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References:
1. Duff A. 1994. Translation: Resource Books for Teachers. Edited by A. Maley. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2. Ross N.J. 2000. Interference and Intervention: Using Translation in the EFL Classroom. Modern English Teacher, No 9 (3). P. 61-66.
3. Harmer J. 2001.The Practice of English Language Teaching. Oxford: Longman.
4. Mattioli G. 2004. On Native Language Intrusions and Making Do with Words: Linguistically Homogeneous Classrooms and Native Language Use. English Teaching Forum, 42 (4), P. 20-25.
Chumakova Kseniia, Zaporizhzhya National University postgraduate student, the Faculty of Foreign Philology
E-mail: [email protected]
Nationally specific verbalization means of "RAIL TRANSPORT" concept in American linguistic culture
Abstract: The research of nationally specific lexical units verbalizing "RARAIL TRANSPORT" concept in American linguistic culture has been performed, structural and semantic peculiarities of the lexical units mentioned above have been defined.
Keywords: linguistic culture, culture-specific lexical units, concept, semantic derivation, metaphorization.
Undoubtedly, there is social and cultural influence on concepts formation in the consciousness of a certain nation representatives. According to N. D. Arutyunova, any cultural layer functions as a kind of an intermediary between an individual and the world [1, 3]. Such layer can be presented as the unity of traditions and religion, art and folklore, as well as values of the community where one lives. Modern linguistics increasingly focuses on the national sphere of concepts and worldview research [3, 280], which can be performed through the study of concepts ethnospecificity, in turn based on their culture-specific verbalization means research.
The relevance of current research attributes to the necessity of studying "RAIL TRANSPORT" concept nationally specific verbalization means in American linguistic culture, the analysis of which will, in turn, enable us to structure the mentioned mental unit in American world view.
Current research object are lexical units, which verbalize "RAIL TRANSPORT" concept in American linguistic culture. The subject is, in turn, represented by semantic and structural characteristics of the mentioned linguistic means.
The material for the study is represented by lexical units selected using the continuous sampling method from printed and electronic defining, ideographic, thesaurus, etymological and associative dictionaries as well as printed and on-line press, encyclopedias and reference
books on transport the total number ofwhich comprises 3261 units.
The research aims to define structural and semantic peculiarities of the studied concept nationally specific verbalization means in American linguistic culture.
The aim requires the following tasks fulfillment:
— to analyze nationally specific means, which verbalize the researched concept in American linguistic culture;
— to define their structural and semantic peculiarities.
According to B. Whorf, individuals dissect the world using language and the received information is organized into concepts, or mentality units, which environ all their knowledge about the outer environment and inner world. People ascribe significances as they do, being "parties of a social agreement to organize the knowledge in this way", following certain conventions and beliefs concerning the reality common for their language and cultural community [9, 213-214].
Basing on the theory of semantic fields, which can be used for concept study, we have carried out dictionary meanings semantic analysis of the lexemes verbalizing "RARAIL TRANSPORT" concept in American linguistic culture, which has enabled us to refer the archiseme "transport" to the concept core. The circumnuclear zone is made up of such semes "movement", "train" and
"infrastructure". Both, the core and the circumnuclear zone of the studied concept, are represented by words with the semes, which are the most abstract and not nationally specific, and, so, would be similar for different linguistic cultures. However, the lexical units belonging to the zones of close periphery, periphery and far periphery contain the semes which are attributed only to American nation. Such concept elements, being verbalized by language means, can be defined only through the study of nationally specific lexical units.
J. Locke considers that each language contains lexical units not having any equivalents in other languages, which can be determined by traditions and lifestyle [7, 226]. According to M. P. Kochergan, such lexical means exist in any language and comprise approximately 6-7% from the total number of lexis [2, 171-172]. Thus, ex-tralinguistic realia characteristic for some national community are verbalized by linguistic means. This leads to the formation of lexemes, the meaning of which can be partly or totally absent in other languages, testifying the divergence of national linguistic-conceptual codes.
To carry out the analysis of nationally specific concept verbalizers semantic and structural peculiarities, we subdivide all of the aboe mentioned lexical units into the following thematic groups: 1) geographical (natural and artificial objects, which surround people, including infra-structural ones); 2) ethnographical (names of transport means, professions, tools, inventions); 3) artistic-historical (celebrations and venues, cultural institution); 4) administrative (lexical units representing unions, services, companies). It is also worth stressing that out of the studied 3261 lexical units, verbalizing the mentioned concept, we defined 293 culturally specific ones, which comprises about 9% from the total number.
Analyzing the "geographical" thematic group of culturally specific language units, we have come to the conclusion that the majority of them denominate rail and underground stations, for instance, Lafayette Square (Metro Rail), Utica (Metro Rail), 63rd station (CTA), Chicago Union Station.
The majority of such units is made up of only one toponym (the name of a street (Pleasant Street, Carolina Avenue, Chiswick Road) or square (City Square)) or the name ofsome institution, near which the station is located (VA Medical Center, Science Park, Zoological Garden). In case, some underground station is located between two streets, the name usually contains toponyms llinked with a hyphen, for instance, Tasker-Morris, Walnut-Locust, York-Dauphin. Moreover, in some cases toponyms are followed by (LaSalle Street Station). A small number of
station names contain an ordinal number, which denominates a street name, followed by the noun "station" (69th station, 47th station) or without it (33rd, 29th).
Except the abovementioned structure, there are also such combinations as Adj1+Adj2+N, where Adj1 and Adj2 point out the level of importance and mention the location, and N is the noun "station", for instance, Great Central Station, Grand Central Station. Interestingly, some station names have one or even several synonyms. For example, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station, named after the cognominal railroad, is also known as B&O Station, Chestnut Street Station and 24th St. Station. Such phenomenon occurred, due to the fact that after some station is renamed, some individuals keep using the old names or just prefer abbreviations.
Moreover, the mentioned thematic group includes rail bridges names and a small number of aqueducts. Among such verbalizers the majority has the structure N1 a+ (N ) + N2, where N1+ (N ) is a toponym or antro-ponym, pointing to the location or person after whom the object is named, and N2 defines the type of such object, for example, Clio trestle, Ross Creek Bridge, Yancopin Bridge, Lyman Viaduct, Niantic River Bridge, Eads Bridge, Henry Ford Bridge. Such structure as
N + (N,,)+ N + N is also used, wheree N andN,u
1 a x 1b7 2 3 1 a 1b
are topomyms, N2 is either lexeme "rail" or "railroad", and N3 determines the type of object, for example, Louisiana Railroad Bridge, Quincy Rail Bridge, Sibley Railroad Bridge, Glasgow Railroad Bridge, Keokuk Rail Bridge, Kinzie Street railroad bridge.
Only about 10% of the verbalizers from this thematic group contain some additional description of the structure, length, functioning system, appearance, such as: Union Pacific Intermodal Bridge, St. Joseph Swing Bridge, Short Line Bridge, Soo Line High Bridge, Fort Madison Toll Bridge, Seven Mile Bridge, Stone Arch Bridge, Gimlet Pegram Truss Railroad Bridge.
Additionally, the mentioned thematic group includes tunnels names. The majority of these verbalizers are word groups with the structure N1 a + (N1b) + N2, where N1 a + (N ) is a toponym or antroponym, and N2 is represented by such lexemes as "tunnel", "tube", "pass" or "subway", for example, Fort Mason Tunnel, Market Street Subway, Santa Susana Tunnel, Transbay Tube, Tennessee Pass. In a very small number of cases the structure N1 a + (N1b) + Adj/N2 + N3 is used, the first element ofwhich is similar in its function to the first element of the structure mentioned above, Adj or N2 provide some additional characteristic (purpose, importnace, etc.), and N3 determines object type, for instance, Anton Anderson Memorial
Tunnel, St. Paul Pass Tunnel. It is also worth stressing, that during our research we found several shortenings, namely abbreviations, for instance, J&L Tunnel (from Jones and Laughlin Steel Company) or PATH (from Port Authority Trans-Hudson).
As for the etymology of the toponyms and antrop-onyms, which are part of verbalizers of the studied concept, we have identified lexemes of germanic origin (Taft from OE "toft", Sandwich from OE "Sandwich"), celtic ones (Duncan from gaelic "donn"), roman ones (Buzzard, from Old French "buisart", Sacramento from Spanish) and a big number of lexemes which come from in-diginous languages of the country (Manhattan from Algonquian "munahan" which means "island"; Shepaug from Tunxis, with the possible meaning of "great pond"). There are also lexemes of a mixed origin, for instance, Brookville (from OE "broc" + -ville, which is a frequently used suffix for tomonyms, which came to the English language from Latin through Old French). Such etymological composition of lexemes, verbalizing the studied concept in americal linguistic culture, can be explained by extralinguistic influence of such factors as, history of the country and the multiethnicity of its citizens.
The mentioned thematic group also includes the names of railroads. All of such vebalizers can be subdivided into two subgroups according to their structure: a) 3-4 component word groups, the elements of which denote location, movement direction or railroad type (Norfolk Southern Railway, Kansas City Southern Railway, Alamo North Texas Railroad, South Side Elevated Railroad); 6) word groups, one element of which is and abbreviation (CSX Railroad (from the name of Chessie System corporation), BNSF Railway (Burlington Northern Santa Fe), The C&NC Railroad (from Connersville and New Castle Railroad).
Among the constituents of "ethnographic" thematic group, there are mainly means of transport nominations and classes, the majority of which is represented by numerical-alphabetic compounds, such as: SDP40F, E60, 6000.
A relatively small number of American rolling stock trains have their own proper name. We have identified among the mentioned names the following semantic groups: 1) animalisms: Antelope, Badger Express, Beaver, Black Hawk, Wolverine, Skunk, Nightingale, Flamingo; 2) those named after prominent personalities: Will Rodgers, Asa Packer, H. P. Lowe Special, Miss Nellie Bly Special; 3) those denoting the place of origin: West Virginian, Bostonian, The Texan, San Diegan, Kansas Cityan, El Pasoan, Chicagoan, Illini; 4) mythologisms:
Argonaut, Neptune, Mercury; 5) those, pointing to an extraordinary speed: Bullet, Blue Dart, Blue Comet, Valley Flyer, Turbolinert; 6) those, which concentrate on the territory of running: Buffalo Local, Bay Shore Special, Atlantic Limited; 7) quality-service-oriented ones: Santa Fe de Luxe, Night Diamond, Royal Blue, Mount Royal, De Luxe; 8) religious ones: Saint, Angel, The Missionary;
9) the ones which invoke indiginous culture: Tomahawk, Sioux, Shawnee, Narragansett, Navajo, Iroquois, Hawkeye;
10) antropologisms (transfering individual's function to the means of transport) The Ranger, The Scout, The Chief, Super Chief, El Capitan, Statesman, Senator, Pacemaker, Xplorer; 11) purpose-oriented ones: Shoppers Special, New York Mail, Tourist Flyer, Mail Express; 13) time-oriented ones: Noon Flyer, Night Express, Louisiana Daylight, Morning Flyer.
Interestingly, we have identified some joking equivalents for certain train names mainly used by railfans, but also seen in media and even professional sources at times. Being stylistically-marked, all the mentioned verbilizer constitute the studied concept periphery. Semantically, all of such verbilizers identified during our research can be subdivided into the following subgroups: 1) shape-im-mitating: Aardvark, Alligator, Amcan, Winnebago, Toaster, etc.; 2) color-immitating: Zebra Stripes, Warpumpkin, Pepsi Can, Raccoon, Rainbow/Skittles consist/lineup, Ghost; 3) funny transformations: ALCOhaulic, Reefer, Big Mac; 4) function-immitating: Green Goat, Coal jimmy; 5) diminuators (mainly using the word "baby"): Baby Boat, Baby Tunnel Motor.
The mentioned thematic group also includes procedures and everyday objects from the life of american rail-men. Many of such verbalizers are connotative and are used mainly by professionals at work, for instance, during train blocking, railmen use such specific terms, which denote cars position or connection, as: nose to ass (a group of locomotives that are oriented in elephant style), sisters (adjacently numbered locomotives), mother (a locomotive that is paired with a slug), cut (a set of cars coupled together), miniquad (four permanently coupled ore cars). One more example of such specific verbalizers are color light signal names which come from gems names, for instance, emeralds (green colored signal lights indicating maximum allowable speed for that section of track or route) and rubies (red colored stop signal lights or a red aspect in conjunction with other colors.
Connotative names of professions and occupations also belong to the mentioned thematic group. For example, the compound noun car knocker is often used by professionals instead of the commonly used terms "rail-
road car repair-person" or "car inspector". The origin of the mentioned compound noun can be explained by the fact that checks are performed by "knocking" in order to identify malfunctioning through sound. What is more, the preference is give to the joking lightning slinger instead of the term "telegraph operator", railroad servicemen are frequently called Gandy dancers or ground-hog, railroad police officers have an offensive nickname bull, locomotive engineers are referred to as hoggers.
Such hobby as trains watching or studying is quite widespread in the USA. Thus, there are lots of nichnames for the proponents and opposers of such activities, for instance: armchair railfan (for fans who enjoy their hobby from the cosiness of their homes), roster shooter (for people who are keen on taking pictures of trains and their number plates), foamer (for obsessed fans, from "foam at the mouth"), NIMBY (for opponents of the hobby, acronym from "not in my backyard").
The names of museums and cultural centers predominate in the group of artistic-historical verbalizers of the studied concept. All of such lexical means are 2-6 component word groups, the first element of which, is a top-onym, denoting the location, the second element is a noun (or Adj+N), referring to the object such place is dedicated to, and the third element determines the type of institution, for instance, Colorado Railroad Museum, Monticello Railway Museum, Boothbay Railway Village, Golden Spike National Historic Site, Oregon Electric Railway Museum. Moreover, among the mentioned ver-balizers there are phrase-type word groups, the first element of which is the object, which the institution is dedicated to, the second is the type of institution, and the toponym is linked to them with the preposition of, for example: Railroad Museum of Long Island, Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Railroad Museum of New England, Trolley Museum of New York.
Additionally, the mentioned thematic group includes a really small number of cultural venues. Structurally, the majority of them can be presented as 2-4 component
word groups, for example, Historic Appomattox Railroad Festival, Amory Railroad Festival, Festival Express.
The thematic group of "administrative" nationally specific verbalizers of the studied concept includes the names of organizations, companies and entities. Such lexical units are mainly 2-5 component word groups, which point to the purpose and territory of functioning, for example, Association of American Railroads, American Association of Railroad Superintendents, American Train Dispatchers Association.
This thematic group also includes the names of modern and historic rail transport producers. Among the mentioned verbalizers, quite a big number is represented with an antroponym (founder's/founders' name/names), for example, Whitehead & Kales, John Stephenson & Company, G. W. Snyder, Michael Schall. In some cases, the first element is an antroponym and the second one points to the purpose of company existense or/and its type, for example, Altoona Machine Shops, Baltimore Car and Foundry, Huntingdon Car Works, Milwaukee Car Manufacturing Company. It is worth adding that, many moder manufacturer's names include abbreviations, for example, Harsco Corporation (fromHarrisburg Steel Corporation), RELCO Locomotives (from Rail electric locomotive company), GE Transportation (from General Electric), Wabtec Corporation (from Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation).
Overall, among the studied nationally specific lexical unit, verbalizing RA.IL TRANSPORT concept in American linguistic culture, the majority are represented by word groups, which contain a toponym or an antroponym. A certain special attitude to indigenous Indian culture is characteristic for the representatives of American linguistic culture, which is proved by a big number of the studied concept verbalizers originating from Indian languages and dialects. Moreover, a big number of the lexical units we have studied belong to connotative words which function as synonyms for neutral lexemes.
References:
1. Арутюнова Н. Д. Вступление//Логический анализ языка: Ментальные действия. - М.: Наука, 1993. -С. 3-7.
2. Кочерган М. П. Загальне мовознавство: Подручник для студенев фглолопчних спещальностей вищих закладiв освгги./М. П. Кочерган - К., 1999. - 287 с.
3. Лихачев Д. С. Концептосфера русского языка//Русская словесность: от теории словесности к структуре текста. - М.: "Academia", 1997. - C. 280-287.
4. Solomon B.. Electro-Motive E-Units and F-Units: The Illustrated History of North America's Favorite Locomotives. MBI Publishing Company, 2011. - 160 p.
5. Solomon B. North American Railroads: The Illustrated Encyclopedia. MBI Publishing Company, 2012. - 320 p.
6. John H. White. The American Railroad Freight Car; From the Wood-Car Era to the Coming of Steel. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995, - pp. 156-159.
7. Locke J. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. - London: "Everyman's Library", 1976 (1690), - 362 p.
8. Richard A. Petersen. Hogger: From Fantasy to Fulfillment: a Locomotive Engineer Remembers. - Lincoln: iUni-verse, 2003, - 204 p.
9. Whorf B. Language, Thought and Reality. - Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1956, - 278 p.
Shehu Isida,
Lecturer at Polytechnic University of Tirana, Faculty of Mathematical Engineering and Physical Engineering,
Center of Foreign Languages PhD Candidate in Linguistics E-mail: [email protected]
The importance of LSP and differentiation of word/term in a foreign language for engineering students
Abstract: The need to focus on language for specific purposes for engineering students who are required to learn a foreign language in Albania. LSP textbooks used at PUT to help students learn the terminology of their future profession in a foreign language. Concentration on terms and the importance of differentiating words from terms.
Keywords: foreign languages, LSP, words, terms, engineering students.
In Albania, the process of learning/teaching a foreign language has always been from the '90s of great importance for the youth and the students undergoing different qualifications and trying to enter the labor market. All students accomplishing a master or doctorate degree are required to have an internationally recognized certificate of English language. The standard used in classifying the linguistic competencies is based on the description of the common European Framework of References for Languages [1, 10-5.]
Learning foreign languages is essential, especially for the students of professional fields such as engineering who always have to stay updated with the latest engineering developments. All this information is acquired by means of foreign literature which is mainly found in English, even though Albanian students and specialists are well-acquainted to other European languages like French, German and Italian. When speaking of engineering student in Albania I refer to the students studying different branches at the Polytechnic University of Tirana (PUT) such as mechanical engineering students, geological engineering students, students of electronic engineering, telecommunication engineering, informatics etc. Apart from the professional knowledge and competencies in the specific fields of study, one other key quality or important component for
the students is good knowledge of one or more foreign languages.
The teaching/learning of foreign languages for specific purposes at PUT (Polytechnic University of Tirana).
The teaching of foreign languages at the Polytechnic University of Tirana is done for specific purposes since the target groups are engineering students. This is the reason why nowadays LSP textbooks are being used instead of other textbooks of general English. We as a Foreign Languages Center operating at PUT with over 20 years of experience are one of the state foreign languages center teaching English for specific purposes. Throughout the years, the center has tried to fully fulfill the needs and requirements of engineering students related to the acquisition of the foreign languages in conformity to their fields of study.
From general language teaching to LSP (Language for Specific Purposes).
It is obvious that in such fields of study, the teaching process offoreign languages is mainly concentrated on the teaching of vocabulary or more precisely, in the teaching of new terms related to their future profession. The first foreign languages being taught in Albania were Russian and English. Previously, the main activities concerning the teaching and learning of a foreign language were focused
