Open Lectures of Arqus Multilingual Module
The Arqus initiative is organizing open lectures focused on the Lithuanian language, literature, and culture. Hosted by Vilnius University, these events will take place on November 11, 20, 28, and December 3. They are open to anyone wishing to participate online.
Each session will include presentations followed by discussions, fostering engagement between the speakers and the audience. Experts from Vilnius University will share diverse perspectives and topics related to Lithuania's sociolinguistic landscape.
Registration for online participation is required.
“Current sociolinguistic situation in Lithuania”
Join us for the first open lecture, "Current Sociolinguistic Situation in Lithuania," presented by Prof. Meilutė Ramonienė. This lecture will present the current sociolinguistic situation in Lithuania and the use of languages and dialects of the Lithuanian population in various domains. It will cover mother tongues and foreign languages, language proficiency and use, language attitudes, and language policy.
Lecture will be delivered on November 11, 14:00–15:30 CET (15:00–16:30 Lithuanian time)
“The socio-cultural context of Lithuania from International Students' perspectives”
Associate Professor Loreta Chodzkienė will present a lecture titled "The Socio-Cultural Context of Lithuania from International Students' Perspectives." The aim of this lecture is to explore empirical insights gathered from 2012 to 2023 on the attitudes of 112 international students regarding Lithuania as their host country and Vilnius University as their academic destination. Drawing from diaries recorded by students from 22 countries, this lecture will address the question, 'Why Lithuania?' while examining how incoming students perceive and experience the cultural, physical, social-relational, and perceptual dimensions of life in Lithuania.
Lecture will be delivered on November 20, 14:00–15:30 CET (15:00–16:30 Lithuanian time)
“History of the Lithuanian language”
In the webinar titled “History of the Lithuanian Language,” Gintarė Judžentytė-Šinkūnienė, an Associate Professor of Semantics and Baltic Languages at Vilnius University, will explore the origins, development, and evolution of the Lithuanian language up to the present day. Among the Indo-European languages, Lithuanian is notably conservative in its grammar and phonology, retaining archaic features found only in ancient languages such as Sanskrit and Ancient Greek. The lecture aims to highlight this conservatism.
The session will begin with the introduction of key terms necessary for understanding the overall context, including the term “Balts.” Subsequently, the speaker will discuss how the Baltic language group diverged from the Indo-European language family and present various scholarly perspectives on this separation. The focus will be on the Baltic proto-language and its transformation, the emergence of Lithuanian as a distinct linguistic unit, and to some extent, the formation of its dialects.
Lecture will be delivered on November 28, 14:00–15:30 CET (15:00–16:30 Lithuanian time)
“Lithuanian women’s literature”
The lecture will examine the development of Lithuanian women’s literary tradition from the 19th century to the present, analyzing shifts in thematic focus among female writers and highlighting the contributions of prominent authors.
Lecture will be delivered on December 3, 12:00–13:30 CET (13:00–14:30 Lithuanian time)
Speakers
Prof. Meilutė Ramonienė
Meilutė Ramonienė is a professor of the Institute of Applied Linguistics at Vilnius University. Her research interests include applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, bilingualism and multilingualism, heritage language studies, language policy, teaching Lithuanian as a second language, Lithuanian onomastics. She has led research projects “Language usage and ethnic identity in urban areas of Lithuania”, “Sociolinguistic map of Lithuania: cities and towns”, “Language of emigrants”, „The Lithuanian language in diaspora: proficiency, usage, attrition“. Her published output includes several edited books on language use and language attitudes, language and identity, she is the author and co-author of textbooks for teaching Lithuanian as a second language, including „Teach Yourself Lithuanian“ (Hoder education, 2006), „Colloquial Lithuanian. The Complete Course for Beginners“ (Routledge, 1996, 2010), pedagogical grammars, including „Practical Lithuanian Grammar“ (in Lithuanian, English, Russian, Hungarian), „Lithuanian: A comprehensive Grammar" (Routledge 2020). She is the author and co-author of numerous research articles and book chapters published in Lithuania and abroad, and is editor-in-chief of the journal „Taikomoji kalbotyra“(Applied linguistics“. She has lectured at universities in Helsinki, Tartu, Zurich, Basel, Bern, Parma, Siena, Rouen, Seattle, Hobart.
Assoc. Prof. Dr Loreta Chodzkienė
Assoc. Prof. Dr Loreta Chodzkienė graduated from Vilnius University in English Philology, did her internship at the University of Kent (UK), obtained a CELTA diploma at SIH, defended her PhD “EU Pedagogue’s Intercultural Communicative Competence and Its Developmental Socio-educational Factors” (Social Sciences). In 2017, she won a grant for a teaching visit at Gunma University (Japan).
Currently L. Chodzkienė has been running the courses on Communication across Cultures, Design of Academic Texts and Research Methodology at the Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University. She also supervises students’ (Inter)cultural internships. L. Chodzkienė investigates the factors contributing to the development of a person’s Intercultural Communicative Competence, analyses International (Incoming) students’ perspectives on the Lithuanian socio-cultural realia and conducts trainings on Intercultural Issues. Since 2021 the researcher has been exploring the benefits of Virtual Exchange through telecollaboration projects which provide an opportunity for Vilnius University students to collaborate with the students from the University of Latvia, Leon University (Spain), Los Lagos University (Chile) and Austral University (Chile). The L. Chodzkienė designed a study book on “What Should Every Student Know about Intercultural Communication?”, disseminated her research findings in a more than 25 scientific publications, made presentations at more than 30 international scientific conferences.
Associate Professor Gintarė Judžentytė-Šinkūnienė
Gintarė Judžentytė-Šinkūnienė is an Associate Professor of Semantics and Baltic Languages at Vilnius University. Her main research fields include lexical semantics, pragmatics (especially reference: spatial deixis and deictic gestures), semantics and pragmatics interface, Baltic linguistics. She is particularly interested in the expression of place deixis in the Baltic languages, i.e. how Lithuanians and Latvians construct space using deictic words. An integral part of this research is the conditions that determine the choice of deictic words. The researcher also focuses on students' academic language, problems of cognitive semantics and some issues of Lithuanian and Latvian Old Writing.
Dr. Daiva Litvinskaitė
Dr. Daiva Litvinskaitė works in the Department of Lithuanian Studies at the Faculty of Philology, Institute of Applied Linguistics, Vilnius University, where she teaches Lithuanian as a second language and Lithuanian literature. Her research interests also include women’s and gender studies.