Abstract:

One of the main difficulties, which arise in the process of training future diplomats, journalists and specialists in cross-cultural communication, is to teach EFL learners the specifics of particular kinds of English discourse. Modern political discourse is especially challenging due to the current evolution of communicative norms and rules of verbal behaviour. For students of the 21st century to pick up new words, terms, clichés, set expressions and grammatical structures is not enough any more to sustain an efficient conversation or write a convincing persuasive text. They need to be taught cooperative and conflictual communicative strategies, the latter being the biggest problem because of culturally relevant cognitive models that regulate how native speakers manipulate language units in order to achieve their communicative goals in a “win-lose’ situation. The methodological basis of the paper combines the holistic approach to second language acquisition and the method of functional-linguistic analysis. The aim of this paper is to summarize teaching experience at Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University) and find out what modern EFL teachers should know about conflictual communicative strategies to help students develop professionally required communicative skills, comprising the ability to comprehend the pragma-semantic scope of speech and properly react to signals, sent by their American counterparts in confrontational political discourse.

Keywords:

Political discourse, functional linguistics, teaching methodology, rhetoric, communicative strategy, communicative tactics.