Lexical Minimum Research Articles

ФОРМУВАННЯ МОВЛЕННЄВОЇ КУЛЬТУРИ СТУДЕНТІВ-ПЕРШОКУРСНИКІВ У РАКУРСІ ВИКЛИКІВ СЬОГОДЕННЯ

Improving the culture of student’s speech is an integral part of forming the professional and business skills of future specialist, the organic need of their education. A prerequisite for a highly-spoken culture of future specialists is the observance of the rules concerning oral speech: orthoepic, lexical, grammatical, stylistic. The main qualities of professional speech of students are: normativity/correctness, purity, content, appropriateness, consistency, accuracy, expressiveness. High level of speech culture of the future specialist is defined as communicative competence. For the effective culture formation of professional speech the science-based principles must be followed: structural, functional, communicative, situationality, consciousness of learning, the use of intractive and imitation methods of learning, as they give the opportunity to bring the situation of communication as close as possible to life, they promote the level of speech culture of future specialists by eliminating their speech mistakes.The student’s speech preparation requires improvements. In our opinion, the level of student’s speech culture is raising if: the formation of language skills of the future specialists bases on an communicative and active aspects. The main focus at the Ukrainian language lessons is to develop oral language, taking into account the peculiarities of region, language environment, level of language training of freshman students, to work systematically on the development of students’ lexical minimum and their speech enrichment that meets the standards of literary language, using interactive and imitation methods of learning, to involve students in research, to motivate them for continuous language self-improvement.

Development of lexical minimum of high school students as a means of enhancement of their foreign-language skills

Development of lexical minimum of high school students as a means of enhancement of their foreign-language skills

ФАКТОРЫ ЗАБЫВАЕМОСТИ ИЕРОГЛИФОВ ПРИ ОБУЧЕНИИ КИТАЙСКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ КАК ИНОСТРАННОМУ

The study focuses on the problem of forgetting Chinese hieroglyphs that arises in the process of learning the Chinese language. The problem is relevant with regard to the modern methods in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. The author sets the following tasks: 1) by the example of students specializing in linguistics at Perm State University, to analyze experimentally the process of forgetting the lexical minimum; 2) to study the cognitive characteristics and patterns of forgetting hieroglyphics. The experiment results were analyzed based on the reactions ‘Reading’ and ‘Translation’. It was found that for students it is easier to remember translation rather than reading of a hieroglyph: the coefficient of correct answers for the ‘Translation’ reaction is on average higher than that for the ‘Reading’ reaction. Comparative tables were compiled showing the average value of the forgetting coefficient among students learning vocabulary HSK 1 and HSK 2 at three control time points. The experiment showed that at all levels and for both reactions one tendency is observed: the degree of forgetting hieroglyphics increases by the beginning of the academic period following the previously completed period but decreases by the end of the educational period to the initial or lower level. There were identified factors that can increase recognition of hieroglyphs, for example, the presence of analogues in the Russian language (terms of kinship, numerals, pronouns). The process of forgetting was analyzed; analysis showed that hieroglyphs are forgotten only at the initial stage of training, with subsequent increase in the memorizing degree exceeding the initial indicators. The data obtained can serve as an important empirical basis in developing approaches to the methodology of teaching the Chinese language, and can also be useful for research concerning the problems of forgetting lexical units when studying foreign languages and, in particular, the memorization of hieroglyphs.

Sketch Engine in Building a Lexical Minimum for Children

Our article deals with such an aspect of computational linguistics as the construction of lexical minima cases using the Sketch Engine program as an example. The advent of computational linguistics has played an important role in the process of learning foreign languages. Thanks to computer technology, the process of learning foreign languages is greatly simplified and becomes more accessible. Among the many programs for learning foreign languages, we chose the Sketch Engine program, since it is a case manager and a tool for analyzing linguistic buildings, that is, collections of texts selected and processed according to certain rules, which are used as the basis for language research. This resource is software that combines a specialized search engine and a lot of buildings in different languages. We describe the program through the prism of corpus linguistics, consider the functions and capabilities of this program Sketch Engine in drawing up the lexical minimum for primary school age in English, Russian and German. In this paper, we conducted an experiment on drawing up a lexical minimum for schoolchildren, which consisted in selecting 300 most used words of the English language and saturating them with examples from the cases of the Sketch Engine program.

Stratification Technology of the English Shipbuilding Sublanguage Lexical Units

The study of shipbuilding sublanguage, development and systematic description of its vocabulary are not only of great theoretical, but also of practical importance. The sublanguage of shipbuilding consists of complex terminological systems to be studied and unified by the joint efforts of linguists, sociolinguists and naval architects. The aims of the present research are the following: a) to study classification of ships and their systems from various aspects of shipbuilding science, b) to consider principles of building a terminological shipbuilding dictionary, including multicomponent terms and models they are formed of, c) to analyse processes of terminalisation or reterminalisation of lexical units d) to analyse how lexical units belonging to the so-called general scientific usage and special vocabulary function in this branch of science, i.e. to stratify lexemes according to the degree of their terminalisation, and to create a lexical minimum for students specialising in this field of knowledge. The research was carried out on the basis of structural-probability analysis, using the concept of distribution vocabulary, developed by prof. N.D. Andreev.

Лексический минимум по языку специальности: сколько слов достаточно? Разработка принципов минимизации

This article analyses methodology of compiling Russian general wordlists and lexical minima for teaching Russian for specific purposes. The study systematizes three approaches: linguo-didactic, linguo-statistical, and corpus-based. The article also describes the process and results of applying all the three methods to the development of a lexical minimum based on political science corpus. Methodological analysis comprises general word lists for the Russian State Standard Exam (TRKI), the System of lexical minima by V. V. Morkovkin, and the Frequency dictionary of the Russian language for foreigners, created by S. A. Sharov as a part of the KELLY project, as well as special lexical minima for medicine, robotics, nuclear energy, and mathematics. It has been revealed that the core element in the development of a discipline-specific lexical minimum is minimization that involves a set of principles determining the optimal length of the list and lexeme selection. For the Russian general word lists, the most common principles of minimization are methodical expediency (“relevance” of the word at each level), quantitative metrics, including absolute and relative frequencies, the word rank, and a coverage index, showing the percentage of text that every lexeme covers. The article reports the results of combining the quantitative methods, corpus-based analysis, and didactic principles to apply to the development of the lexical minimum based on political science textbooks. The core index, defining the length of this list, was coverage which revealed that 8,237 most frequent lexemes cover 98 % of the whole corpus. The linguo-didactic analysis showed that 1, 000 most frequent lexemes, without stop-words, cover 50 % of this corpus, and therefore this wordlist allows foreign learners to understand about a half of the corpus. After reaching the point of 3,500 of the most frequent words, the coverage index grows insignificantly, and this number can be considered to be a target in teaching and learning discipline-specific vocabulary. It is notable that the recommended lexical minimum, comprising 1,000–3,500 of the most frequent words, is only a starting point for reading comprehension of texts for professionals also referred to as ‘special’ texts. Their deeper and effective understanding also involves competence in rhetoric strategies and text structure.

Usage of the V. Dahl’s linguocultural diversity in the process of teaching Russian language to foreign students at the initial stage

The article describes the main directions of linguistic work in the process of teaching Russian as a foreign language on the basis of V. Dahl’s linguistic and cultural dichology. At the present time, “The Explanatory Dictionary of the Great Living Russian Language” and “Proverbs of the Russian People” remain the most important scientific lexicographic and folklore by the means of enriching the lexical reserve of foreign students, as well as enriching their spiritual and moral education and the development of personal creative potential. In Russian as a foreign language classes at level A 1, as exercises in phonetics and for pronunciation, we offer tongue twisters from the collection of V. Dahl’s proverbs, and folklore texts are given without semantization. Paremiological material is used during the study of grammatical topics (as illustrative material) and for the development of students' speech. The use of proverbs and sayings during the Russian language classes contributes to the development of students' language intuition, helps to develop a serious and responsible attitude to the word, not only as a means of communication but also as a complex mechanism of influence on the listener, on his mental state. The linguistic personality, along with mastering the lexical minimum, the development of skills and abilities to use lexical material following the grammatical and syntactic structures of the language, masters the concepts of the culture of another society. Systematic work with paremias expands the lexical reserve of foreigners, revives their speech. Appeal to the Explanatory Dictionary by V. Dahl is associated with the work on nonequivalent vocabulary in the course of literature. The teacher’s choice of vocabulary volume, illustrative material, and principles of adaptation of the Dahl’s vocabulary “nest” for use in classes with foreigners in each case depends on the level of the group, the plan of the leson and the time allotted by the teacher to work with lexical material and lexicographic works.

На пути к мультикультурализму в Японии – популяризация «простого японского языка»

Modern Japan is resolutely turning towards creating a full-fledged multicultural society. Becoming aware of the depopulation crisis, many municipalities are actively working to attract foreigners. In combination with other measures of the Japanese government, teaching Japanese to foreigners of all levels ensures mutual understanding. The concept of “Plain Japanese” (PJL) implies the use of a simplified language with limited vocabulary and a set of elementary grammar. “Plain Japanese” was created as a means of providing information to foreigners, firstly for emergency situations, and secondly for everyday life. The scope of application of “Plain Japanese” over the past 25 years has expanded considerably. The leading role in the study of “Plain Japanese” belongs to the research team of Professor Iori Isao from Hitotsubashi University (Pref. Tokyo). Prof. Iori believes that “Plain Japanese” can perform the following key functions: 1. “Plain Japanese” as a state guarantee of “compensatory education”. Children of foreigners who grew up in Japan should also be able to socialize unhindered. “Plain Japanese” is suitable for this purpose as well as possible. 2. “Plain Japanese” as a language of communication in regional communities. In order for “Plain Japanese” to successfully perform the role of an intermediary language, not only foreigners should speak and study it, but also the Japanese who work with foreigners. 3. “Plain Japanese” as the initial level of the Japanese language across all regions. These are schools and Japanese courses for foreigners. To teach the initial level of the Japanese language in a very short time, it is necessary to considerably cut down the grammatical and lexical minimum compared to, for example, the school course of the Japanese language. At present, digital technologies have been created for translating texts to the European Congregation Campaign, research groups are being conducted, and educational literature is being produced by initiative groups.

РЕГИОНАЛЬНЫЙ КОМПОНЕНТ В КОНСТРУИРОВАНИИ УЧЕБНОГО ПОСОБИЯ ЛИНГВОКРАЕВЕДЧЕСКОГО ХАРАКТЕРА

The article is devoted to the structure and content of the regional component of foreign students’ speech culture, in particular, the implementation of this component in the process of constructing a textbook on Russian as a foreign language, taking into account the specificity of the region of study. The author presents a model of a textbook on the culture of speech using linguistic and local studies material (by the example of Pskov region). Special attention is paid to the description of the regional lexical minimum. The paper gives the examples of educational tasks of linguistic and local studies nature, aimed at the formation of foreign students’ speech culture.

Словарные минимумы и диктанты в системе диагностики орфографической, лексической и графической подготовки по русскому языку в четвертом классе тувинской общеобразовательной школы

Словарные минимумы и диктанты в системе диагностики орфографической, лексической и графической подготовки по русскому языку в четвертом классе тувинской общеобразовательной школы

Lexical Minimum (Re)Defined

Lexical Minimum (Re)Defined

PRINCIPLES OF LEXICAL MINIMUM SELECTION FOR TEACHING GENERAL TECHNICAL ENGLISH TO ENGINEERING STUDENTS

The article covers problems related to selecting lexical material for teaching engineers-to-be and surveys the history of the problem. It contains the definition of the "lexical minimum" as a term, and analyses principles of selecting the lexical minimum based both on topics covered by English for Technical Purposes program and requirements for the B2+ level which is the target level of studying English during the first two years on technical faculties. The article explains the importance of selecting the lexical minimum as it makes up the base for exercises used to form lexical competence in reading, speaking, listening, writing and translating. The absence of the lexical minimum makes it much more difficult for a teacher to control and evaluate the formation of the foreign language competence. Taking into account that selection of lexical minimum must be carried out with consideration of many factors (such as program requirements, learning environment and language skills) and certain principles and procedures, it is necessary to draw up an algorithm of actions to select lexical units. The article has four parts: an introduction explaining the topicality, aims and objectives of the article, two parts with the main research material and conclusions.

TEXTS AND CORPORA IN THE PROCESS OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Corpus linguistics can help in the process of second language acquisition, for example, by examining a number of well-established claims or “myths” about second language teaching and learning. One of these claims, which is rarely examined, is the supposed benefit of extensive reading to the successful acquisition of the vocabulary (Krashen et al). This claim states that a language learner can accumulate sufficient lexical knowledge of a second language only by exposing oneself to sufficient input by extensive reading. Corpus analysis can help answer the vital questions which often arise to language teachers and learners, such as the following: is extensive reading really adequate and sufficient to accumulate the most important lexical items of a second language? What impact will reading of various types of texts have? Is it better to read texts written by the same or by various authors (i.e., “broad” or “narrow” reading)? The study of two relatively large corpora (1 100 000 words each) attempted to compare how the reading of texts can help learners master the English language vocabulary and how many gaps would be left in their vocabulary knowledge. The study found that in order to successfully acquire the adequate range of English vocabulary, the learner must receive enormous amounts of input, which is often not very feasible. Thus, neither the “broad” nor “narrow” reading are found to be adequate for the sufficiently frequent encounter with all most important English lexical items necessary for a learner to successfully function in an English language environment (so-called “lexical minimum”). After analysing the study results, further suggestions and research guidelines are discussed. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2335-2027.3.7

TEXTS AND CORPORA IN THE PROCESS OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Corpus linguistics can help in the process of second language acquisition, for example, by examining a number of well-established claims or “myths” about second language teaching and learning. One of these claims, which is rarely examined, is the supposed benefit of extensive reading to the successful acquisition of the vocabulary (Krashen et al). This claim states that a language learner can accumulate sufficient lexical knowledge of a second language only by exposing oneself to sufficient input by extensive reading. Corpus analysis can help answer the vital questions which often arise to language teachers and learners, such as the following: is extensive reading really adequate and sufficient to accumulate the most important lexical items of a second language? What impact will reading of various types of texts have? Is it better to read texts written by the same or by various authors (i.e., “broad” or “narrow” reading)? The study of two relatively large corpora (1 100 000 words each) attempted to compare how the reading of texts can help learners master the English language vocabulary and how many gaps would be left in their vocabulary knowledge. The study found that in order to successfully acquire the adequate range of English vocabulary, the learner must receive enormous amounts of input, which is often not very feasible. Thus, neither the “broad” nor “narrow” reading are found to be adequate for the sufficiently frequent encounter with all most important English lexical items necessary for a learner to successfully function in an English language environment (so-called “lexical minimum”). After analysing the study results, further suggestions and research guidelines are discussed. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2335-2027.3.7

Лексический минимум по языку специальности «робототехника» как основа формирования лингвокоммуникативной компетенции иностранных магистрантов

Лексический минимум по языку специальности «робототехника» как основа формирования лингвокоммуникативной компетенции иностранных магистрантов

The use of word construction models in terminology teaching

The article analyzes the questions of terminology teaching in nonhumanitarian high school. One of the major questions is the selection of lexical, grammatical and word composition minimum. It is most difficult to understand the text without knowing the terminology, because word composition constitutes partially open systems and thus the discrepancy between the system and the norm becomes noticeable. In specialty texts the noun is the most common speech part from the structural approach and thus it is important to determine and select its composition methods. The research conducted at Vilnius Institute of Engineering constructions showed that the knowledge of word composition models enables the disclosure of a considerable part of meaning in terminology – compound nouns (22,2%), derivative words (12%) and conversions (25%). Thus the productive models of word composition, which are very helpful in using the analogy, should receive a proper consideration.