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The article addresses the use of dictionaries among the new millennium generation of English as a foreign language (EFL) undergraduates. Applying the mixed-method approach (a questionnaire and interviews), the study examines the frequency of dictionary use, the types of dictionaries used, activities initiating dictionary consultation, information searched for, and problems faced in using dictionaries. The findings suggest that the participants are most fond of bilingual online dictionaries and use them mostly for looking up the meaning of unknown words. They also show that despite being high consumers of technology, participants do not benefit much from online dictionaries, as they neglect most of the entry information. The qualitative data reveal that the participants perceive various digital tools of questionable quality as online dictionaries. Overall, the study sheds light on the characteristic behavior of the new generation of EFL learners regarding their dictionary use and points to the necessity of developing their digital competence in the realm of dictionary use.

This paper examines the production of verbs with different argument structure (unergative, unaccusative, anti-causative, transitive and ditransitive verbs) at different stages of first language acquisition, with the aim of contributing to the ongoing nature-nurture debate. Twenty verbs were tested (four verbs of each type). A total of eighteen subjects belonging to six age groups (18-21, 23-25, 31-33, 35-38, 39-43 and 48-52 months -three participants each) took part in this pilot research. Visual stimuli were used in a verb elicitation task. Though the sample was small, significant among-group differences were noted. The results show that children at a lower stage of language development have more difficulty producing verbs with a complex argument structure. The acquisition of verbs starts with transitive and unergative verbs, followed by unaccusative verbs. The production of ditransitive and anti-causative verbs is delayed.

Among the factors argued to contribute to a bilingual advantage in executive function (EF), the combination of languages spoken by the bilingual is often overlooked. In this study, we explored the role of language similarity on memory and EF task by comparing performance of three groups of young adults—Hungarian–Serbian and Slovak–Serbian early balanced bilinguals, and Serbian-speaking monolinguals. Slovak is typologically related to Serbian, which are both Slavic, in contrast to Hungarian, which is Finno–Ugric. On the computerized tasks from the CANTAB battery (CANTAB Cognition, 2016, www.cantab.com), differences between monolinguals and bilinguals emerged on the EF tasks: Stockings of Cambridge (SOC) and Attentional Set Shifting (AST), but not the memory tasks: Delayed Matching to Sample (DMS), Paired Associate Learning (PAL), Spatial Working Memory (SWM). Both Hungarian–Serbian and Slovak–Serbian bilinguals outperformed the monolinguals on the more difficult SOC tasks, solved using more than a minimally required number of moves. This is in line with reports that bilinguals perform better under more complex conditions that require more monitoring and switching. However, bilinguals speaking Hungarian and Serbian spent less time preparing to execute the simpler SOC tasks, which can be solved in a minimum of two or three moves; they also exhibited reduced local switching cost and were faster overall on AST than both the Slovak–Serbian bilinguals and Serbian monolinguals. The advantageous performance of speakers of the typologically unrelated languages in our study suggests that these bilinguals may have more efficient attention switching and inhibition systems than bilinguals who speak typologically similar languages.

Abstract. Somatisms are phraseologisms which contain at least one body-part term as a constituent . They make up a considerable part of the phrasemes of any language . In this paper, we focus on the extent to which the equivalent(s) of the term láb occur(s) in Serbian and English somatisms . The research is based on a corpus extracted from both monolingual and bilingual phraseological dictionaries of Hungarian, Serbian, and English . The data are analysed primarily from a cognitive point of view, with the aim of establishing whether the three languages are comparable in terms of the meaning of the idiom as a whole . Degrees of equivalence are established based on whether there is an idiomatic expression in Serbian/English containing the lexeme noga or leg/foot, respectively . Another issue addressed in the paper is the choice of the English term (leg vs foot) in somatisms and the question of whether this choice is arbitrary . Though structure is of secondary importance only, we also take it into account in establishing the degree of equivalence between the items listed in the corpus . Lastly, we stress the similarities and differences noted in the way the body-part terms mentioned are employed in the phraseologisms of the three languages .

Vojvodina, an autonomous province in northern Serbia, is a historically multilingual and multicultural area where multilingual education forms a cornerstone of linguistic, educational and social policy and practice: in addition to the majority language, five minority languages are also in official use and speakers of these languages may receive education in their L1. However, such a situation does not warrant positive attitudes toward the majority language. In fact, attitudes toward the majority population have been shown to be less positive among minority group members who receive their education in their L1 (Veres 2013). In addition to this, the effect of environment (compact vs. diffuse) has been shown to interact with attitudes. The paper examines the language attitudes of 423 Hungarian L1 grammar school pupils towards (1) their (minority) mother tongue (Hungarian), (2) Serbian as the majority language and (3) English as a foreign language, based on their value judgements and taking into account numerous variables which might prove to interact with their attitudes. The results of the research are expected to add to the study of language attitudes in a multilingual context, to help us understand better language situations in areas where bilingualism is promoted and to aid the implementation of coherent language policies.

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