Articles

This paper gives an insight into the major outcomes of the 2019–2023 MSU research project on investigating mediation as a language-and-culture bound communicative mode and as a new objective of modern tertiary language education in Russia. Mediation skills are thought to be of primary importance for the Russian academic elite’s intercultural communication in the world facing the war of values in which the academic elite is expected to act as a promoter of the dialogue of cultures and civilizations, able to preserve cultural heritage and counteract modern cultural vandalism, cultural imperialism and the policy of cancel culture whenever the latter happen to be in society. The paper starts with some introductory notes on the importance of the 21-st century terminology changes in language pedagogy because of a paradigmatic shift from traditional language skills as objectives of language education to 4 modes of communication (reception, production, interaction and mediation). It discusses the outcomes of the 2016–2021 international research projects on updating CEFR descriptors and on sharing pedagogical experiences in teaching and evaluating mediation skills. The author finds it necessary to rethink these research outcomes with a focus on the needs, objectives and training content of mediation education for different types of learners or trainees (MD / PhD students, PhD researchers of different ranks) and offers a linguodidactic vision of establishing a framework for a) teaching master’s degree students and PhD students to mediate a text & b) teaching university researchers/teachers to mediate concepts and to mediate communication. This conceptual framework is based on the 2018–2022 research results of several studies carried out to identify MD and PhD students’ needs to act as mediators in international academic settings, the needs, readiness and abilities of Humanities scholars to act as pluricultural mediators while participating in international scientific & educational communication.

The paper discusses culture-specific communicative features of official Russian, British, American, and Cypriot universities websites. The research focuses on context models of collective authors. The contribution deals with specific type of discourse which (following contemporary tendencies in discourse analysis) is referred to as “active effect discourse”. The study relies on interdisciplinary data provided by various spheres relevant to the issue under consideration. Thus, the study provides an overview of trends and tendencies in the development of modern education, outlines techniques used for online promotion of educational programs, describes specific features of communication environment. The paper analyses the structure and the content of official university websites, outlines verbal means used by collective authors of the texts under consideration in order to appeal to the target audience, and conducts analysis of culture-specific meanings conveyed through these means. The article also outlines prospects for future research on communication style adopted by the collective author of promotional texts functioning in digital learning environment.

The article examines the role of key words in the artistic organization of a literary work on the basis of Oscar Wilde’s novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. It has been discovered that the most frequently used lexical units in the text are adjectives with negative evaluative connotations: monstrous, horrible, dreadful, hideous and such like. Among them monstrous stands out as the main key word in spite of the fact that its frequency of occurrence is lower than that of its ‘synonyms’: 25 vs 48, 43, 32 times respectively. In fact, monstrous meets other criteria that seem to be essential in the case of key words. It appears in all significant episodes of the novel; it is characterized by lexical polyphony, great collocational potential, a variety of contextual links and due to the component “morally wrong” in its semantics is connected with the author’s global purport. It is also shown that the ‘intuitive’ linguopoetic analysis of key words can be supported by modern computer programs, like Sketch Engine, which work with text corpora .

The purpose of the paper is to point out some theoretical problems concerning the so-called textual inclusions, with their deep intertextuality and ability to generate new texts. Such approach gives a new impetus to outlining the ways of their possible role in the derivational mythological history, semiotic cultural memory and traditions. The cognitive aspects of these texts are analyzed, the chain links are constructed. Much attention is paid to the classification of the different types of the intertextual inclusions, specifically emphasizing their role in changing and reframing the reader’s cognitive system. The paper allows the author to take into account the interdisciplinary aspect of the cognitive linguistics linked with other interdisciplinary sciences.

The study focuses on the works of J. Ortega y Gasset, in which the Spanish philosopher offers a new vision of Linguistics analyzed from the point of view of Anthropology, Discourse Theory and Philosophy and first presented by him in 1938. Ortega’s bibliography contains articles in which he develops ideas relevant to Philological science, objecting to Saussure and criticizing Structuralism as the dominant research paradigm at that time. The subject of the research paper is the J. Ortega y Gasset’s ideology about the language and speech nature, formalized in the concepts called New Linguistics and Theory of Utterance, as well as the author’s views on the new approaches to the study of Philology (New Philology) and Grammar (New Grammar). In his works, the Spanish philosopher examines the dynamic nature of language and speech in its projection onto the speaker and substantiates the need to take into account the communicative intention and the communicative context, thereby anticipating the scientific research of the founders of the Speech Act Theory and Discourse Analysis J. Austin, J. Searle and Teun A. Van Dijk. The article makes an attempt to describe and systematize the main ideas introduced by J. Ortega y Gasset, relevant to such areas of modern Linguistics as Pragmatics and Text Linguistics.

The article is a review of the collective monograph authored by the Siberian Federal University scholars — Koptseva N.P., Kolesnik M.A., Leshchinskaya N.M., Samarina D.N. “Russian cultural identity in the Fine Arts of the 19th — early 20th century”. The researchers examined the features of Russian cultural identity construction in the works by V.G. Perov, I.Ya. Bilibin, M.V. Nesterov and B.M. Kustodiev. The relevance of the book lies in the fact that it is the first of its kind in the series of scientific art criticism and cultural literature “Russian Culture”. The scientific novelty of the monograph consists in the philosophical and art criticism analysis of religious philosophy as a source of cultural identity, in the substantiation of new theoretical concepts such as area-critical and area-romantic styles. The results of the presented work contribute to the study of the process of constructing Russian cultural identity from the standpoint of God-seeking in works of fine art of the late 19th — early 20th centuries. The practical value of the book lies in the systematization of the basic content of Russian cultural identity and the establishment of a connection with the key concepts of Russian religious philosophy, including the ideas of Russian Orthodoxy, Slavophilism, the concept of Sophia — the Wisdom of God in the interpretation of V.S. Solovyov, the application of the sociology of imagination in the study of mythology, symbolism, semiotics of signs, visual perception of painting. The results of the research outlined in the book can be used in teaching courses on the history and theory of Russian culture as well as in the creation of special courses and programmes based on the relationship between culture, philosophy, Religious Studies and literature.

The article focuses on the study of the peculiarities of interpretation of Greek myth in the Afro-Brazilian cultural space using the material of the film “Black Orpheus” directed by M. Camus, based on the play “Orfeu da Conceição” by Vinicius de Moraes. The author traces the origins of the appeal to the image of Orpheus in the works of Camus and Moraes, and reveals the connection with the French dramatic tradition and cinema. M. Camus transforms the Greek story through the prism of the culture of the Afro-Brazilian population of Rio de Janeiro — the inhabitants of the favelas. The film brings to the fore the musical component of the myth, with the help of which the originality of the Afro-Brazilian tradition and carnival practices of Latin America are revealed. Orpheus in the film appears as a tram driver, singer and leader of a samba school. His image combines the Dionysian principle (the carnival tradition into which Orpheus is “inscribed”) and the Apollonian (expressed in lyrical songs and cultural codes of bossa nova). The carnival “building” of mythological reality allows us to touch the spiritual layers of the Brazilian tradition — the syncretic cult of Candomble. The space of the Macumba ritual symbolizes the Kingdom of Hades, in which dialogue with Eurydice is carried out through musical magic that opens doors between the worlds. The passage through the Kingdom of the Dead represents a rite of passage in which the hero dies and is reincarnated in a new form: in the finale, Orpheus “transfers” his musical gift to the boy, symbolically gaining new life in him. The interpretation of the ancient Greek plot in the space of Afro-Brazilian carnival practices helps to reveal the civilizational specificity of Latin America and Orfeus as an “eternal image” that embodies the divine gift of love, the magic of music, and eternal existence through a change of forms.

In Chinese, verb aspect is expressed by verbs in combination with various linguistic means. Based on the difference between the verb aspect system of Russian and Chinese languages and the possible expressions of verb aspect in Russian, this paper aims to predict possible errors in the use of Russian verb aspect. In order to check the correctness of our analysis, a special diagnostic test was conducted. The test results show that the errors made by Chinese students primarily do not stem from the influence of their native language, but from the fact that students are not able to assess the situation, cannot find or even see certain reference points, available signals, directly indicating the use of this or that verb aspect. Errors are explained by elementary ignorance of the verb forms, especially in such cases as брать — взять, ловить — поймать and ignorance of the formation of the verb form itself, for example, the formation of the imperative form, etc. This is the result of insufficient training of students. In this case, the problem is not in students, but, firstly, in the complexity of the topic itself, and, secondly, in the method of teaching. We believe that it is necessary to give students a clear scheme of verb aspect meanings and identify those signals that can help students choose the type of a verb adequate to the situation of communication; the course of studying the verb aspect should be long enough, because strong and stable skills of the correct use of verb aspect are formed only as a result of gradual and regular work on the types of the verb, made over a long period of time. The results of this work can also serve as a starting point for determining not only the content of verb types teaching exercises, but also for developing methodological recommendations for them.

This article discusses the challenges and solutions for teaching Russian as a second language to students in China. It analyzes Russian and Chinese language teaching materials and identifies the factors that contribute to the low level of proficiency among Chinese students. The article proposes several solutions, including taking into account cultural differences and adopting teaching methods similar to those used in Chinese educational institutions.

The article is devoted to the period of the origin of Russian textbook studies in foreign languages, a significant contribution to the formation of which was made by Professor of Imperial Moscow University Ivan Andreevich Нeim (1759–1821), an encyclopedic scholar, teacher, and public figure. The article provides a brief description of the professional scientific and pedagogical biography of I.A. Нeim, who was at different periods of his academic activity not only a professor, but also the first Dean of the Faculty of Philology and the Rector of the University. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the structural and substantive characteristics of the first edition of the textbook by I.A. Heim “Russian Grammar for Germans” in 1789 (German: “Russische Sprachlehre für Deutsche”). Variant features of the metalanguage of the book in the field of translation of terms, as well as units at the graphical, orthographic, morphological and lexical levels are revealed. The content of the book, on the one hand, includes a theoretical description of the structure of the Russian language (in German), on the other hand, it is practical in nature, which is manifested in the absence of a large number of definitions, the presence of sections on teaching phonetics, a mini-dictionary and bilingual dialogues on everyday topics. The analysis of the textbook provides us with insights into the formation of textbook studies at the end of the 18th century and enables us to discuss the creation and development of prototypes of a modern tutorial book and phrase book of foreign languages.

Using paremiological dictionaries as an example, the article considers new approaches and trends emerging in modern English lexicography in connection with its digitalisation. From the initial scanned versions of authoritative paper dictionaries, e-lexicography is increasingly moving towards the development of pro ducts specifically designed for use on computers and mobile devices, a frequent first step in this process being the use of the resources of national linguistic corpora, followed by the creation of independent paremiological corpora. The creation of e-dictionaries is gradually becoming a separate lexicographic trend with its own subject and object of research. The present study has revealed a number of characteristics of English-language electronic paremiological dictionaries, such as: growing connection with language teaching; increasing unprofessionalism of compilers of Internet reference resources, leading to their unreliability; extending influence of the so-called “non-native speakers” of English; expanding range of non-verbal resources of elexicography, which are capable of performing some scientific tasks that are beyond the reach of traditional paper dictionaries (for example, dictionary fixation of the threefold structural-content-functional topological invariant of frequently reproduced memorable phrases). Professional lexicographers need to learn how to use the new possibilities of the modern electronic and digital era to the best advantage, combining the necessary linguistic, digital and design competences at a professional rather than amateur level.

The article presents a comparative analysis of the semantic portraits of the singer and the cultural hero Wainamoinen in two English translations of the epic “Kalevala” made by William Forsell Kirby and John Martin Crawford. Following a certain algorithm, the different-structured nominations of the hero are classified and subjected to component analysis, through which an inventory of semes and semes’ specifiers is fixed, which allows to identify isomorphic and allomorphic characteristics in the portraits of the hero. The study shows that the dominant position in the semantic portrait of Wainamoinen is occupied by the so-called song space of the hero, since singing is the main activity of Wainamoinen by means of which he influences the surrounding world. The semantic portrait of Wainamoinen is a four-level structure, including nominations (1) characterizing him as a singer, (2) characterizing his singing, (3) characterizing the process of his singing and (4) characterizing functions of his singing. The study also demonstrates an importance of nominations which have the structure of a sentence and super-phrasal unity. They allow to fix additional semes in lexical nominations. The article concludes that the semantic allomorphs of Wainamoinen’s portrait characteristics are determined by both linguistic aspects (the choice of the source text for translation: original text in the Finnish language and the interlinear translation in German) and extralinguistic aspects: differences between British and American lingua cultures and personal preferences of each translator.

The article presents the results of a linguopragmatic study of explicit and implicit means used by journalists of law-related corporate mass media to model the positive image of a modern Russian lawyer. The author observes that at present there is a social need to replace deeply rooted negative stereotypes about lawyers/advocates in the collective consciousness, since it is the representatives of the law who form patterns of law-abiding behavior. Mass media play a significant role in forming images of lawyers whom many Russian citizens rarely meet in person. Analyzed interviews with lawyers and lawyer biographies enable the recipients to learn more not only about the professional activities but also about personal life and inner world of lawyers, thus, demonstrating a great potential in modeling their images. The article highlights and analyzes three aspects that, in the author’s opinion, are of greatest importance for creating a positive image of a lawyer in modern Russian society

The article is devoted to the analysis of the effectiveness of the use of specific English-language alliteration in Russian-language ergonyms and advertising slogans. The purpose of this work is to determine the degree of emotional impact of this stylistic device on native Russian speakers and, as a result, its effectiveness for use in creating ergonyms and advertising slogans in the Russian language. The objectives of this study include the analysis of differences in approaches to the definition of the stylistic device “alliteration” in the English-speaking and Russianspeaking linguistic traditions; collection and analysis of Russian-language ergonyms and advertising slogans, built on the basis of specific English alliteration, by the method of continuous sampling. The research also looks into the functions of alliteration techniques in the Russian-language ergonyms and slogans, includes a sociolinguistic survey in the form of a questionnaire among 125 native speakers of the Russian language aged 18 to 40, of different professions, with University degrees.

The paper provides examples of Russian-language names and advertising slogans created using specific English alliteration. The results of the study indicate that specific English alliteration plays a role in promoting the attractive and aesthetic functions through ergonyms. The analysis of the sociolinguistic questionnaire showed that in five out of the seven proposed categories, the survey participants preferred ergonyms and advertising slogans created using this technique. Taking into account the results of the study it can be concluded, that today a specific English alliteration is an effective linguistic technique used in the Russian language for creating ergonyms and advertising slogans.

The article examines cultural standards of modesty in the Russian and Chinese languages. The study is based on dictionaries and text corpora of two languages. The purpose of the work is to determine universal and nationally specific features in the formation of cultural standards of modesty in the Russian and Chinese languages. The object of the study is modesty as a traditional value of Russian and Chinese linguistic cultures. Modesty is encoded using cultural standards that reflect the essential features of modesty as a sociocultural value that characterizes Russian and Chinese cultures. The study found that in the Russian language, modesty, which is predominantly gender-based, is mainly associated with the image of a girl (woman). Modesty as a universal human quality is realized contradictorily: 1) “the modesty of a hero, a real person” and 2) “the modesty of a quiet, timid, dependent person.” In Chinese linguistic culture, “modesty” occupies a strong position, and its “standard” implementation, determined by the ideas of Confucius, is an integral part not only of etiquette, but also the worldview of the Chinese. In the Chinese language, the “standard” implementation of modesty, defined by the ideas of Confucius, is an integral part of etiquette. The Chinese modesty system is associated with natural objects and plant images that are of great importance to Chinese culture. The results of this study can be used in lexicographic practice and in teaching Russian and Chinese languages.