The article discusses the problem of the formation of coordinate trilingualism basics – the type of proficiency in three languages (native and two foreign ones), when their systems coexist in the individual’s mind in parallel, and interlanguage mixing is minimized, and, as a result, the speech in three languages is correct. Based on the research of Russian and foreign scientists on the peculiarities of trilingualism thinking, the authors confirm that the formation of artificial (educational) trilingualism when teaching two foreign languages in educational institutions, in particular at universities, requires a special approach. Considering that the native language has a significant impact on the process of learning foreign languages, and the study of a second foreign language proceeds under the influence of the previously studied first foreign language, the authors focus on a consciously comparative method of co-learning languages, which minimizes negative interlanguage interference that causes errors in speech and strengthens positive interlanguage interference that simplifies language acquisition based on the constant comparison of the phenomena of the native and studied foreign languages on the lexical, morphological, and syntactic levels. According to the authors, a special role in the formation of the foundations of coordinate trilingualism is played by the development of such mechanisms of students’ speech activity as the mechanism of installation, the mechanism of interlanguage comparison, the mechanism of association, and the mechanism of interlanguage transfer. The installation mechanism allows one to rely on information already existing in the individual’s mind about the subject and transfer this experience to the development of new material. Constant comparison of the phenomena of native and studied foreign languages at the lexical, morphological, syntactic levels allows one to see the similarities and differences between the phenomena of the native and studied foreign languages. Association, in turn, helps to create connections between phenomena and see analogies with what is already known when learning something new. Interlingual transfer promotes the use of skills developed in the native language when mastering other languages. The theoretical understanding of the problem and the analysis of the results of the experimental training made it possible to determine the necessary conditions for the formation of coordinate trilingualism basics in the process of mastering foreign languages. This is, first of all, a constant comparison of phenomena of native and studied foreign cultures at various levels, comparison of concepts (meanings) of native and foreign languages, systematic work on interlingual interference through special exercises aimed at developing the above-mentioned speech mechanisms, in practical classes in foreign languages.
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