Problems of the mediation function of East Asian English variants for Russian communicants

UDC 81`24

https://doi.org/10.20339/PhS.6-21.206

Proshina Zoya G.,

Doctor of Philology, Professor of the

Theory in Teaching Foreign Languages Department

Lomonosov Moscow State University

e-mail: proshinazoya@yandex.ru

Communicating with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean users in English is a challenge for Russians, even if they have a perfect command of English. This is due to the fact that while performing a global function and retaining local features, the English language, non-native to its users, has specific phonetic features revealed as an accent in oral speech, as well as certain graphic innovations, which aggravates translating proper names and culture-loaded words into Russian in a written form of communication. The challenges result from co-existence of several transliteration systems in these languages, non-traditional sound and letter correlations as compared with British and American Englishes, non-traditional translation correlations when transliterating from Roman to Cyrillic. Translation problems proper are complicated by lexico-semantic and pragmatic factors, which can be interpreted only on the cultural basis. These challenges make it necessary to integrate the World Englishes paradigm into the courses of English departments, as well as preparing special textbooks and reference sources.

Keywords: English as a lingua franca, a variety of English, East Asian Englishes, understanding, phono-graphical level, semantics, pragmatics.

References

1. Kachru B. The new Englishes and old dictionaries: directions in lexicographical research on non-native varieties of English // Theory and Method in Lexicography: Western and Non-Western Perspectives / ed. L. Zgusta. Columbia, SC: Hornbeam Press, 1980. P. 71–104.

2. House J. Teaching oral skills in English as a lingua franca // Principles and Practices for Teaching English as an International Language / eds. L. Alsagoff, S.L. McKay, G. Hu, W.A. Renandya. New York; London: Routledge, 2012. P. 186–205.

3. Meierkord C. Interactions across Englishes. Linguistic choices in local and international contact situations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

4. The routledge handbook of English as a lingua franca / eds. J. Jenkins, W. Baker, M. Dewey. London; New York: Routledge, 2018.

5. Firth A. The discursive accomplishment of normality. On “lingua franca” English and conversation analysis // Journal of Pragmatics. 1996. No. 26. P. 237–259.

6. Jenkins J. English as a lingua franca: interpretations and attitudes // World Englishes. 2009. Vol. 28. No. 2. P. 200–207.

7. Seidlhofer B. Understanding English as a lingua franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.

8. Smith L. Spread of English and issues of intelligibility // The Other Tongue: English across Cultures / ed. B. Kachru. Urbana, Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1982 (1992). P. 75–90.

9. Nelson C. Intelligibility in world Englishes: theory and application. New York; London: Routledge, 2011.

10. Clyne M. Pluricentric languages. Introduction // Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations / ed. M. Clyne. Berlin; New York: Mouton De Gruyter, 1992. P. 1–10.

11. Smith L. Familiar issues from a world Englishes perspective // Vestnik Rossiiskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriia: Voprosy obrazovaniia: Iazyki i spetsial’nost’. 2016. No. 1. S. 14–18.

12. Kabakchi V.V. Neissledovannyĭ vid perevodcheskoĭ deiatel’nosti: “vnutrenniĭ perevod” // Studia Linguistica 9. Kognitivno-pragmaticheskie i khudozhestvennye funktsii iazyka. St. Petersburg: Trigon, 2000. S. 65–75.

13. Proshina Z.G. Mezhkul’turnaia kommunikatsiia: Angliiskii iazyk i kul’tura narodov Vostochnoi Azii. Moscow: Iurait, 2020.

14. Lexico: Powered by Oxford. UK dictionary. 2021. URL: https://www.lexico.com/ (30.10.2021).

15. Slog i ritm angliiskoi rechi v stranakh Vostochnoi i Iugo-Vostochnoi Azii (Kitai, Respublika Koreia, Iaponiia, V’etnam, Tailand) / pod red. L.P. Bondarenko. Vladivostok: Izd-vo Dal’nevost. un-ta, 2007.

16. Hankyoreh. 2006. July 4. URL: https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/PRINT/138299.html (03.11.2021).

17. The Asian Pacific American heritage: A companion to literature and arts / ed. G.J. Leonard. New York; London: Garland, 1999. 690 p.

18. Time. 1997. June 23.

19. Gregory C. Skinship: Touchability as a virtue in East-Central India // HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory. 2011. Vol. 1. No. 1. P. 179–209. URL: https://www.haujournal.org/index.php/hau/article/view/16 (02.11.2021).

20. JapanToday. 2010. July 9. URL: https://japantoday.com/category/crime/elderly-woman-arrested-for-beating... (02.11.2021).

21. Backhaus P. Coming to terms with age: Some linguistic consequences of population ageing // The Demographic Challenge: A Handbook about Japan / eds. F. Coulmas, H. Conrad, A. Schad-Seifert, G. Vogt. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2008. P. 455–471.

22. ChinaDaily. 2020. 12 Apr. URL: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202004/12/WS5e92ec2ca3105d50a3d1591d.html (03.11.2021).

23. ChinaDaily. 2021. 13 Oct. URL: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202110/13/WS61664e8aa310cdd39bc6ea30.html (03.11.2021).

24. Silverman D. Tairo: The Great Elder. London: Diamond Books, 1994. 494 p.

25. Turbina.ru. 2013. URL: http://turbina.ru/guide/Shankhay-Kitay-127883/Zametki/Russkie-v-Shankhae... (04.11.2021).

26. Wang Kiew Kit. 1998. URL: http://www.dotaichi.com/articles/PlayorPractice.htm (04.11.2021).

27. Teller Report. 16.06.2021. URL: https://www.tellerreport.com/news/2021-06-16-chinesаe-taste-during-the-dragon-boat-festival--deep-feelings-of-patriotism.Hy3AFnwou.html (04.11.2021).

28. The Guardian. 2016. May 11. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/11/the-cultural-revolution-50... (04.11.2021).

29. The Washington Post, 2019, May 29. URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/05/29/why-maoism-still-reso... (04.11.2021).

30. Proshina Z.G. Perekrestok: Anglo-russkii kontaktologicheskii slovar’ vostochnoaziatskoi kul’tury / pod red. Dun Chzhenminia, L.P. Bondarenko. Vladivostok: Izd-vo Dal’nevost. un-ta, 2004.