Abstract
This monography presents the results of an inquiry into the morphological competence at secondary school aiming to answer the question to what extent pupils aged 12-15 are skilled in distinguishing literary forms from the colloquial ones. For the purpose of this analysis we constructed a set of eight sentences containing twelwe frequent morphological forms (endings) that clearly distinguish Literary Czech from Colloquial Czech used in informal communication. 1097 children aged 12-15 from the Prague area participated in the research (11 schools, 62 classes, 515 boys, 582 girls).
In addition, we could compare the results with a smaller sample obtained at two secondary schools in Ostrava, the capital of Moravian-Silesian Region where the language situation is considerably different. the specimen has yielded a majority of children aged 12-15 capable of identifying non-literary forms and replacing them by literary ones. Only few non-literary forms proved to be more difficult (auta stály, bysme, s kamarádama/s nima).
With these forms, the age was the decisive factor. The research also confirmed that three literary, but less "bookish" forms mentioned above (já hraju, oni hrajou, my jedem) have stilled retained a high degree of colloquiality.
This fact resulted in lot of the children replacing these forms by the more "bookish" ones. The further stage of language education should hence focus on acquainting the children with the stylistic stratification of the Literary Czech.
It is highly desirable that the upper secondary education doesn't fail to meet this demand.