Abstract:

Increasing popularity of electronic dictionaries, ontologies, thesauri and lexical databases makes them an effective tool for language learning purposes (Dash, 2013; Fellbaum, 2010; Miller & Fellbaum, 1992; Shimodaira et al, 2006; Sun et al, 2011). The aim of this research is to study the educational potential of electronic lexical database for the English language WordNet (Miller, 1995; Fellbaum, 1998) and electronic thesauri for the Russian language RuWordNet (Loukachevitch, 2011; Loukachevitch, Lashevich, 2016) in teaching English as a foreign language. In this research the authors focus on teaching colours, in particular a colour term white, as colours represent complex linguistic and culture-specific phenomena, reflected in the “cultural memory” of people, the very concept of ‘colour’ being a function of language and culture (Wierzbicka, 2006). Thus, understanding colours helps students both study a foreign language and learn its history and culture.
This is a mixed method study based on comparison of synonyms for colour term white in WordNet and RuWordNet. The main relation among words in these thesauri is synonymy. Based on their meanings, words are grouped into unordered sets of synonyms expressing one underlying concept (synsets). This allows to consider specific senses of words and semantic relations. Firstly, Russian students studying English as a foreign language were asked to analyse the meanings and synonyms for colour term white in RuWordNet. Secondly, the students compared the representation of colour term white in WordNet. Additionally, they examined set phrases with the adjective white in English dictionaries. Then a qualitative method (interviewing) was used to reveal the students’ perceptions of studying English by means of electronic dictionaries, thesauri and lexical databases.
The study allowed to claim that electronic thesauri and lexical databases are of educational value, increasing students’ linguistic awareness and language proficiency.

Keywords:

WordNet, RuWordNet, colour term white, foreign language teaching.