(2016) Science and education, 4, 30-38. Odessa.

Oleksandra Herkerova,
PhD (Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences), associate professor,
Department of Germanic Philology and Methods of Foreign Languages Teaching,
South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky,
34, Staroportofrankivska Str., Odesa, Ukraine

CULTURAL MAP OF EUROPE IN THE VIEW OF THE STUDENTS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES FACULTY

The problem of intercultural communication, mutual understanding, tolerance between the representatives of different ethnoses and cultures is one of the topical issues nowadays. Every nation has a set of stereotypical ideas of culture, traditions, national characters, norms and rules of behavior of other nations. Such ethnical stereotypes are one of the main constituents of the cultural world view. The research is aimed at studying the peculiarities of the perception of the concepts associated with European countries by the students of the foreign languages faculty. The experiment was carried out on the basis of questionnaire method of information acceptance. We asked the students to fill in the blank that contained the names of European countries with the associations with these countries: notions connected with literature, music and other kin ds of arts, cookery, historical events and personalities, geography, monuments, architecture, national character, national symbols, education, etc. The results of the experiment have shown that most of the associations are connected with such countries as Ukraine (137), Great Britain (134), Russian Federation (119), France (109), Greece (94), the least in number were associations with Liechtenstein (13), San Marino (15), Slovenia (16), Macedonia (19), Montenegro (19). All the associations educed were divided into four groups: national character, cookery, geographical names and places of interest, personalities (poets and writers, composers, artists, monarchs and political leaders, actors, singers, sportsmen and also literary and mythological characters). The data analysis makes it possible to summarize the obtained results: - the series of European countries such as Andorra, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia are almost unknown in the cultural aspect; - kindness, friendliness, amiability, cordiality as the traits of national character of such countries inhabitants as Belarus, Germany, Lithuania, Moldova, San Marino, Ukraine were pointed out; - most of cookery associations were connected with such countries as Moldova (12), Italy (11), France (11), Ukraine (10), Hungary (8), Spain (8); - most of associations with personalities were connected with Great Britain (25), Ukraine (17), France (13), Greece (9), and Germany (8). The results of the research can be used when teaching the subject “Country Studies” in order to introduce cultural characteristic of English-speaking countries as well as in the process of studying the topic “Language and Culture” as part of the subject “Specialty Introductory Course” by students of Foreign Languages Faculty. The prospects of the further research involve regular carrying out of this experiment and comparison of the obtained results in the diachronical aspect. 

ethnical stereotype, autostereotype, heterostereotype, cultural worldview.

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