Cognitive linguistics in foreign language teaching: problems and prospects (by the example of teaching English at a language university)

Abstract

The features, problems and prospects of using cognitive linguistics in teaching a foreign language in general and English in particular in a language university are considered. The main features and postulates of cognitive linguistics that are significant in the context of foreign language learning are given. The main promising areas of application of linguocognitive science for teaching such aspects of the English language as its vocabulary and grammar are considered. The features of teaching some linguistic phenomena of the English language, in particular, English prepositions, as well as relevant cognitive mechanisms, such as conceptual metaphor and conceptual metonymy, are described in detail. The functions of these mechanisms and possible examples of their productive use in teaching a foreign language are given. Based on the analysis of a wide range of scientific papers on the research problem, a classification of various formats of the use of cognitive linguistics in teaching a foreign language is proposed. Each of the proposed formats is described in detail, the corresponding strengths and weaknesses are given. The possibility of developing the concept of a linguocognitive approach to teaching English in a language university is explained. The main features of this approach, its strengths, as well as promising directions for the development of the concept of a linguocognitive approach to teaching English in a language university are given.