Cognitive Aspect of Intercultural Communication

Abstract

The research of cognitive aspects of intercultural communication is aimed to explore national linguistic consciousness, its peculiarities in order to determine the universal basics which make the intercultural communication possible while preserving national cultural identity and language diversity. This scientific analysis can become a background for developing skills of comprehending foreign speech and providing learning and teaching paths towards communication competence in accordance with Common European Framework of References for Languages. The analysis of texts has shown a fast-growing process of penetration of anglicisms into national languages which leads to obvious structural changes in the national languages. The effects of this interference on cognitive process should be studied and discussed as there is a strong awareness that substituting foreign verbal means for the native ones leads to weakening the immunity of the national language consciousness in general and undermines the national traditions of verbal communication approved and used by a national community. The linguistic analysis of professional activities of interpreters in the process of consecutive translation, students’ experimental with work with texts and material for comprehension and translation in class, survey of psychological tests on perception mechanism made it possible to describe a cognitive scheme of human reflection and interpretation of the real world and its developments which make up the contents of perceived texts during listening and reading. The concept of a subject whose activities are performed at a certain place at a certain time can be given the status of a three-coordinate (subject, place, time) cognitive scheme. The didactic exploitation of this cognitive scheme is seen in teaching students to identify these coordinates in the process of comprehending speech or text and thus to perceive its message by structuring and organizing the information. It is thought to be an effective method of developing productive communication skills as well as to be a reliable scientific basis to create and exploit learning and teaching techniques of handling and integrating information, including that of taking notes and organizing received facts in the process of consecutive translation.