VII Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2015

Having opened the Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English at page 318, you will find the entry the Iron Curtain defined as 'the Westernmost boundary of the group of Eastern European states politically and economically dominated by the Soviet Union'. The definition is followed by an exemplification which is worth quoting: "I just wanted to record my personal conviction that one should meet writers and scholars from behind the iron curtain whenever possible" [3: 318]. We are quoting this utterance because it emphasizes the fact that peoples' aspiration to communicate with one another is the most natural and everlasting thing in the world, irrespective of time and place. We are of the opinion that the peoples on both sides of the iron curtain, both east and west, have lost a great deal since the time it was erected, even though we have been living in the post-communist world for more than two decades and the iron curtain in the meaning of 'barrier thought of as hindering or preventing the free exchange of ideas, information, etc., between communist controlled countries and the rest of the world' [7: 241] no longer exists. Establishing mutual understanding between eastern and western peoples and countries is the urgent issue of the day.

In this respect extending business and financial relationship is, no doubt, extremely helpful. This is what the peoples of the world are after on the one hand. And on the other hand people of business and finance are supposed to have a good command of the English language, which is universally considered the most practical means of communication. That is why the relevance of socio-cultural knowledge cannot be overestimated. When the students study foreign languages they come closer to understanding both other peoples and themselves.

We maintain that to improve his or her understanding of native speakers or writers, a student of ESP must take into consideration not only the primary nomination signs of the language but the secondary nomination signs as well, the most common being idioms and other types of phraseological units [5: 86]. This is particularly important in domain-specific language teaching to students of business and finance. The problem is that phraseology is ambiguous in its nature, i.e. it is characterised by different degrees of divergence of form and meaning [1: 9]. The meaning of an idiom is not the sum of its parts. For instance, such familiar everyday word combination as to ring to the market in the field of business and financial communication has little if anything to do with actual 'ringing to the market'. As a matter of fact, the meaning of this idiomatic expression is understood by businessmen in the following way: 'to influence the rate of securities'. And the combination of such common everyday words as a drug on the market does not serve to denote the fact that marihuana, or hashish, morphine, cocaine, heroin or any other kind of opiate is available, but it serves as an economics term used in trade to name goods on the market for which there is no demand [10: 63], some goods that find no customers [6: 139], etc.

Those learners, who are faced with a well-defined domain in the foreign language, need to be taught, that vagueness and ambiguity is likely to decrease in the case of international idioms, i.e. those having equivalents identical in form and meaning in other languages of the world, such as money laundering, 'the process by which the illegal source of proceeds is concealed by means of financial transactions or any other means to make it appear legitimate', for which the Russian equivalent is: отмываниеденег.

Such ambiguity, in business and finance, may lead to misunderstandings, which may sometimes have very serious consequences. That is why awareness of the important differences between one's own culture and other cultures has become a growing issue in fields such as Business English.

M. Ellis M. and C. Johnson reasonably pointed out that it is a misconception that the ESP teacher ought to be an expert in subjects of business, economics or finance [4: 25]. As a matter of fact, domain-specific language teachers, do not teach the fundamentals of economic theory, nor business strategies, nor perfect management practice. Learners with limited experience who need to get information in those spheres of knowledge have to seek it from other sources. In an approach that focuses on the learner's professional knowledge and experience the language teacher's task is to train the students of business and finance to communicate in English about the subject they are specialized in.

Our analysis shows that Business English, like other registers in given domains, involves a certain amount of specific terminology. What puzzles beginners is being unable to decipher the meaning of a financial, economic or business term because it is of idiomatic origin. Examples: gravy train, meaning inf. disappr. 'a business or activity where people can make money or profit without much effort' [8: 239], sleeping partner, meaning 'a person who invests money in a business and has a right to a share of profits but does not work in it' [11: 392], grey wave, meaning 'a company that is thought to be potentially profitable and ultimately a good investment, but that is unlikely to fulfil expectations in the near future; the fruits of an investment in the present should be available when the investor has grey hair' [9: 160], the original maturity, meaning 'the length of time from the opening agreement to the final repayment date' [9: 218], to be in the black, meaning 'to be in credit' as in the statement: "After making losses for the last six years, we are at last in the black" [6: 21], etc.

On the other hand, the antonymous idiomatic expression to be in the red, meaning 'to have an overdraft, to be in debt' is frequently used in the sphere of economics and finance. It is also used in written correspondence as well as in oral communication, occurring both in professional settings and casual conversations, e.g. "Oh, dear, I am overdrawn again. I hate being in the red."

Certainly, for business and finance students it is interesting to know that the idiom originated in the banks' custom of showing the amount overdrawn in red type; overdrafts are shown in black today [6: 7].

As a result, the ultimate practical aim of teaching a foreign language is to help students to acquire complete mastery of the form and content of the language, so that they can fully and freely communicate using vocabulary items, idiomatic phraseology, grammatical constructions and finance and banking terminology, especially of idiomatic character, correctly and appropriately.

One cannot disagree that the educational aims of teaching a second language involve developing the student's cognitive abilities [2: 409] and intellect. Foreign language teaching also promotes students' general educational and cultural growth by increasing their knowledge of foreign countries.

There is no doubt about that the English language is full of pitfalls for the foreign student – bizarre spelling, illogical rules of grammar [6: 308] – but the most common problem lies in understanding and using the vast array of idioms. And it is English phraseology that makes the student advert to British customs and traditions, legends and beliefs, historical events and public figures, literary works and cultural and educational issues.

Consequently, the three aims of teaching a foreign language – practical, educational and cultural – are inseparable as they are realized in the students' obtaining a new code for receiving and conveying information. At the same time, they gain a deeper insight into the nature and functioning of the English language as a social phenomenon. And this insight is sure to provide intercultural competence and help the participants of communication to avoid communicative failures and meeting the pragmatic requirement of a particular discourse, especially that of business and management.

Bibliography:

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8. Murthy M. (Ed.). Longman Business English Dictionary / Ed. Michael Murthy. – Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd, 2007. – 594 p.

9. Oxford Dictionary of Finance and Banking: From international to personal finance. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. – 378 p. (ODOFAB)

10. Seidl Jennifer, McMordie W. English Idioms and How to Use Them / Jennifer Seidl, Wallace McMordie. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983. – 268 p.

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