Abstract:

The article analyses the anthropocentrism influence at the practice of teaching Russian as a foreign language. The present study aims at showing principle of anthropocentrism impacts at different levels of the language system, its connection with other universal language laws, its reflection in teaching Russian as a foreign language, and also providing some practical recommendations.

In describing the manifestations of anthropocentrism in a language, the authors explore the phonetic, lexical, and syntactic levels of the language system. The study showed that at the phonetic level the principle of anthropocentrism forms the pronunciation norms, minimizing pronunciation efforts and determining the existence of assimilation and accommodation. At the lexical level, the principle of anthropocentrism determines the framework of permissible variability: new words come into the language system and are fixed / not fixed in it depending on their communicative significance. The authors pay special attention to the existence in the language of constant “relict” forms, the presence of which is also determined by the principle of anthropocentrism.

Authors note that the principle of anthropocentrism is most visibly reflected in nationally specific lexemes (idioms). Anthropocentrism is the cause of a high frequency of idioms with a somatic component, since in any language it is a man who is the center of the linguistic picture of the world. Considering the manifestations of the principle of anthropocentrism at the syntactic level, the authors come to the conclusion that anthropocentrism can manifest itself explicit and implicit ways. When comparing the Russian and English languages, the authors show that in Russian there are much more cases of “hidden” anthropocentrism than in English. This mismatch is one among the other reasons why learning difficulties appear.

The article also proves that the principle of anthropocentrism also has psychological impact. The authors cite the results of a psycholinguistic experiment as evidence of the theoretical propositions. In conclusion, the paper considers that the principle of anthropocentrism is one of the deepest universal laws that determine the development of the language system and occurs at all its levels. The authors convincingly prove that this principle must be taken into account in practical work when teaching Russian as a foreign language and provide some practical recommendations for creating training materials.

Keywords:

Isomorphism, the principle of communicative necessity, the principle of permissible variability, the principle of anthropocentrism.