Tertium Comparationis in Modern Contrastive Linguistics (Revising Approaches to Teaching)

Abstract

The article focuses on the main debatable issues in the field of cross-cultural language studies. The place of modern Contrastive Linguistics among related disciplines such as Comparative-Historic Linguistics, Areal Linguistics, Typological Linguistics is described. The scheme providing the subdivisions of Comparative Linguistics (according to prof. Nadiya Andreichuk), showing the place of modern Contrastive Linguistics and taking into account synchronic and diachronic as well as theoretical and applied aspects of contrastive language studies, is presented. There are highlighted periods of development of contrastive studies that influenced the principles and terminology apparatus, worked out in theoretical and applied contrastive studies. Briefly the periods of early contrastive studies as well as the traditional period of contrastive ideas development (the end of 19th century until after World War II) are mentioned. More attention is paid to pedagogically oriented contrastive studies during the Classical period of CL development (1945–1965) up to modern period in the history of CL, especially in Ukraine. Some of the main theoretical reasonings applied by Ukrainian researchers (among them Yu. O. Zhluktenko, M. P. Kocherhan, I. V. Korunets, A. E. Levytsky, N. I. Andreichuk) in published by them teaching manuals and textbooks are described, which create the necessary didactic background for acquiring both theoretical and methodological foundations on which modern Contrastive Linguistics is grounded. Approaches towards understanding and appropriate usage of tertium comparationis as a common platform for comparison are discussed, which enables a correct analysis of the research object in order to reveal its common and distinctive features in contrasted languages.