Let G ⊂ C be a bounded Jordan domain with a rectifiable Dini-smooth boundary Γ and let G − := ext Γ . In terms of the higher order modulus of smoothness the direct and inverse problems of approximation theory in the variable exponent Smirnov classes E p(•) (G) and E p(•) (G − ) are investigated. Moreover, the Marcinkiewicz and Littlewood-Paley type theorems are proved. As a corollary some results on the constructive characterization problems in the generalized Lipschitz classes are presented.