Abstract:

The paper deals with the study of psychological mechanisms of assimilation of the foreign language structures. The author argues that modern authentic textbooks used in teaching foreign languages to adult learners outside the target language environment should be supplemented with a system of exercises organized with due regard for the regularities of the four stages of assimilation of the language material described in the paper. The authors suggest using bilingual exercises which should provide a special type of educational translation, which can be called semantic translation since these exercises are aimed at explaining foreign language notions with the means of similarities and differences with the notions of the student's native culture and language. Semantic translation is an educational activity that combines the functioning of the psychological mechanisms of building a picture of the world, reflection, thinking and speech mechanisms of the individual and provides a controlled process of all stages of mastering a foreign language phenomenon. The proposed system will be able to serve as a guide for a Russian-speaking student when he expresses his own thoughts by means of a foreign language, which will lead to the formation of competent and free speech, not limited by the framework of the topics covered and will significantly increase the stability of the acquired speech skills.

Keywords:

Authentic textbooks, stages of assimilation of foreign language structures, communicative practice, translating exercises, bilingual and monolingual exercises.