Cognitive-pragmatic Approach Research Articles

ОДНОСОСТАВНОЕ ПРЕДЛОЖЕНИЕ В ЖАНРЕ ЗАГАДКИ

This article analyzes single-component sentences of the Russian language in riddle discourse within the framework of the cognitive-pragmatic approach. The purpose of the analysis is to determine the conceptual and communicative features of single-component structures. The research material was texts from the classic publication “Riddles of the Russian People” by Dmitry Nikolaevich Sadovnikov, one of the largest Russian ethnographers and collectors of folklore.

Relevance theory in translation and interpreting: A cognitive-pragmatic approach. Routledge advances in translation and interpreting studies

Relevance theory in translation and interpreting: A cognitive-pragmatic approach. Routledge advances in translation and interpreting studies

Модель формирования дискурсивной компетенции студентов языковых направлений подготовки

Abstract. The study is aimed at conditioning and substantiating a model for the development of discourse competence in language students. Proposed possible solution to the described problem is a pedagogical model for the development of discourse competence of language students, comprising four components. Described components of the proposed model are conceptual, content, organizational, and evaluative. The interconnection of the components with each other and the integrity of the model, which contributes to the achievement of the pedagogical goal as the development of discourse competence of language students, are also indicated. Discourse competence is considered as the ability to comprehend, perceive, reproduce and create meanings in professional communicative activities and practices. The originality of the consideration of the process of developing discourse competence comprises the examination of the cognitive-pragmatic approach as the most suitable approach which considers professional and language aspects of the process of learning languages by language students. Methods and techniques that facilitate the implementation of this model are described, the criteria for the development of skills and their levels are stated as well. This model takes into account the peculiarities of the processes of meaning perception and meaning generation in discourse, professional communicative activities of language students and the specific features of the academic environment at the university. This model is subject to testing and the development of methodological recommendations for its implementation in the process of Foreign Language Teaching at higher schools.

Cognitive-pragmatic approach in professional linguistic education

Introduction. This article concentrates on the concept of implementing the cognitive-pragmatic approach into professional linguistic education. For this reason, the author conducts a comparative analysis of pedagogical approaches applied to teaching a foreign language in higher education, highlights key concepts and describes the crucial theoretical and methodological positions, taking into account the educational environment and future professional activity. The purpose of the study is to identify the potential for introducing the cognitive-pragmatic approach into professional linguistic education when teaching foreign languages with the aim of developing discourse competence as the ability and readiness to perceive and create meanings in professional activity.Materials and Methods. The theoretical basis of the study involves philosophical, linguistic, psychological, cognitive, pedagogical, pragmatic concepts that reveal the essence of the cognitive-pragmatic approach in professional linguistic education. The article uses methods of comparative analysis of theoretical and methodological literature on this scientific issue. These methods enable to determine the main positions of the cognitive-pragmatic approach which are to be taken into account for elaborating further methodological recommendations.Results. As a result of scientific understanding and systematization, the article presents the main positions for the implementation of the cognitive-pragmatic approach in professional linguistic education. As a result of comparative analysis, the similarities and differences of such pedagogical approaches as cognitive, pragmatic, sociopragmatic, communicative, reflexive, and functional ones have been studied to substantiate the advantages of the cognitive-pragmatic approach in teaching foreign languages in higher education. Potential areas for improving the process of professional education of language students as well as teaching methods and techniques have been defined for further investigation.Discussion and Conclusions. In the conclusion, the author emphasizes the importance and effectiveness of the implementation of the cognitive-pragmatic approach in professional linguistic education. The results of this study present theoretical and practical interest for researchers regarding the problem of developing linguistic and professional skills of language students.

A Relevance-Theoretic Approach to the Subtitle Translation of Farewell My Concubine

This paper investigates the subtitle translation of the film Farewell My Concubine from a relevance-theoretic perspective. The Chinese film Farewell My Concubine has been well-received in China as well as in other parts of the world and marked a milestone in Chinese film history. Its subtitle is rich in Chinese culture-loaded words, which may pose difficulties for both the translator to translate and for the oversea audience to understand. To explore the reasons for the warm reception of the subtitle translation of Farewell My Concubine among international audiences, this paper takes a relevance-theoretic approach to analyze the translation of culture-loaded expressions in the film, including mainly three types: Beijing Opera jargon, the Beijing dialect, and Chinese idioms. Through a detailed case study, this paper finds that the translator flexibly uses different translation strategies, such as domestication and foreignization, for different texts and contexts to cater to the audience’s cognitive environment. Meanwhile, the translator also takes into account the features of subtitles, which are often limited by time and space, and accordingly makes reasonable omissions of the translated texts. From the perspective of relevance theory, the translator realizes optimal relevance and delivers the subtitle information accurately to the target audience. This paper also proves that relevance theory, as a cognitive pragmatic approach to communication, is a useful tool for translation studies.

Онтологические модели пословиц как прецедентных текстов (на материале разноструктурных моделей в русском и чувашском языках)

This article presents an analysis of proverbs as precedent texts and their ontological (conceptual) models in the Russian and Chuvash languages as having different structures. The relevance of the work is due to the cognitive-pragmatic approach to the linguistic picture of the world of proverbs, as well as the need to determine the status of the ontological model of precedent texts of proverbs as a special structure of knowledge that characterizes the features of ethno-linguistic consciousness. Based on the material of Russian and Chuvash proverbs, a conceptual analysis of the precedent texts of proverbs is carried out. The basic models of the subject's cognitive decision-making strategy are distinguished: 1) cognitive setting for a low / high degree of argumentative impact: a) with the axiological dominant “gradation”; b) with a stereotypical dominant; c) with adaptive dominant; 2) cognitive attitude with the axiological component “positive – negative”. The identified types of axiological components of conceptual objects act as factors, grounds that ensure the use of proverbs as an argument, reflecting the values and traditions of the Russian and Chuvash cultural communities. Characteristic for acts of argumentation in which proverbs are used are such basic structures as one-sided argumentation and two-sided argumentation. In the discourse in the relationship of communicants in the languages under consideration, simple and complex speech acts with proverbs are used, which have the same pragmatic features, but differ in quantitative terms and communicative conditions of functioning. The structure of the precedent text of proverbs is presented as an ontology in the Protégé ontology editor system, since in modern research ontology is considered the leading paradigm of information content structuring.

Metarepresentational phenomena in Japanese and English

Abstract Contrastive studies of languages usually focus on differences in lexical items, syntactic structures, semantic expressions, collocations, and so on. In the present paper we take a cognitive pragmatic approach, assuming that metarepresentation in the sense of Sperber (2000) and Wilson (2000) offers a crucial perspective in such studies. We discuss how the speech act component of higher-level explicatures is linguistically realized in Japanese and English, focusing on sentence adverbials, ‘because’ clauses, speech act particles, reported speech, private predicates, and desiderative predicates. We conclude that in the Japanese language, information concerning the speech act component tends to be linguistically realized, while such information is not necessarily realized in English. We suggest that this cognitive pragmatic approach can be applied to other languages where higher-level explicatures are basically explicit as in Japanese or implicit as in English.

Функционирование континуальных форм английского глагола как межкультурный компонент профессионально-ориентированного обучения иностранному языку

The aim of the paper is to determine the need to introduce the main aspects of intercultural interaction in the field of professionally oriented teaching of English as a foreign language from the perspective of linguopragmatics in general and the communicative-pragmatic intention of the speaker in particular. The author of the paper points out that a cognitive-pragmatic approach should be followed in foreign language teaching. The paper is novel in that its author proves that there is a need to take into account the cognitive-pragmatic level of English grammar mastery and the speaker’s intentions (in particular, when observing the functioning of Progressive verb forms) when teaching professionally oriented English in terms of intercultural communication skills development. The paper describes the features of the English verb tense category; identifies the ways of intention expression through continuity; determines the extent to which culture-specific variants of the functioning of English Progressive verb forms are represented in textbooks and teaching aids in the subject. As a result of the study, it has been found that the learning and teaching support kits used in the practice of teaching a professionally oriented block of a foreign language do not take into account intercultural differences in the functioning of verb forms, which confirms the need to modify the learning and teaching support kits in order to focus students’ attention on both the intentional load of English grammar and continuity.

Когнитивно-прагматический подход к формированию дискурсивной компетенции студентов языковых направлений подготовки

Taking into account the dual nature of the concept of “discourse,” which forms the basis for defining discursive competence, the expediency of using a cognitive-pragmatic approach in developing the discursive competence of students in language-oriented programs is justified, with a description of its main principles. Didactic principles are identified: the principle of contextuality, the principle of speech-thinking activity, the principle of cooperation and interactivity, the principle of professional reflection, and the principle of interdisciplinarity, as fundamental for the effective implementation of this approach. A description is provided for each of the above principles as a productive measure to contribute to the resolution of specific pedagogical contradictions in foreign language teaching.

“Physics with Chocolate Taste”: A Cognitive-Pragmatic Approach to the Titles of Iranian Educational Books

This paper investigates some linguistic strategies in educational books titling aimed at Iranian high school students. In Iran, the competition for admission in top universities is very significant, and thus studying supplementary material for school subjects is highly required. The books published by the Ministry of Education lack flexibility and innovation, and as such, the demand for high quality materials is very high, and consequently a rewarding book market has been formed. In this competitive market, publishers do their best to attract a higher number of customers, and choosing eye-catching titles for their published books is one of the most decisive marketing tasks. In the present study, a total of 120 book titles have been collected and analyzed. In terms of the cognitive processes, it was found that strengthening and mitigation play a significant role in creating book titles. According to the findings, the cognitive operation of strengthening is more dominant than mitigation: in 46 cases of book titles (25.8%), one positive feature is linguistically strengthened to promote book selling, with only 11 cases involving the mitigation process. It is also shown that authors and publishers tend to employ metaphors to create attractive titles for their books. The pattern BOOK IS A JOURNEY tends to be the most frequent metaphor (17 items), followed by those related to food (14), game (12), medicine (6), animal (4), and weapon (3). Some titles showcase a kind of allusion to literary works or cultural symbols reflected in various forms of arts and media.

КОГНИТИВНО-ПРАГМАТИЧЕСКИЕ ТЕХНОЛОГИИ В ПРОЦЕССЕ ПРАКТИКО-ОРИЕНТИРОВАННОГО ОБУЧЕНИЯ ГОРНЫХ ИНЖЕНЕРОВ

Statement of the problem. Employers, the pace of life, the time of nanotechnologies and digitalization – all these objective factors require a qualitatively different level of training of specialists for the mineral resource complex. We believe that the cognitive-pragmatic approach within the framework of practice-oriented training will ensure the highest quality and efficient training of mining engineers. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the principles and identify the specifics for the implementation of cognitive technologies in the preparation of mining engineers in the Mining specialty (Technological Safety and Mine Rescue). Research methodology. The issue of rationalizing the learning process, taking into account academic mobility and the practical skills of graduates that meet the needs of production, is becoming increasingly relevant. Cognitive-pragmatic technologies within the framework of practice-oriented learning allow optimizing the educational process without losing the quality of training specialists in engineering specialties. Research results. With the advent and introduction of cognitive-pragmatic technologies in the educational process, the student becomes an active subject of the educational process. The teacher – student relationship has reached a qualitatively different level, where the teacher is required not so much didactic as managerial competence. Conclusions. Cognitive technologies, simultaneously with the analysis of the current situation, search for knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired and formed by the student in the process of theoretical and practical training. As a result of the introduction of these technologies in the training of engineering personnel for the mineral resource complex, we get a qualitatively different specialist with excellent performance and efficiency in completing the assigned tasks.

Information flow in excerpts of two translations of Mme Bovary

This article explores how information is accumulated and collated in a cog-nitively realistic fashion in two very short excerpts of translations of Flaubert ’s ‘Mme Bovary’. The approach taken is a formal cognitive linguistic one using Discourse Information Grammar (DIG), a theory of grammar based on the intuitive idea that texts are understood by the reader incrementally, in a left-to-right fashion. Thus, a cognitive pragmatic approach is taken to the study of the excerpts, highlighting how much information is accumulated as the reader develops an understanding of the text in question. The analysis discusses the differences in the build-up of information in the source text and in its translations. The conclusion indicates that translation studies contribute much to the development of formal linear cognitive linguistic theories.

Conceptual metonymy and emotive-affective meaning at the interface: Examples from online medical consultations

By adopting a cognitive-pragmatic approach, this study investigates the link between conceptual metonymies and emotive-affective meaning in online medical consultations. Little appears to be known about the metonymic-emotive connection. Drawing on 100 cases of highly-rated online medical consultations conducted in Chinese, this project identifies the conceptual metonymies in such consultations: part for whole, cause for effect, obligation for action, potentiality for action,conditional for unknown/future and manner for action. This paper suggests two styles whereby the metonymic-emotive link is generated: (i) explicit expressions of emotion and affection (e.g., empathy or reassurance) that are supported by relevant medical information built on metonymic reasoning; (ii) the delivery of relevant medical information using conceptual metonymies, leading to the relief of doubt and reduction of anxiety, and evoking a satisfactory response. The former is referred to as emotion-integrating-into-metonymic-discourse and the latter as emotion-emerging-from-metonymic-discourse. This study suggests that the link is located in discourse where the doctor’s response fills the patient’s knowledge gap and where the medical expert’s health information lends emotional support to the health seeker.

ON THE ROLE OF CREATIVE ACTIVITIES IN MOTHER TONGUE TEXTBOOKS FOR UZBEK CLASSES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENT’S THINKING

The article explores conclusions based on the study of primary school textbooks, the role of mother tongue education for uzbek classes in the effectiveness of education, the role of cognitive-pragmatic approach in mother tongue education and its contribution to expand the scope of student’s thinking and creative exercises.

The Liaison Interpreter’s Role as an Intercultural Mediator: A Cognitive-Pragmatic Approach

Liaison interpreting is a type of interpreting performed in cross-cultural communications. The role of liaison interpreters has been studied by scholars for many years. For a long time, interpreting has been regarded as a communication activity, which solely converted languages and transferred the linguistic meaning of the original utterances. However, the practitioners and researchers began to realize that interpreting is a bilingual as well as bicultural communication activity. It bridges the cultural gap for people who don’t share the same language or cultural background. Therefore, this paper proposes an account of the liaison interpreter’s role as intercultural mediator as an alternative to other accounts of the interpreter’s role in the literature on liaison interpreting. The account of the liaison interpreters’ role as intercultural mediator is derived from the principles of a theoretical framework that draws on the findings of the theory of sense (Seleskovitch and Lederer, 1995) and Sperber and Wilson’s (1986, 1995) relevance theory of communication (RT). The account provides the basis for formulating a clearer definition of the concept of intercultural mediation in the context of liaison interpreting (LI). With data from authentic examples from interpreters’ actual performance, this paper intends to analyze interpreter’s role as an intercultural mediator in interactions within the framework of cognitive-pragmatic approach (CPA). In order to enhance liaison interpreters’ competence of cultural mediation, the paper then provides some implications for interpreters training in China.

Axiology of Proverbs in the Focus of the Problem of Cognitive-discursive Modeling of Semantics of Russian Proverbs

The article is devoted to the analysis of the problem of determining the value factor in the semantic structure of proverbs in relation to the problem of cognitive-pragmatic modeling of proverbial semantics. The relevance of the appeal to the value component of paremic semantics is due to the approach to solving the problems of semantics of signs of indirect-derived nomination in the system “Language - text - discourse”, which has already become traditional for anthropocentric linguistics. Paremia is considered as a syncretic sign that combines the properties of a texteme (a language sign) and a statement (a discursive unit). Many features of it’s speech implementation are due to the combination of the properties of a mini-text with a “folded” semantic structure and a discourse unit that contributes to the formation of meaning in it’s space. In the course of determining the essence of the approach to the description of the problem specified linguophilosophical cultural status values, and proposes the author's concept define cognitive-pragmatic status values as linguaitaliana units allocated in the cognitive basis of the values of folk aphorism and implemented in a pragmatic component paramedische values. The description of axiological paremic representation is carried out in line with the cognitive-pragmatic approach to the distinction between axiological and evaluative in the semantic content of proverbs. Grounded in the study of the model description of the axiological accentually pareticheski semantics is illustrated by a thematic group of proverbs and in describing the discursive potential of the proverbs included in the context. The relevance of the study is due to the consideration of paremic semantics as a field of linguosinergic interaction of value and evaluation, expressed in the semantic structure of proverbs.

ANTHROPONYMIC STRUCTURE OF ACADEMIC DISCOURSE

Purpose of the study: The article aims to study the anthroponymy structure of academic discourse based on the material of astronautical corpora. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve a number of specific tasks: to define the terms “anthroponym” and “eponym”, to reveal the structural types of astronautical eponyms, and to identify the functional significance of anthroponyms and eponyms.
 Methodology: The method of componential analysis and the descriptive method have been used as the primary research methods applying such techniques as observation, comparison, interpretation, and generalization. The methodological basis of the research includes discourse theory, the theory of precedence, achievements of cognitive linguistics, and studies on problems of terminology.
 Main findings: The authors propose to consider anthroponyms and eponymous terms as precedents, which are points of reference in the change of the scientific paradigm, help to systematize scientific knowledge, and navigate in its fund. The results of the study suggest that the anthroponymy structure of academic discourse provides information compression that makes the text concise without reducing information and performs a memorial function.
 Applications of this study: The research attempts to contribute to the further study of the academic discourse structure and the analytical description of its components using a cognitive-pragmatic approach. Higher education teachers can use the results of the article in lectures on the theory of academic discourse.
 Novelty/originality of this study: Few researchers have addressed astronautical academic discourse, investigating its structural and functional features. This study is the first to analyze the astronautical eponyms as super compressed signs of the precedent research.

Mudança no sistema de contraste do português: entre codificação e inferenciação

Neste trabalho, investigamos dois fenômenos de mudança que contribuem para a renovação do sistema de contraste em português: as construções complexas com ‘enquanto (que)’ e com ‘agora’. Filiando-nos a uma abordagem de mudança de fundo cognitivo-pragmático (TRAUGOTT; DASHER, 2002), que opera com esquemas cognitivos e contextos de uso, nosso propósito é oferecer uma explicação para as mudanças que levaram à reinterpretação de tempo em termos de contraste. Assumindo que as mudanças envolvem uma fronteira flexível entre codificação e inferenciação, analisamos as fontes temporais, os contextos e o tipo de contraste, à luz de um protótipo de juntor contrastivo. Em viés diacrônico, os dados mostram construções que experimentam codificação crescente no tempo e, em viés sincrônico, a convivência de construções com graus variáveis de codificação e inferência.

Анализ смысловой организации медиатекстов (на примере кликбейт-заголовков новостного онлайн-издания The Guardian)

The study is conducted within the framework of the cognitive-pragmatic approach and is based on the analysis of text semantic arrangement. The paper aims to examine realization of the informative function of media texts under click-bait headlines. The English-language online newspaper “The Guardian” served as a source of empirical material. Click-bait headlines were chosen by the continuous sampling method. At the next stage, news media texts were analysed in terms of thematic progression. The findings justified the hypothesis that news media texts under click-bait headlines preserve their informative function, which is realized taking into account certain peculiarities of click-bait headlines.

Cognitive pragmatics of American presidential debates: a case for economic metaphors

This article focuses on cognitive-pragmatic properties of conceptual metaphors of ECONOMY in the 21st century American presidential campaigns. In this paper, we aim to elaborate the models of metaphoric conceptualization of ECONOMY, state their functions in terms of discourse strategies, and describe their impact on the opponents and the audience. This research is underpinned by conceptual metaphor theories and ideas of cognitive pragmatics, which postulates the unity of cognitive and communicative aspects of discourse. The benefits of this integrative cognitive-pragmatic approach are in the fact that it can consequently explicate the meaning of speaker’s message and the expected impact of their discourse on the audience. For this aim, we stress the persuasive and manipulative nature of American presidential debates as a mass-media mediated genre of political discourse. Adopting a cognitive-pragmatic perspective on presidential debates, we claim that conceptual metaphors of economy constitute time and ideology specific conceptual models; their dominant functions are persuasive, informative, and manipulative. In the discourse of the 21st century presidential debates, we distinguish seven leading models of conceptual metaphors of economy, common for both republican and democratic candidates. The choice of discourse strategies of debate participants depends upon the candidates’ intentions while their impact on the opponent and the audience is influenced by meta-communicative issues of candidates’ communicative behavior and (im)politeness strategies in particular. The 21st century presidential debates are characterized by the abundance of discourse strategies of aggression and impoliteness.