bilingual as among monolingual children (Calder et al. 2022). However, bilinguals face a greater risk of misdiagnosis, as the error types of typically developing bilinguals in their non-dominant language often resemble those of monolingual children with DLD (Boerma, Blom 2017). With the transition to all-Estonian instruction in Estonian education scheduled for 2024–2030, many more successive Russian-Estonian bilinguals face this risk. Language tests developed for and normed on bilingual populations are necessary for more reliable diagnosis of DLD among bilinguals. In this paper, we describe developing such a vocabulary test for children aged 4–7: the Estonian Cross-Linguistic Lexical Tasks (Haman et al. 2015). The test is designed according to cross-linguistic principles set out by the international working group. To select stimuli for the Estonian test, we conducted three preliminary studies with adult speakers: a picture naming task, subjective age of acquisition survey and a complexity evaluation. To test the material’s suitability for children, two pilot studies with mono- and bilingual children were conducted. Stimuli that contributed less to distinguishing DLD and typically developing children were changed (Labent 2023), and the revised test was then used in a norming study. First results of the norming study indicate the test is suitable for use both with monolingual and bilingual children and distinguishes DLD children from typically developing peers in both groups. A correlation analysis with results from the LITMUS Sentence Repetition Task reveals moderate to strong significant correlations between the two test scores, suggesting the tests complement each other well in describing bilingual children’s language skills and diagnosing DLD.