COGNITIVE MECHANISMS OF RECOGNISING THE TRANSLATIONAL MEANINGS IN A PLAYING SYSTEM OF STUDYING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE Elena Makarova (Moscow, Russia, [e-mail]) Vladimir Polyakov (IL RAS, Moscow, Russia, [e-mail])

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COGNITIVE MECHANISMS OF
RECOGNISING THE TRANSLATIONAL MEANINGS IN A
PLAYING SYSTEM OF STUDYING A FOREIGN
LANGUAGEElena Makarova (Moscow, Russia,
antaresselen_at_rambler.ru)Vladimir Polyakov (IL
RAS, Moscow, Russia, pvn-65_at_mail.ru)
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MAIN PRINCIPLES OF THE PLAYING METHOD OF STUDYING
A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (BEGINNING)

• 1. REITERATION.
• A word, or a grammar construction (GC), which is
  the subject of studying, must occur in different
  contexts a sufficient number of times. The
  generally accepted standard of reiteration of
  vocabulary for passive adoption is 7 2.
• 2. FOCUS OF ATTENTION.
• In a dialogue a word or a GC must be in the focus
  of attention (be the theme of the dialogue,
  answer to a question, etc.).
• 3. KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE DIALOGUE.
• A good factor, that increases the adoption of
  lexical and grammar material. The word (GC)
  influences the problems solution.
• 4. UNIQUENESS.
• One dialogue one word (GC).
• 5. CONTRAST.
• The material is presented in a contrastive
  method, e.g. food-foot.
• 6. HINT.
• There is a hint for the new vocabulary (GC).
  Penalty scores are given for using bilingual
  hints.
• 7. STRONG MOTIVE FOR UNDERSTANDING.
• This principle is inherently characteristic of
  the playing form of learning.

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MAIN PRINCIPLES OF THE PLAYING METHOD OF STUDYING
A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (CONTINUATION)

• 8. COMPETITIVENESS.
• It increases the students motivation.
• 9.PRINCIPLE OF ASSOCIATIVE CONNECTION.
• An associative row is given for the vocabulary
  (GC). E.g. Goalkeeper goal coach, and this
  facilitates the process of getting ready for the
  subject area for the student.
• 10. PRINCIPLE OF A DEFERRED CONTROL.
• The game presupposes reiterative direct and
  indirect control of vocabulary (GC) mastering.
• 11. PRINCIPLE OF PREDETERMINATION
• A more general form of principle 9. Thematic
  restrictions usually work well.
• 12. PRINCIPLE OF EMOTIONAL COLOURING.
• Humour, empathy for the main characters,
  interest.
• 13.PRINCIPLE OF PEDAGOGICAL LOAD.
• Ideally the textbook should also form the
  world-view.
• 14. PRINCIPLE OF PLAYING ON STANDARD SITUATIONS.
• There is a set of standard linguistic and
  behavioral clichés provided, which the student
  has to adopt.
• 15. PRINCIPLE OF THE UNIQUE PLOT FOR EACH UNIT.
• It is especially difficult to implement it for
  grammar constructions of discursive words

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MAIN ELEMENTS OF THE PLAYING METHOD OF STUDYING A
FOREIGN LANGUAGE

• Vocabulary
• Script
• Graphics
• Sound
• Dictionary
• Tests
• Systems of counting the score

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EXAMPLE OF A SCRIPT

• ???????? 2 (8 ?????, ???? 2)
• ???? 1
• Scene 1.1
• ?????? ? ?????? ?? ?????, ????????????? ??
  ???????? ?? ?????-???.
• Charles(??????? ?????????) No, Betty, I cant
  talk to you right now Im driving the car. No,
  I can talk while Im driving, but I have to phone
  my chief. Ill call you back.
• Scene 1.2
• ?????? ? ??????, ??????? ?? ???????? ?
  ??????????? ??????? ? ????.
• Charles (?????????) I remember this landscape a
  forest not far away from the road, a flower
  field, a river Wow, thats really beautiful Im
  sorry, sir, yes, I see the house. Im sure the
  jewelry they stole is in this house.
• Scene 1.3
• ?????? ????? ????, ????????????? ?? ????????, ??
  ????? ????? ????, ??? ?????????? ???????.
• Phillip (???????? ?????????? ? ???????) Common,
  Jeff, my wife is in Sussex, and we are in Durham,
  they are different counties with almost the whole
  England between us. So, dont worry, Im waiting
  for you. The match starts in an hour, its a
  final game, we must see it!
• Scene 1.4
• ????? ? ?? ???? ? ??????, ???? ?? ?????. ?????
  ????????????? ?? ????????.
• Betty Im sorry Charles couldnt come. You know
  your son, Dad, he always works. No he went to
  another county, Yorkshire, I think, to catch a
  thief. I phoned him to ask how he was doing, but
  he was driving and couldnt talk. And he also
  said something about phoning his chief.
• Scene 1.5
• ?? ?? ?????, ?????? ????? ??? ??? ????????.
• Bettys mother So, did you learn to drive?
• Betty No, I dont have enough time. And anyway,
  if I go somewhere by car, Im always with
  Phillip, he drives. And I can sleep or look at
  wonderful landscapes through the window
• Scene 1.6

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EXAMPLE OF A PLAYING FIELD
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DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM

• The important condition of successful studying
  with the help of the computer is maximal
  imitation of the real linguistic environment. On
  the one hand, it makes the student mobilize their
  intellectual resources for solving a concrete
  problem using their knowledge of a foreign
  language. At once it is known that on the first
  level students face troubles with identifying the
  meanings in translation. It presents a serious
  hurdle in using this form of teaching on the
  following stages starter, elementary,
  pre-intermediate, intermediate. The present
  report offers cognitive mechanisms of identifying
  translational meanings in the playing system of
  teaching a foreign language, which allow to
  considerably lower the language barrier for the
  student.

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COGNITIVE MECHANISMS, WHICH, TO OUR MIND, PROMOTE
THE UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING IN TRANSLTION OF AN
UNKNOWN WORD.

• 1. Role filter.
• 2. Thematic linkage.
• 3. Synonyms.
• 4. Antonyms.
• 5. Definition (commentary).
• 6. Indication of function.
• 7. Indication of structure.
• 8. Subsumption relation.
• 9. Explication of a known logical conclusion on
  the base of the common sense.
• 10. Unique context, which rests upon factual
  data.
• 11.Associative links.

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ROLE FILTER

• Example
• I am reading X.
• Commentary
• A.
• Role filter points to the object (X), which
  contains information a book, a newspaper, a
  sign, etc.
• B.
• You cannot say, for example I am reading a
  tree. I am reading a fireplace..
• C.
• Unfortunately, the role filter selects a whole
  class of words (an object, which contains
  information) and that is the problem.
• D.
• The positive factor is that it is present almost
  always, if a word is used in a coherent text, but
  this method hardly help achieve the preciseness
  of recognizing the meaning.
• That is why additional mechanisms of defining the
  translational meaning of a word.

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THEMATIC LINKAGE

• Example.
• We arrived at the stadium. We saw sportsman
  Ivanov set a new record in running.
• Commentary.
• A.
• It is obvious from the example that X ??????.
• B.
• The role filter is rather wide here
• One can set an object, for example, a ladder, a
  basket, clock, etc.
• C.
• It is obvious that the thematic context given by
  the words " stadium, sportsman, running " clearly
  points to the necessary meaning. On the other
  hand, this situation can be treated as a double
  role filter
• A sportsman can only set a record.
• Let us look at other phrases
• Ivanov set a new X in running.
• Ivanov set a new X..
• A sportsman set a new X.

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SYNONYMS

• ?????? Tomato.
• Tomatoes like wet soil. In order to grow big X it
  is necessary to regularly add fertilizer to the
  soil. .
• ?.
• Though we have to say that here a hyperonym can
  be used.
• For example, " In order to grow big vegetables it
  is necessary to regularly add fertilizer to the
  soil."
• That is natural. And it illustrates the fact that
  no method can give us a 100 guarantee of solving
  the problem. And that is why we need to combine
  them.

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ANTONYMS

• Example. City-village.
• In a village, as opposed to X, you wont have a
  24-hour access to the Internet.
• The necessary part of this method is the
  construction as opposed to.
• This method is very reliable.

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DEFINITION (COMMENTARY)

• Example.
• X is a sports transport with two wheels.
• A.
• It is clear that X is a bicycle.
• B.
• It is also obvious that it is not easy to use
  this method in scripts.
• We are planning on introducing an additional
  character, a magician, for example, who will
  realize these function of defining the meaning as
  a facultative option with a special button.

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POINTING AT THE FUNCTION

• Example.
• In order to make soup we took a 3-liter X.
• A.
• This is a part of the more general method 5. It
  is a definition, but it can be more easily used
  in a context.
• B.
• Unfortunately, not all objects have a
  prototypical function as a saucepan.

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POINTING AT THE STRUCTURE

• Example.
• X had a flat roof, a wonderful gothic terrace and
  narrow windows.
• A.
• Here, of course, variants for X are possible
  house, castle, palace, etc.
• B.
• But like in case 1, we receive a class of
  monotypical objects.

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SUBSUMPTION RELATIONS

• Example ?1
• X is an interesting job. X delivers mail.
• A.
• A link to a hyperonym is used pointing at the
  function (delivers mail). It is clear that X is a
  mailman.
• B.
• Example 1 shows that pointing at a hyperonyms
  gives us only the filter of the first level and
  does not eliminate the indefiniteness.
• Example ?2
• Mailman and pilot are the most popular jobs in
  Denmark.
• Here hyponyms are used in order to define a
  hyperonym.
• Example ?3
• Today you can get from Paris to London by plane,
  train and even by your own X.
• Cogiponyms are used. A person should understand
  that X is a car.

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EXPLICATION OF A KNOWN LOGICAL CONCLUSION ON THE
BASE OF COMMON SENSE

• Examples
• Water boiled. It means that X is higher than 100
  degrees.
• X temperature.
• The Volga flows into the Caspian X.
• X sea.
• The main condition here is the following the
  conclusion should be simple and easy to
  understand.

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Unique context, which is based on actual data

• Example.
• Lev Tolstoy wrote the X Anna Karenina under the
  influence of a real story that happened to his
  friend.
• X novel.

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Associative links

• Example.
• Pushkin is a famous Russian X. .
• The most widespread bird in Russia is X.
• The best drink is X.
• It reminds of the method Definition, though
  here the factor of frequency is used, and it
  produces the associative link of lexical unities.
  
• There is a very well approbated method for
  singling out these links. (see Karaulovs
  dictionary as a resourse for these links).
• Of course, there are possible variants, for
  example, for some people the best drink is tea,
  for others coffee.
• But at this stage the number of possible meanings
  is already narrowed, and we can use other
  filters.

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Conclusion

• Far from all link were enumerated.
• One can use associative links material object,
  process-result, etc.
• There exist metaphorical hints. The most
  important thing for us is to understand the
  principle and to use it successfully in practice.
  
• By the example of the mechanism role filter we
  showed the work of cognitive mechanisms of
  identification of translational meanings while
  learning a foreign language. The positive factor
  is that the role filter is almost always present
  if a word is used in a coherent text. One can say
  that it is the main cognitive mechanism, provided
  by the very nature of the language. But due to
  the restrictions on the volume of the studying
  material it is almost impossible to reach the
  high accuracy of revealing the translational
  meaning in a playing situation by this method.
  The novelty of this approach is that it offers
  additional mechanisms of defining the
  translational meaning of the word.

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• Thank You!