АССОЦИАТИВНОЕ СОЗНАНИЕ В КОНТЕКСТЕ ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОЙ РЕАЛЬНОСТИ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ РУССКИХ И ИНДИЙСКИХ СТУДЕНТОВ-МЕДИКОВ)

Abstract

The paper presents data analysis of the association experiment aimed at studying the influence of professional culture on the linguistic consciousness of medical students. Being the most developed technique of psycholinguistic analysis of semantics, the association experiment reveals objectively the semantic relations of words and language stereotypes existing in a native speaker’s mind and reflecting the “mentality specific features”. The study sample consisted of Russian (n = 50) and Indian (n = 50) students of the Northern State Medical University, aged 17 to 20 years, studying General medicine. Study material included the results of a written questionnaire with seven stimulus words (doctor, Hippocratic Oath, medicine, hospital, patient, profession, lab coat). The stimulus list was prepared in Russian and English. The survey was conducted in the language of study participants. Linguistic units of different parts of speech and word combinations were allowed as answers. The analysis of a professionally determined specificity of consciousness of Russian and Indian students indicates the predominant positive orientation of ethnic stereotypes in all respondents. Both universal and nationality-related components, indicating the national and cultural markedness of the linguistic sign and peculiarities of ethno-linguistic consciousness are revealed. The associative behavior of both Russian and Indian students manifested itself in two directions: on the one hand, emotionally-evaluative reactions and descriptive associations were observed; on the other hand, reactions related to the professional reasoning development were traced. Word-reactions associated with social realities typical of Russian and Indian society are noteworthy.The total number of associations given by Russian students is slightly higher. In general, respondents’ reactions indicated their ambition to vocation realization and goals achievement. The results obtained can be considered as a culture-specific “associative profile” of images of consciousness, integrating mental and sensual knowledge possessed by a particular ethnic group.