Abstract
The paper discusses the integration of presenting theoretical linguo- cultural knowledge and developing dictionary skills in advanced students of a foreign language. The proposed approach allows showing students the interdisci- plinary character of various issues, one of which is cross-linguistic lacunarity. It is given as an example of a phenomenon, whose introduction can be combined with the development of students' dictionary use abilities. Lacunarity consists in the lack of some source language elements in the target language. Two main kinds of lacunae are distinguished: linguistic and referential ones. The focal issue of the paper is how the information on the lacunary character of words can be presented to advanced students of English as a foreign language, in this paper Polish learners, so that they could consider the phenomenon in terms of bilingual lexicography: first, becoming aware of the specifics of their description; second, practising their dic- tionary skills by analysing entries for selected lacunary lexical and phraseological units; third, combining the information and skills in doing creative tasks, related to lacunarity and its bilingual lexicographic descriptions. Furthermore, additional activities are proposed for revising the acquired knowledge on lacunarity and advancing dictionary use. Offering students tasks, which require them to adopt a different perspective, aims to increase their involvement in the learning process and to foster their autonomy as learners. Encouraging learners to reflect on lacunae and their lexicographic description is expected to familiarize them with the phenomenon and simultaneously to develop their dictionary skills by doing especially designed activities.
Highlights
The paper discusses the integration of presenting theoretical linguocultural knowledge and developing dictionary skills in advanced students of a foreign language
One of the notions worth presenting is cross-linguistic lacunarity, which can be briefly defined as the existence of gaps between two languages: the learners’ mother tongue (L1) and the foreign language which they learn (L2)
Since lacunarity consists in the lack of interlingual equivalents of given language elements, it is a phenomenon worth researching in a theoretical perspective, and in a practical one, especially from the point of view of foreign language teaching (Turunen 2006), translation studies (Panasiuk 2005) and bilingual lexicography (Szerszunowicz 2013)
Summary
The inclusion of cultural aspects in foreign language teaching is widely accepted— as emphasized by Kramsch (2000: 3), a given language expresses, embodies and symbolizes cultural reality. The zero equivalence of such words results from the fact that certain L1 words do not have corresponding lexical units in L2 Many of such items are culture related, naming realia of learners’ own culture (C1) or of the ethnic community, whose language they learn (C2). Language gaps have to be filled in a way allowing a foreign language learner to acquire a unit which is linguistically and often culturally new to him/her. The specific objectives are twofold: first, to illustrate how the introduction of the notion of lacunarity enriches students’ theoretical basis, which enhances their general linguistic knowledge and fosters language awareness; second, to discuss how the introduction of the phenomenon can create an opportunity for students to implement the new knowledge while practising dictionary reference skills, which contributes to the development of their learning autonomy
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