Textbooks on Foreign Literature as a Means of Students’ Linguocultural Competence Building

Abstract

The article dwells on the concept of linguocultural competence and methods of fostering it through teaching foreign literature in higher educational institutions. Considering "competence" to be an individual's ability to gain knowledge, skills and experience enabling them to act effectively in a professional situation, the authors state that a translator/interpreter's key competence seems to lie at the intersection of linguistics and culture. The aim is to shed light on linguocultural competence as cultural knowledge embodied in a particular language, on cultural semantics and the ability to apply appropriate lexical and stylistic items in situations of multilingual communication. To do so, a translator/interpreter will require a good understanding of common norms, rules and traditions within a language community; sufficient linguistic and culture-bound knowledge updated on a lifelong basis; ability, skills and motivation to ponder over values and attitudes applicable to a given culture. The problem of developing a would-be translators/interpreters' linguocultural competence is of high relevance as it has not been studied in detail yet and previous research can only be seen as first steps towards designing viable methods. The authors reflect on their practical experience of creating textbooks on English literature and using them in class to ensure linguocultural competence development. The outcome of the research is the proposed structure for a foreign literature textbook that includes various types of linguistic and literary analysiscomponential, stylistic, intertextual, and others. The results obtained might be beneficial for practicing university teachers as well as students engaged in independent linguocultural competence building.