Mastering English as a second language via the parallels with the native language (using project work)

Abstract

The article deals with the strategies of studying foreign languages with the help of the project method. We propose that the study of phraseological units (e.g. those with the "black/white" color component) in the English language could be well accomplished with the help of native languages (e.g. Russian and Tatar) in a bilingual environment. The research is conducted among the 11th graders of a Tatarstan high school in which Russian and Tatar are the two native languages. One of the results of the research is that the students' activity in searching, collecting, and analyzing the language material should be fully independent from the tutor's guidance. The tutor's role is merely organizational. The revealed parallels in the connotations of the phraseological units taken from English, Russian and Tatar make for the better acquisition of the foreign language (English) as well as for the deeper understanding of the native languages (Russian and Tatar). Another result is that white and black colors have more or less analogical impact on the representatives of English and Russian/Tatar cultures.