Linguistic and cultural code in the mirror of phraseology: pedagogical strategies for the formation of intercultural competence in foreign language classes

Abstract

Phraseology often becomes a stumbling block in teaching foreign languages, since traditional methods based on memorization do not form students' ability to adequately use idioms in live speech. The relevance of the research is determined by the need to develop a pedagogical approach that would transform the study of idiomatics from a reproductive task into a research task aimed at developing deep intercultural competence. The purpose of the work is to develop and theoretically substantiate a pedagogical model based on comparative and contrastive analysis of Russian and English phraseology, which allows students not only to memorize idioms, but also to understand their cultural and cognitive foundations. A comprehensive analysis combining structural-semantic, comparative-typological and linguistic-cultural approaches was used as a research method. Based on the corpus of Russian and English phraseological units, their classification was carried out according to the degree of semantic motivation, thematic groups (emotions, activity) and types of interlanguage equivalence (full, partial, analogues, equivalent). This classification was used as the basis for the development of a typology of pedagogical tasks aimed at developing analytical and comparative skills among students. The results of the analysis revealed systemic differences: English phraseology is characterized by unmotivated idioms associated with practical activities and play (to kick the bucket, to play hardball), whereas Russian is dominated by motivated, figurative units describing emotional states and relying on somatisms and natural images (the soul has gone into heels, swim against the current). Dominant cognitive models and culturally specific concepts (fair play, Russian soul) have been identified, which reflect the deep value orientations of the two linguistic cultures. The discussion of the results allowed us to conclude that the study of phraseology through the prism of comparative analysis is a powerful pedagogical tool. It allows students to move from rote memorization to conscious learning, developing not only linguistic, but also cognitive and analytical competencies. The analysis of the imagery of idioms (when cancer whistles on the mountain vs. when pigs fly) stimulates critical thinking and linguistic guessing. Such a pedagogical strategy turns complex language material into a fascinating way of learning about another culture, forming students' empathy, tolerance and willingness for effective intercultural dialogue.