Abstract:

Successful mastering of unrelated languages is one of the central problems in the conditions of multiethnic environment. Effective study of such languages requires the development of complex skills from learners. Nevertheless, absence of any firm scientific psychological foundation has been repeatedly claimed by the specialists, as well as insufficient account for psychological peculiarities of language students.

Our research centers at the study of anticipatory skills, or probalistic forecasting, as the key factor of successful unrelated language acquisition. Forecasting in speech is one of the most advanced topics in modern psychological and pedagogical sciences.

Speech experience of a language user enables him to predict an upcoming situation of communication and create his/her activity in accordance with the prognosis. Consequently, the problem of students’ skills of forecasting development acquires scientific and practical importance. The development of anticipatory component of mentality in higher education institutes provides conditions which are more effective for learning.

A model of the prognostic component of mentality development as a key to successful unrelated languages learning has been created by the authors. An informative-processual unit of the model performs the stages of the given process, its contents, methods and forms of professional collaboration. In a resultative-evaluative unit a criteria of formedness of prognostic skills of the students is described.
The model has been put to an evaluation test on its effectivity by means of several methodologies: LAB (language aptitude battery), direct association testing, the method of gapped sentences filling, etc.

80 first and second year students of Kazan (Volga region) federal university took part in the evaluation stage. The analysis of the data proves that a high level of communicational anticipation development involves the ability to understand and evaluate the behavior of people, anticipate the utterances of a communicant and be prepared to a zero reaction situation.

Keywords:

The prognostic component of mentality, unrelated languages learning, multiethnic environment.