Abstract:

The study of figurative units (similes and metaphors) with a national-specific component is usually considered impossible until the foreign student reaches an advanced level. The authors of the article have developed an innovative system of exercises based on a cognitive approach to language learning. This system has been tested and has shown excellent results when applied even at the initial level.

The system is based on three principles:
1) the cognitive complexity of the unit (based on thе model of an image formation, consisting of the subject of comparison, object and a connector);
2) the clarity of motivation of the figurative image by the surrounding context (the category of explicitness / implicitness of the characteristic that gives the reason for the image creation);
3) stylistic differentiation.

Analysis of 37,000 contexts with a description of a person, his behavior, appearance by comparison with florisms allowed to formulate the main patterns according to which Russian writers build their figurative images. For example, such images have a positive connotation when describing a person's appearance in Russian (phytonyms – when describing a face, dendronyms – a figure, mycotonyms – a body fortress), except for the description of the shape of the head and nose, which always have a negative connotation. Florisms used to describe a person's intellectual abilities have a negative connotation of feebleness and stupidity. Age, transferred by means of florisms, has a sharply negative and even offensive meaning. As a result of the research, 10 such patterns were formulated. These findings allow students to understand the General meaning of a figurative image and suggest a direction in searching for the reason of a simile or a metaphor (the main feature). Formulas were tested using the method of questionnaire survey of 7150 respondents – native speakers of Russian. The respondents were asked to write one or more adjectives that motivate a figurative description of a person. The connotation in the semantic structure of the meaning of adjectives confirmed the assessment of the image.

Therefore, the system of teaching the comprehension of figurative images containing florisms was created in accordance with the above three principles, 10 formulas, as well as methodological requirements for successive complication of exercises. It consists of three parts (from the most cognitively simple material to the most complex):
1) explicit comparisons and metaphors with a motivating word;
2) implicit comparisons;
3) implicit metaphors.

Each part includes four types of tasks according to the sequence: observation – analysis – selection – image creating.

Keywords:

Cognitive approach, metaphor, simile, florism, system of exercises, model, Russian as a foreign language.