Рубрика: Лингвистика. Языкознание. Языки 
УДК 81

Лингвистические и культурологические исследования: преодоление языковых барьеров

Токарева Дайана Сергеевна
бакалавр 1 курса, кафедра межкультурных коммуникаций и переводоведения
Горбунова Мария Владимировна
научный руководитель, старший преподаватель, кафедра межкультурных коммуникаций и переводоведения
Владивостокский государственный университет экономики и сервиса
Россия. Владивосток
E-mail: mariya.gorbunova@vvsu.ru
ул. Гоголя, 41, г. Владивосток, Приморский край, Россия, 690014

Статья затрагивает проблему непонимания в межкультурной коммуникации. Рассмотрены основные виды языковых барьеров у студентов. Автор исследовал причины возникновения языкового барьера и предложил пути решения этой проблемы.
 
Ключевые слова и словосочетания: языковой барьер, лингвистический барьер, психологический барьер, культурологическое исследование, преодоление языкового барьера,  социальные условия, учет индивидуальных особенностей
Linguistic and Culture Studies:  Overcoming Language Barriers
Tokareva Daiana Sergeevna
bachelor of the 1st year, Department of Linguistics
Gorbunova Maria Vladimirovna
academic adviser, senior lecturer, department of cross-cultural communication and translation
Vladivostok state university of economics and service
Russia. Vladivostok

The article raises an issue of misunderstanding in the linguistic and culture communication and ways to overcome the language barrier. The main types of language barrier of students are considered. The author described the reasons the language barrier issues and suggested the ways of solving the problem.

Key words and phrases:  language barrier, linguistic barrier, psychological barrier, culture studies, overcoming language barrier, social conditions, inclusion

In today's multicultural world, when the importance of learning a foreign language as a mean of communication is increasing, the issue of forming a linguistic and cultural competence of the soon-to-be translators/ interpreters has become particularly relevant as it is not enough to be only fluent in a foreign language. It is important to comprehend the mentality and culture of the people speaking the language to overcome the cultural barrier generated by the national peculiarities of the communicators and to be ready for professional and personal communication with representatives of other countries. Modern multicultural world sets a challenging and important mission for an interpreter, i.e. to act as an ambassador of culture and provide understanding between parties in an intercultural dialogue. However, the main difficulty in such a matter is the mentality of the author of the original text and the translator/interpreter that may not fully coincide since they are based on each person’s experience and knowledge. Therefore, the translator/interpreter must be able to freely navigate information and semantic, semiotic, symbolic and axiological multicultural environment. To do this, they must overcome the boundaries of narrow professional linguistic thinking and develop a system of cultural thinking on the basis of which linguistic and cultural competence is formed [1].
There are a lot of methods which can help to study culture and lifestyles of foreigners. The adequacy of understanding the actions and their motives largely depends on the construction of interaction with another person, and ultimately — the success of communication with him. Often attempts to form an idea about other people and explain their actions end up with thinking about the reasons for their behavior due to lack of information. In such cases, past experience (a comparison with the behavior of another person in a similar situation), which has a large role in the process of interpretation, can play a negative role.
The following activities can be suggested: linguistic and cultural games and quizzes, reporting at students’ scientific conferences, theatrical performances, making and shooting a movie, workshops for creating dolls, videos, tourist leaflets, routes and excursions made by the students themselves, etc.
Dramatization games keep students’ experience up to date, develop their emotional and intellectual potential, and form competences. The characteristic feature of this method is that by dramatizing what has been read or seen we use graphic and expressive means such as facial expressions, gestures, postures, body mobility, voice intonation that contribute to the development of significant creative competences, improvisation and organizational abilities important in the future career.
In role play students choose and act out different social roles according to their own plot. Students take up roles of interpreters representing different cultures, managers of firms, corporations, diplomatic officials, flight attendants and others. This kind of game encourages reflective processes when changing roles, contributes to the formation of linguistic and cultural competence on the basis of emotional and cognitive involvement in the game and the necessity to be creative; it also helps develop imagination while modelling a particular language personality and acquire communicative experience.
Method of associations of natural and secondary languages (language of art). The idea of this method lies in building subjective linguistic associations when dealing with works of art. This method is based on “synchronising” the communication of characters in works of art.
Method of perception of works of art with your eyes closed (“close your eyes to see”). By describing a picture and perceiving it by ear (a kind of “listening”) students create their own image which is then compared with the original one. This comparison helps not to look at but see a painting by being attentive to every detail, so to speak, “read” the picture as a text comprehending its values and meaning.
Methods of case studies is also widely used. They are presented by composition workshops that use common challenges of some courses in integration, e.g. “Reflection of communicative values in different cultures”, etc.; debate seminars (“System of values of the Russians and the British”); multimedia lectures in the Hermitage-Kazan centre (“England through the eyes of Russian travellers”, “Charles Cameron in Russia”, “Catherine II and British artists”, etc.) that, by means of doing assignments to the lectures, help to establish associative-shaped relation between the natural and secondary languages to identify the structure and content of the concepts included in the diversity of their senses, comprehend the symbolic dimension of culture; method of research portfolio that develops the ability to work with different sources of information on an academic or scientific topic; fiction, Internet sources on the subject, programmes of TV Channel “Culture” – “Artificial selection”, “Gingerbread House”, “The Power of a fact”, “Academy”, “Perfect Ear” ,etc. (e.g., “Russian and English ball as a Cultural Phenomenon”, etc.), distance excursions to the museums of the target language, dramatizations, and many others. Thus, linguistic and cultural competence allows a future interpreter to become a conductor of spiritual values in the modern world. 
The criterion-evaluative component involves determination of the criteria and levels of evaluation of the process of forming of linguistic and cultural competence of students [1].
The question now arises of whether those students, who study a foreign language, should also study the culture and lifestyles of the native speakers? Students are less likely to successfully communicate with native speakers of a certain language without the knowledge of their culture and lifestyles. In every language there are particular words and expressions that exclusively belong to a certain culture. In other words, it is difficult to translate these words and expressions into their first language since there are no such objects or concepts in students’ own cultures. If they fail to realize the existence of these objects or concepts, it is impossible to understand the language referring to them. As the major purpose of learning a foreign language is to communicate with native speakers, the ignorance of their culture and lifestyles will pose a challenge to the effectiveness of the communication. Any language system is not only a tool for the reproduction of thoughts, but also a factor that forms human thought, becomes a program and guide the mental activity of the individual. In other words, the formation of thoughts is part of a language and varies from culture to culture, sometimes quite significantly, as well as the grammatical structure of languages.
But before becoming a translator or an interpreter, a student may have unpleasant experience of speaking with a foreigner, because there is often a language barrier. 
There are many types of Language barrier. Here are some of them that a student feels when he wants to talk to a foreigner. The Psychological barrier is an emotional discomfort, the fear to say   a word, also a person can have a lump in the throat – «that is all the symptoms of the one ailment». 
This barrier is directly related to your past negative experiences. The solution of this type is to find a good teacher who will be strict, but sensitive. There is no point in knowing the grammar perfectly, but not being able to connect two words.
The second type is lack of active vocabulary or lack of knowledge in some topic. It is not at all scary for a person to communicate with foreigners, but he feels discomfort due to fact that he suffers a shortage of vocabulary. The method of struggle is to develop your knowledge. Make it a rule to spend on English, French, German or other foreign languages at least 20 minutes day, record interesting expressions and fixed phrases. And the most important: be sure to introduce new momentum in the speech - they should not settle down "dead weight". What about the lack of knowledge? Imagine a situation: you communicate in a company of people, and then the conversation comes, for example, about neural connections. If you are not a specialist in this area, your ignorance of the subtleties is obvious. You are not embarrassed; you just do not know what you can add on this topic. There is no need to fight in this case. If you are not interested in this area, even in the most general terms, it makes no sense to go deeper. For sure, there are topics where you are like a fish in water. Choose one and feel free to admit that neural connections are not something that is in your area of interest [2].
The last type of language barrier is the lack of a learning system. Quite often there are students who say they know many words, understand foreign speech well, but still cannot speak. In this particular case, the main problem is fragmented knowledge. That is, figuratively, it can be compared with a puzzle, shattered into small pieces that do not want to join together. As a rule, this is all because we take up several times to learn a foreign language, go to language schools, take private lessons or study on our own, but never bring the work started to the end. In scientific language, the system, as such, is a set of interrelated elements that form a unity. Accordingly, only under the condition that all grammatical structures, as elements, are interrelated, and their meaning and speech situations in which they are used are clear, the student will be able to freely communicate in a foreign language. If you understand that this reason is the basis of your barrier, do not start learning the language from the beginning, that is, from the alphabet. This does not add confidence, besides this level does not correspond to the real situation and your progress. Start the course up one level. Thus, the separate pieces of the puzzle, as if embedded in the system. In addition, it is necessary to listen more, since all kinds of dialogues form a context, without which understanding and mastering of grammatical structures is impossible [3].
In Spite of these language barriers types, there are some useful solutions to overcome it. The first is using plain language. Whether you are working with someone who knows your primary language as a secondary, or you are trying to communicate a deeply technical problem to your non-technical coworkers, everyone should get in the habit of using plain language whenever possible. While many people try to use large words to make them sound intelligent or good at their jobs, they are not doing anyone any favors. Using jargon or esoteric vocabulary only creates the opportunity for miscommunication and makes people feel bad that they cannot understand what you are saying. Creating a culture in your workplace of speaking simply and explaining all issues as straightforwardly as possible is the key. 
The second way is to be respectful. Language barriers, like all barriers to communication, can be frustrating. They require patience, understanding, and conscientiousness. Ensure that when you or your team are struggling to communicate that you never raise your voice or over-enunciate. Talk slower instead of louder, clearly instead of forcefully. And remember, when someone is working through a language hurdle, it has nothing to do with their actual intelligence or ability to grasp the concept behind what you are trying to say. Continue to speak proper English as you search for common ground, so they can learn how to understand correctly, too.
The next way is to find a reliable translation service. If you are working across international offices, enlist the help of a qualified translator or find a translation service that meets your needs. Every document deemed important to the entire company should be translated into the primary language of your other offices. Be careful when finding a service, and be sure to vet their qualifications. You will see several free websites that claim to translate text from one language to another, but they may not account for different dialects. And sometimes, words have different usages in different cultures [4].
In conclusion, learning the cultural context of a foreign language is necessary for students not only to gain deeper insights into the language, but also to remove cultural obstacles to communication. Misunderstanding in intercultural communication is a potential problem based on cultural differences. It is important for people to understand the potential problems of intercultural communication and consciously try to overcome them.
1.	Forming students’ linguistic and cultural competence in academic translation and interpretation studies [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815045383/pdf?md5=bb35c85e25e645612a07fabfc2b34be3&pid=1-s2.0-S1877042815045383-main.pdf
2.	Types of language barriers and how to deal with them? [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: http://www.dvfu-english.ru/interesting/421-vidy-yazykovykh-barerov-i-kak-s-nimi-borotsya 
3.	How to overcome the language barrier? [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: https://realstudy.ru/articles/46-useful-articles/77-how-to-overcome-language-barrier.html 
4.	Overcoming language barriers to communication [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: https://www.typetalk.com/blog/overcoming-language-barriers-communication