Semantics of Lingual Networks in an Educational Combinatory Thesaurus

A cognitive turn in contemporary methodologies of teaching foreign languages is primarily associated with employment of the brain / mind covert potential (memory capacities, emotional responses, particulars of the individual’s perceptions, etc.) in language learning. Meanwhile, the cognitive approach to language teaching takes little notice of such powerful tool as conceptual structures that underpin linguistic structures and, therefore, facilitate their understanding and acquisition. The nature of relations between linguistic and conceptual structures is focused on in Semantics of Lingual Networks (SLN) — a theoretical conception extended into the felds of applied cognitive linguistics, with lexicography and language teaching among them. This article demonstrates how SLN 18 ISSN 2311-2425 (Print) ISSN 2412-2491 (Online) Філологічні студії. Збірник наукових праць • Випуск 13, 2019 contributes to developing the Linguacon (Lat. Lingua + Conscientia) system of teaching English via application of conceptual schemas and conceptual ontologies. The paper proposes a brief discussion of the SLN issues, demonstrates their projection upon the Linguacon system, and describes the procedure of compiling a combinatory thesaurus which is the pivot of this system. In the Linguacon system, the combinatory thesaurus performs several functions: (1) it structures information within the topic of discussion, (2) it provides systematized sets of phrasal linguistic expressions necessary for this discussion, (3) it links teaching grammar to a thematically homogeneous vocabulary, (4) it changes the traditional “text → lexicon” vector of teaching a foreign language to the “lexicon → text” vector, when the lexicon (in its phrasal version least conspicuous in conventional teaching practices) is adopted for text production. An illustration is provided by the “SCHOOL” combinatory thesaurus. It exemplifes the data which are applied in the classroom to teach grammar and develop texts relevant for the discussed topic. Presumably, the described principles of compiling combinatory thesauri used in teaching English are applicable for compiling similar thesauri for teaching other foreign languages.