This study examines different aspects of language variation in contemporary Czech television discourse. The modern Czech language is characterised by a specific linguistic situation in which speakers must choose between two varieties – Standard Czech (SC) and Common Czech (CC). This choice depends on a number of linguistic, cultural, social and other factors. Television discourse, which is a mixture of prepared and unprepared speech, provides a good opportunity to study the distribution of these varieties and their function. The aim of the dissertation is to research these issues in talk shows and discussion programmes. The following aspects are analysed in the dissertation: – The frequency of occurrence of a number of phonological and morphological elements of the two varieties. This analysis is conducted in a quantitative study of a corpus of 24,000 words (fifteen television shows). The elements are categorised and analysed statistically. The frequency of these elements is shown on two levels: in the total corpus material and in groups of programmes. The results are compared with previous studies of spoken Czech. – A comparative study of the Communist and post-Communist television discourse, in which television programmes from before and after 1989 are analysed and compared. The study reveals a number of linguistic differences between the two programmes and their relation to such factors as operational roles, the function of media and the frequency of dialogue markers. – A qualitative analysis of the fifteen programmes which comprise the corpus. The aim of this study is to show the function of the two Czech varieties in different types of television discourse. The variables affecting the participants’ choice of variety are analysed. The investigation shows that dialogue form, genre and operational roles are directly related to the choice of SC and CC in the programmes. These results are also connected with language norms and other social factors.

The diploma thesis deals with the playful forms of work as one of instruments of intensification in the lessons of Czech language at elementary school. In its theoretical part it focuses on the problems of young school child's development. The key concepts of game and its importance in the process of education are defined here. In the practical part the reservoir of playful forms of work is introduced. The games tested with the fourth-year pupils are embodied in this part.

The diploma thesis seeks answers to the questions how Czech teachers in Prague understand the key competencies defined in the basic program documents (especially in general educational programs), what idea they have of their development in Czech language and literature educational field, how they relate to the application in the planning, preparation and realization of education (including preparation and implementation of the teaching of individual sub-contents). The selected methods are: detailed study of program documents and relevant didactic studies; structured interviews with teachers of Czech language of selected Grammar schools in Prague; the study of schools educational programs with which the interviewed teachers work in lessons. The text is divided into a theoretical and practical part. In the first part there are presented elementary theoretical terms based on the professional literature. In the second part there is listed the methodology of the research and its results. The outcome is the fact that the competence approach of teaching was only partly implemented among the teachers of Czech language and literature. Teachers consider the development of key competencies only as one of the components of a complex process of teaching and learning. The main weaknesses of the current situation are...

This diploma thesis deals with applying fanfiction to the Czech language and literature lessons for the 2nd stage of basic school. The main focus is on writing with esthetical focus. First part deals with fanfiction set on its application in education. Next part is studying the demands of Czech curriculum on teaching writing methods and the goals and methods of creative writing. Third part opens the possibilities of fanfiction and discusses reasons why fanfiction is useful. It gives ideas how to use fanfiction in education in specific ways to explore student's literacy and other skills. Last part contains four lesson plans based on work with fanfiction and its curriculum's themes. Three of these lessons were experienced with years 7, 8 and 9 students. Applying fanfiction seems to be useful, especially with theme setting and students' motivation.

The thesis examines the issue of gender in textbooks. The aim of the thesis is to analyse three sets of Czech language secondary school textbooks and ascertain, whether these textbooks contribute to the propagation of gender stereotypes in the society or whether they do not. The thesis is divided into a theoretical section and an empirical section. The theoretical section firstly explicates the fundamental concepts of gender, secondly focuses on the discrimination of women via language and on other topics from the field of gender linguistics. The last chapter of the theoretical section focuses on how gender stereotypes influence schooling. The empirical section encompasses the aforementioned analysis of the selected Czech language textbook sets. The analysis further investigates the manner in which men and women are represented in the curriculum, how men and women are portrayed in the illustrations, if the linguistic means are gender-balanced, and also whether the textbooks include any gender linguistics topics. The results of the analysis show that in all textbook sets, men are the dominant gender in illustrations, as well as among significant figures and authors of literary excerpts. In terms of roles, employment and character traits that are attached to individual characters, the sets of...

This work is focused on the matter od the Czech contemporary literature in the context of the secondary school. The Czech contemporary literature and its position in the secodary education is examined in the view of academic literature, textbooks, pedagogical documents and other accessible materials. The position of the Czech contemporary literature is explored by surveys (among teachers and former secondary school students). This work is also focused on the probleme of the definicion of the term "contemporary" literature and characterizes this term taking into consideration all examined materials. This work's aim is to describe the current situation of the contemporary literature at the secondary schools, to define specific problems connected to this theme and to suggest strategies which could help making more advantage of the Czech contemporary literature. This work explains and describes these advanteges. The end of the work offers concrete materials which could be used in the Czech lessons.

The thesis Experience in teaching Czech language at lower-secondary school is focused on the implementation of experiential learning into the Czech language teaching. The thesis consists of two parts. The theoretical part describes the main principles and methods of experiential learning and their use in the context of the Czech language teaching. The practical part presents actual lesson plans, in which principles and methods are used. The lesson plans are focused on teaching communication and acquiring active knowledge of Czech syntax, lexicology and semantics. Based on the experience of implementing of activities in teaching Czech language at the 6th grade of lower-secondary school, the author of the thesis explains importance of the experience in Czech language teaching. The results show the experience could be used effectively in the Czech teaching methodology.

The main aim of this diploma thesis is to make a contribution to discussion about suitability of using board games in education and to confirm that making use of board games is a valid didactical method used for teaching Czech language. Theoretical part is focused on play and game, making use of games in education, board games, their characteristics, categories, types and utilization in education. Following chapters explore advantages and disadvantages of using board games for teaching Czech which encounter Primary school teachers and contributions of games to devepolment of key competences. Further in the work, an overview/summary of Czech language board games suitable for teaching Czech and available on the Czech market is stated. These games were evaluated according to beforehand set criteria. A collection of my own board games created for needs of Czech language Primary school teachers follows.

The thesis is divided into two parts. The first and crucial part offers a translation of the first two sections of the novel An Equal Music (1999) by Vikram Seth, a postcolonial author of Indian origin. His novel, or "musical romance", is commonly considered to be one of the best novels about music. The translation is followed by a study of the author's life and works, of his style and the reception of his novel and, finally, by an analysis of essential translation problems. The main focus is on speakability issues in various voices throughout the novel; the ambivalence of and difficulty in translating the title; on translation strategies regarding the poetic layers of the text and on the method of translating names and other facts. Given the specific subgenre of the book, the key subchapter analyses the translated musical excerpts from the novel. Keywords Vikram Seth, An Equal Music, contemporary fiction in English, translation, Czech language, style, translation analysis.

An essential part of the prerequisite for studying of students and employment process of graduates of UEO is the knowledge of professional economic language. The aim of this dissertation is to contribute to the quality and efficiency of teaching the professional Czech language for foreign students in the University of Economics with a focus on Russian-speaking students. Based on theoretical studies the confirmation of dissertation hypothesis and the achievement of work objects describe and give reasons how and how much the Russian language affects the morphology and lexical linguistic aspects in the case of Russian-speaking students during the process of learning the professional Czech language. The research part of the work with the help of the questionnaire responses analysis confirms the fact that the interlanguage influence in the case of Czech professional language is very strong and is greatly manifested in both positive and negative ways. It was proved that important factors in education are: the origin of foreign students, their level of knowledge of Russian language and teachers' level of Russian language knowledge. The research part is followed by didactic recommendations and proposals of specific methodological procedures and exercises for the most consistent limiting of the negative effects of the Russian language while learning the Czech professional language at the University of Economics in Prague.