METHODOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF REPRESENTING CULTURAL ELEMENT IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS OF SOVIET PERIOD

Abstract

The current language-­learning paradigm heavily relies on intercultural context and shaping students’ cultural awareness. Taking this into account, the authors analyze the historical background of the problem i. e. when the ‘cultural element’ became an indispensable component of foreign language learning and how it was represented in school textbooks for Ukrainian schools within the period of the 1930–1980s.
According to the obtained data, the bond between language and culture was noticed and explained in the 1930s (E. Sapir & B. Whorf) while only in the 1960s it was accepted by methodologists. By that time language learning had relied on a linguistic approach and was mainly aimed at mastering grammar structures and practicing reading and translation of literary texts.
Cultural representations in foreign language school textbooks in USSR in the 1930–1980s had their own specific which was determined by ideological requirements. Although some methodologists insisted on incorporating basic information on countries whose language was being taught, until the middle of the 20th century the textbooks mainly showed Soviet reality. The true representations of other countries became more apparent in the 1950–1960s. This was mostly encyclopedic information on history, everyday life, traditions of particular foreign countries, etc.
Principles and methods of incorporating cultural information in foreign language learning process were elaborated within a few methodological concepts. Linguistic and country studies became the most popular concept as it was seen as the most practically oriented. It suggested two approaches to delivering cultural content to students: philological and thematic each performed their particular function. While the philological dimension was responsible for cultural elements implicitly coded in a language, the thematic remained more obvious for teachers as it implied delivering a wide range of information relevant to the country whose language was being taught. Despite abundant research on delivering cultural element to students, the textbooks remained overwhelmed with ideological patterns, represented distorted reality with an emphasis on negative aspects of other cultures until the 1990s when countries gained independence and developed their own textbooks.