Nationally and Culturally Oriented Component in Foreign Languages Teaching

Abstract

Each language conceptualizes the world in which it exists in its own way; therefore the conceptual (cultural) picture of the world of any language is unique. Ignorance of the basic concepts of language and culture can lead to misunderstanding between representatives of different cultures in the process of intercultural communication. Foreign languages teaching and learning promote dialogue and mutual understanding among different peoples and cultures. There are different ways of introducing students into the culture and peculiarities of the national mentality of native speakers. One of the ways is introduction of the nationally and culturally oriented component in the foreign language teaching. This component includes mainly the work with nationally specific concepts which reflect linguistic view of the world. It seems appropriate and fruitful to study concept-spheres of native and foreign languages, which involves analyzing the results of associative experiment in two languages and using of the achievements of psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics.

Keywords: foreign languages teaching; national mentality; concept-sphere; concept; word association testing; authentic materials; ethno-mental skills