Учебное пособие 1519

Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches” Issue 3 (34), 2021 ISSN 2587-8093

gram of the hierarchy of human needs by A. Maslow, the need for security, a sense of security occupies one of the most important needs.

Summing up the above, we note that for the representatives of the German linguistic culture, the concept of S i c h e r h e i t (s a f e t y ) is understood, first of all, as a sense of security from danger, which can be guaranteed to an individual by a family or government agencies. Money also acts as a guarantor of security. To achieve safety, it is necessary to comply with various safety rules and measures. S i c h e r h e i t (s a f e t y ) is one of the basic values for speakers of the German linguistic culture.

References

[1]Ryabov A. V., Kurbangaleeva E. Sh. Bazovy`e cennosti rossiyan: Social`ny`e ustanovki. Zhiznenny`e strategii. Simvoly`. Mify`. Monografiya. Moscow: Dom intellektual`noj knigi, 2003. 448 p. [in Rus.].

[2]Rоkеасh, М. The Nature of Human Values. N.Y., 1973. P. 3.

[3]Schwartz, S. H. Cultural Value Orientations: Nature and Implications of National Differences. Moscow: State University – Higher School of Economics Press, 2008. P. 12–16.

[4]Viking M. Hygge. URL: https://www.edutur.org/misc/hyugge-lagom-i-drugie- kontseptyi-kulturyi (vremja obrashhenija – 12.04.2021).

[5]Medvedeva T. V. Koncept Sicherheit v nemeczkoj lingvokul`ture [Sicherheit concept in German linguistic culture] // Vestnik udmurtskogo universiteta. Seriya Istoriya i filologiya, 2011. Ss. 46–52.

[6]Ionova S. V. Identifikaciya i diagnostika lichnosti v lingvistike: poisk edinichnogo i osobennogo // Yazy`k i my`shlenie: psixologicheskie i lingvisticheskie aspekty`. Materialy` XVII mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoj konferencii. Orekhovo-Zuevo: Gosudarstvenny`j gumanitar- no-texnologicheskij universitet, 2017. Ss. 79–81.

[7]Askol`dov-Alekseev S. A. Koncept i slovo / Russkaya slovesnost`: Antropologiya / pod obshh. red. V. P. Neroznaka. Moscow: Academia, 1997. Ss. 267–279.

[8]Popova Z. D., Sternin I. A. Kognitivnaya lingvistika. Moscpw: AST: Vostok–Zapad, 2007. 315 s.

[9]Stepanov Yu. S. Koncepty`. Tonkaya plenka civilizacii. Moscow: Yazy`ki slavyanskix kul`tur, 2007. 248 s.

[10]Vezhbiczkaya A. Leksikografiya i konceptual`ny`j analiz. Moscow: Yazy`ki russkoj kul`tury`, 2001. 200 s.

[11]Pishhal`nikova V. A. Istoriya i teoriya psixolingvistiki: kurs lekcij. Volume 2. E`tnopsixoligvistika. M.: MGLU. 2007. 227 s.

[12]Maslow, A. H. Motivation and Personality. N. Y.: Harpaer and Row, 1954. 351 s.

Analyzed sources

[1*] Datenbank für Gesprochenes Deutsch (DGD): Korpusmanagementsystem / LeibnizInstitut für Deutsche Sprache (IDS). 2012. URL: https://dgd.idsmannheim.de/dgd/pragdb.dgd_extern.welcome (retrieved 13.05.2021).

Dictionaries used

[1**] The Free Dictionary. URL: https://de.thefreedictionary.com/gesundheit (vremja obrashhenija – 10.03.2021).

[2**] Wahrig. Deutsches Wörterbuch. Gütersloh / München: Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag GMBH, 1986. 1493 S.

[3**] Paul, H. Deutsches Wörterbuch. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1992. 1130 S.

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[4**] DUDEN. Das Bedeutungswörterbuch. Mannheim: Bibliographisches Institut & F.A. Brockhaus AG, 2002. – 1103 S.

[5**] DUDEN. Universalwörterbuch. URL: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Gesundheit (vremja obrashhenija – 19.03.2021).

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METHODS AND DIDACTICS

DOI 10.36622/MLMDR.2021.46.44.004 UDC 802.0:378.147

ABOUT SOME ASPECTS OF FORMING

THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCY OF TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AT THE LESSONS OF ENGLISH

L.N. Kriatchko, O.I. Ryzhkov

____________________________________________________________________________

Voronezh State Technical University

Senior Teacher of the Chair of Foreign Languages and Technology of Translation Liliya Nicolayevna Kriatchko

e-mail: liliyankriatchko@mail.ru

Voronezh State Technical University

Senior Teacher of the Chair of Foreign Languages and Technology of Translation Oleg Igorevich Ryzhkov

e-mail: olegryzh@mail.ru

____________________________________________________________________________

Statement of the problem. At present, the teaching of a foreign language at a technical university rests on a com- petency-based approach. An important role in the linguistic education of the future specialists plays the formation of the students’ sociolinguistic competency, which is traditionally included in the structure of the sociocultural competency according to the national methodology.The formation of the sociolinguistic competency of the technical university students at the lessons of English has its distinctive features and is associated with introducing them to the culture and history of the country of the studied language, working with authentic professionally oriented materials, studying the norms of the native speakers’ communication behavior, the phenomena of territorially and socially determined linguistic variability.

Results. The research that has been carried out gives reason to argue that the students’ typical mistakes and difficulties associated with the choice of the geographically determined phonetic variants and the geographically and socially determined lexical variants in the process of communication indicate that the sociolinguistic competency of the students is formed insufficiently.

Conclusion. The focus of the teacher’s attention on the formation of the sociolinguistic competency in the educational process, explaining to the students the nature of the language variation phenomena, analyzing the reasons for the ambiguity of the nomination in each special case help the students to successfully overcome the problems of choosing a language variant in the communication process, and to become more confident users of English.

Key words: competency, competency-based approach, sociolinguistic competency, sociocultural competency, language variants, geographically determined variants, socially determined variants, stratification variability, situational variability, class differences.

For citation: Kriatchko L.N. About some aspects of forming the sociolinguistic competency of Technical University students at the lessons of English / L.N. Kriatchko, O.I. Ryzhkov // Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-didactic Researches”. – 2021. - № 3 (34). – P. 36-45.

Introduction

The modern stage of the educational process in the higher education system is characterized by a pronounced competency orientation and is considered as the formation of a student's set of competencies that are essential for the realization of their future professional activity.

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© Kriatchko L.N., Ryzhkov O.I., 2021

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“It is the competency-based approach that at the present stage determines the orientation of the educational process to the development of the person's abilities to choose optimal solutions from a variety of possible ones, to successfully implement the tasks with the use of innovative approaches, but not just to the assimilation of a certain set of knowledge, skills and abilities, which is typical for the traditional education system" [1, p. 31].

Teaching a foreign language in modern conditions is also based on the competency-based approach. The formation of the communicative competency is defined as the main goal of the language training in the documents of the Council of Europe [2, p. 10].

The communicative competency has a complex structure and includes the linguistic, sociolinguistic, social, strategic, discursive and sociocultural competencies.

An important aspect of teaching a foreign language is the formation of the sociolinguistic competency of students.

The foreign linguists M. Kaneil, M. Swain, D. Himes, J. Van Eck consider the sociolinguistic competency as the ability to choose linguistic forms depending on the context and the situation of communication [3, p. 1].

E.N. Solovova, giving a definition of the sociolinguistic competency, mentions the ability not only to choose linguistic forms but also to transform them in accordance with the context [2, p. 11].

O.Ye. Lomakina, T.I. Gustomyasova, in addition to the ability of transforming linguistic forms in a foreign linguistic society, see the sociolinguistic competency as “the mastery of the language variability in the process of communicative activity with the representatives of a different linguistic culture; the knowledge of background linguistic and cultural realities ”[4, p. 1].

Obviously, the scientists’ understanding of such a phenomenon as the sociolinguistic competency has a common basis (this competency belongs to the field of the foreign language communication in which the extralinguistic knowledge ensures the success of the communication to no less extent than the linguistic knowledge), but there are the differences in the degree of the detailing of the competency component structure and the factors ensuring its implementation, in emphasizing the certain aspects of its functioning.

In the domestic methodology it is customary to include the sociolinguistic competency, as well as the social competency which consists in the ability to communicate, especially with the representatives of the other cultures, and in the desire for the communication process into the structure of the sociocultural competency [2, p. 15].

Such a more compact internal organization of the communicative competency, while preserving its entire integrity, was developed by V.V. Safonova, and then supplemented with the compensatory competency at I.L. Beam’s suggestion [2, p. 15].

Some domestic authors (Yu.V. Manukhina, M.F. Ovchinnikova, Yu.A. Sinitsa), emphasizing the importance of the sociolinguistic competency in the process of mastering a foreign language, consider it necessary to form this competency as an independent one within the structure of the communicative competency [3, p. one].

N.S. Gorina's analysis of the document "Common European Competencies of Foreign Language Proficiency", as well as the works of V.I. Karasik, A.D. Schweitzer, L.B. Nikolsky, M. Halliday allowed the author to highlight the following components of the sociolinguistic competency: the knowledge and usage of sayings of the folk wisdom, the ability to recognize the communication registers, the social status and the social roles of the communication participants; the ability to recognize and make a choice of linguistic variants in the stratification and situational planes of variability; the knowledge of the norms of politeness of a certain national and socio-cultural community and the ability to use the adequate formulas of politeness, greetings and conversation in the act of communication; the ability to recognize different dialects and accents spoken by the native speakers of the target language, etc. [3, p. 2, 3].

“In the sphere of dialects and accents the SLC (SLC - sociolinguistic competency (the note of the author of the article) also includes the ability to recognize the linguistic characteris-

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tics of a person in terms of their social affiliation, the place of residence, the origin, the ethnicity and the occupation which are traced at the level of the grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, paralinguistics and kinesics” [3, p. 2].

The purpose of this article is to consider the features of the process of forming the sociolinguistic competency (as one of the components of the sociocultural competency) of the students of a technical university that study English, to analyze the difficulties and the typical mistakes of the students related to the choice of the territorially and socially determined phonetic and lexical linguistic variants for using them in the process of communication, to suggest some possible ways to overcome the problem.

Methodology of the research.

In this article the object of the research is the content of the foreign language sociolinguistic competency (as a component of the sociocultural competency) of technical university students, as well as the forms and methods of its formation in the process of teaching the "Foreign language" subject. The subject of the research is the development of the students' ability to recognize and make a choice of the geographically and socially determined pronunciation and lexical variants in the process of communication.

The relevance of this study lies in the fact that at the present stage the English language is a means of the international communication, and a future specialist - a graduate of a technical university - is faced with the task of not only becoming a mediator of cultures, but also of carrying out the international information exchange in the field of their professional activity. The complete formation of the English sociolinguistic competency (as a component of the sociocultural competency) of a graduate, and, in particular, their ability to select a language unit from a number of variants in the process of communication make them a more confident user of English as a foreign language.

In the course of the research, such methods as the content analysis, the method of observation, the method of comparison, the methods of the logical analysis and synthesis, and the method of generalization were used.

The results of the research.

The formation of the sociolinguistic competency (as a part of the sociocultural competency) of the technical university students is paid great attention at the lessons of English. It should be noted that this process is permanent and takes place at every lesson, even if this goal is not specifically set by the teacher. Any type of the training assignment that corresponds to the curriculum - reading an English text, doing a lexical and grammatical exercise or fulfilling a creative communicative task, watching a movie in English - all types of the work contribute to the growth of students' awareness of the speech and social behavior of the native speakers, of their national traditions and mentality.

A significant contribution to the achievement of the goal of forming the sociolinguistic competency (as a component of the sociocultural competency) of the students is made by their work with the cultural studies materials dedicated to the history and culture of the countries of the language being learnt: authentic texts, presentations, video and audio recordings, Internet resources.

At the same time, the students may feel unconfident and make mistakes in case they are faced with the need to choose a language unit from a number of other units - territorially or socially determined variants. The need for such a choice can arise at any level of the language system: phonetic, lexical, and grammatical, as well as at the level of the speech utterance. If in these situations students have questions and make errors, these indicate the insufficient level of the formation of their sociolinguistic competency and the essentiality for the teacher to carry out the certain work to overcome the problem.

The article analyzes the students’ difficulties and mistakes when choosing the linguistic variants at the phonetic and lexical levels of the language.

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Let us turn to the description of the most illustrative examples of such students’ difficulties and mistakes.

1. The choice of the pronunciation variant

Currently, in the process of learning English students are faced with a variety of English pronunciation variants. The reasons determined this phenomenon include: the role of English as an international means of communication, its status of lingua franca, a great popularity and the widespread prevalence in the world, as well as a high level of the development of the technical means of the audiovisual communication that contribute to the popularization of one or another pronunciation variant.

In the audio courses for the modern English textbooks, in the training audio and video materials from the Internet, in addition to the British pronunciation norm (Received Pronunciation) the American version of pronunciation, the speech of foreigners speaking English, as well as the regional accents of British English are widely represented.

This diversity reflects the real situation. According to the statistics, at present, English is the native language for one and a half billion inhabitants of our planet, and at least one billion people actively use it as a foreign language [5, p. 1].

In Britain itself, there is no unity of views on how to speak English correctly. British anthropologist Kate Fox writes that "… regional accents are now more acceptable – even welcomed if you want to make a career on the radio or television ... Many modern television and radio presenters have one or another regional accent ..." [6, p. 96].

The variegated picture formed by different accents of the English speech, which students hear in the media, on the Internet, cannot but influence their own pronunciation. The influence of American English is most clearly traced.

American English is an independent, wordly widespread and full-fledged analogue of British English. In a sense, it can also be viewed as a dialect with its characteristic lexics, grammar and pronunciation [7, p. 1].

American English does not only function and develop successfully, but also has a certain impact on its ancient relative. The research shows that in British English the American pronunciation of certain lexical units coexists with the traditional classical variant of pronunciation, and in certain cases it is the preferable one. A number of lexical units, such as kilometer (with the stress on the second syllable), Asia (with the voiced consonant), ate (with the diphthong in the initial position) are the examples of the complete assimilation of the American pronunciation by British English [7, p. 49-51].

The research shows that many technical university students that traditionally learn classical British English, often use the American type of pronunciation of some lexical units in their speech. Thus, the nouns dance, class, glass are pronounced [dæns], [klæs], [ɡlæs], the verbs worry and suit are pronounced [ˈwɜːrɪ], [su: t], in the word kilometer the stress falls on the second syllable, etc.

In the situation described the mechanical correction is not required. In addition to the fact that this method is ineffective, the question itself of the correctness or incorrectness of the pronunciation form is controversial.

Sue Garton, professor of Aston University (Birmingham, UK), in her lecture “Please take thousands of salutations to your lotus feet: the threat and the promise of English as a global language” at Voronezh State University on January 16, 2018, emphasized the right to exist and

, therefore, the acceptability of all existing variants of English, and the absence of the essentiality to correct the pronunciation peculiarities of the students studying English as a foreign language, unless they interfere with the communication, or it is the phonetic course aimed at teaching students a certain type of pronunciation.

At the same time, the need for a more detailed acquaintance of the non-linguistic university students with the geography of pronunciation variants, with their features, for the develop-

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ment of the students’ ability to recognize at least the most common linguistic variants, British and American to understand the main differences between them become increasingly obvious.

The examples of such basic differences are the following ones:

1.The sound [r] in British English is used only before vowels but in American English is present in all positions in the word.

2.In American English, the sound [j] is omitted in the words like Tuesday, tune, suit, stu-

dent.

3.In British English, in the final unstressed syllables of a number of nouns ending in -ion, -ia the sound [ʃ] is used, but in American English it is the sound [ʒ] (Asia, excursion).

4.In the American pronunciation of the words such as last, ask, aunt, glass, class, dance), the sound [æ] is used instead of the British [ɑː].

5.In the British pronunciation of the words pot, lot, the sound [ɔ] is used, and in American English they pronounce [ɑ] [7, p. 17-21].

In addition, there are the differences in the pronunciation of the widely used lexical units such as tomato (BE [təˈmɑːtəʊ], AE [təˈmeɪtəʊ]), legislative (BE [ˈledʒɪslətɪv], AE

[‘ledʒɪsleɪtɪv]), etc.

To perceive the necessary information about the main differences between the American and the British pronunciation variants most efficiently, it is essential to attract the students’ attention to the topic, for example, referring to the interesting facts from the history of the discovery of America, the appearance of the first settlers from Europe on the territory of the American continent , as well as the formation and the development of the USA state. It is advisory to mention the main factors that contributed to the formation of American English (not only at the phonetic level, but also at the lexical one), which include: the remoteness of the American continent from Europe, the national heterogeneity of the immigrants, in particular, the fact that there were both the British and the Irish among them, and also the representatives of the other nationalities, their interaction with the local Indian population, the emergence of many new realities in their environment [8, p. 1].

The information can be presented to students in the form of an oral story or an electronic presentation with a colourful visual accompaniment, contributing to their more effective assimilation of the educational material.

At the present stage the high degree of the influence of American English on the British variant of pronunciation should be highlighted, as a result of which, as it was already mentioned, in some cases a complete assimilation of the American variant of pronunciation by British English took place. Therefore, while uisng British English, it would not be a mistake to pronounce either as ['aɪðə] or [ˈiːðər], worry as [ˈwʌri] or [ˈwɜːrɪ], ate as [et] or [eɪt], to put the stress on the word kilometer on the second or the third syllable.

At the same time, if such freedom is permissible in relation to these lexical units, in the other cases, for example, when the students who study the classical version of English pronounce dance, glass, class with the traditional American [æ], it makes a strange impression on the listeners and is regarded as a mistake, as a gap in the education. If this explanation is understood by the students, they will refuse from such a pronunciation themselves, and no mechanical correction will be required.

In general, the students should be encouraged to adhere to the pronunciation norms of one of the variants, in order to avoid the unsuccessful mixing of sounds.

It is interesting to note that in 2020 during the COVID 19 pandemic when the Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined off the coast of Japan the Russian journalists who covered the event, and who mostly studied classical British English, pronounced the word Princess with the stress on the first syllable, which is typical for the American pronunciation. This fact confirms the great degree of the influence of the American culture in the world.

Such type of pronunciation of this word is found in Britain as well, but only the people who are very young, those who are under the age of 26, use it [9, p. 2].

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It would also be interesting for students to learn the pronunciation and lexical variants of Estuary English, which is spoken by many Londoners and the residents of the southern and eastern regions of Great Britain. It is remarkable that this dialect is the language of the youth who regard the British pronunciation norm (Received English) as the outdated, pretentious one [10, p. 8-10].

2. The choice of the lexical variant

In the process of studying the subject "Foreign Language" the students of the technical university get acquainted with various linguistic variants not only at the pronunciation level, but also at the other language levels, in particular, at the lexical one.

In the course of the lessons great attention is paid to familiarizing the students with terminological vocabulary, in which British English and American English are widely represented. When working on the specialty texts, students discover the differences in naming the same technical realities in British and American English.

For example, for the terminology of the specialty "Highways" the following pairs of variants are typical: BE pavement, AE sidewalk; BE lorry, AE truck; BE gasoline, AE petrol; BE crossroads; AE intersection, etc.

The research shows that in the technical discourse such ambiguity of the nomination is surprising for the students, and thus the difficulties arise in the translation of the texts. For example, after the students have learnt the British term embankment, it makes it tough for them to translate the American term fill with the same meaning, and the questions to the teacher appear.

To understand the nature of the linguistic phenomenon of the usage of the British and American terminological variants in special technical texts the film "Great Races" by American director Blake Edwards helps, in which two mechanics, an Englishman and an American, talk about the same tool, and they cannot understand each other, because the Englishman calls it spanner, and the American names it wrench. Students can be demonstrated the episode from this film or the teacher can just convey to them the idea in a few words.

As a result of the certain work carried out by the teacher at the lessons, namely, familiarizing the students with the examples of the British and American lexical variants that are typical for the language of their technical specialty, demonstrating the usage of these variants in various text materials, they no longer have difficulties in choosing this or that lexical unit from the described category and applying it in their speech. Due to the fact that they study both the British and the American authentic professionally oriented texts, they primarily give preference to the terminological units that are encountered with a higher frequency. So, the students are more familiar with the term pavement (BE) than with the term sidewalk (AE). The term roundabout (AE) is used by them more often than the term traffic circle (BE).

Despite the fact that the main goal of studying a foreign language at a technical university is to develop the students’ ability to communicate in a foreign language in the field of their future professional activity, the students continue improving themselves in the other aspects of the process of mastering the subject. Thus, they develop their basic foreign language skills within the framework of such cultural topics as My Family, My Working Day and Weekend, My Hobbies, Travelling, Cultural Traditions of the English-Speaking Countries, etc.

The research shows that in the process of learning English within the framework of these topics the students have difficulties in translating some lexical units because of their semantic ambiguity and in the choice for a particular lexical unit in the certain communicative situations.

The most common examples of such lexis are the words lunch, dinner, and supper. Students are not always sure whether to translate the word lunch as the second morning meal or the meal in the middle of a day (both meanings of the lexical unit are present in the dictionary entries), and whether they should call the meal in the middle of a day by the word lunch or dinner?

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Even more complicated problem is the presence of two variants dinner and supper employed to name the evening meal. Which one is preferable? Is dinner an earlier and more abundant meal, and is supper a light snack before bed?

British anthropologist Kate Fox argues that the peculiarities of the application of these lexical units are associated with the speaker's belonging to a particular social class. Most native speakers of English use lunch to name an afternoon meal, but they employ dinner to name an evening meal, with the exception of the working class that mean an afternoon meal by the word dinner [6, p. 99, 100].

According to the scientist, both words dinner and supper are used to name an evening meal, but the former carries the additional connotation a festive, solemn meal, while the latter can be part of the lexical combinations such as kitchen supper, which indicates the modest, everyday character of the meal. In Great Britain the word supper is most often used by the representatives of high society or the upper middle class [6, p. 99, 100].

In the same way, the representatives of high society use the word pudding to name a dessert, even when they are talking about ice cream. The lexical variants such as sweet, dessert, or afters give out the speaker’s belonging to a more democratic stratum. The word dessert is the most neutral of the three ones, but for high society a dessert is a special dish made from fresh fruit, which is served at the end of a meal after sweet food, and which is eaten using cutlery [6, p. 102].

In addition, it is curious to observe that aristocrats and the representatives of the upper middle class call their dwelling house, but ordinary people or the representatives of the middle stratum of the middle class call it home. The working class people use the word indoors in this situation [6, p. 104].

In the process of completing the assignment related to the description of rooms in a house, the students usually ask which of the several possible variants offered by the dictionary are preferable: drawing room, sitting room, living room, or lounge? Kate Fox explains that the expression drawing room, derived from withdrawing room, in the other words, a room into which you can withdraw, has gradually fallen out of use, especially since it is not suitable for referring to small spaces in modern dwellings. A more common expression for high British society or the upper middle class is sitting room, sometimes living room, although the latter variant is not welcome. The word lounge gives out the representative of the "lower classes" [6, p. 101].

The existence of the variants when naming the pieces of furniture in a room can also be class-related. So, the representatives of the upper middle class will use the word sofa, but the representatives of the more democratic strata will name the object settee or couch [6, p. 100, 101].

In the educational texts, in addition to the widespread name for the event of receiving guests - party, students also encounter the nomination function. They ask questions about the difference between these two lexical units. The research carried out by the British anthropologist suggests that the party variant is more typical for the upper strata of society and the function one is more popular in the middle class. There is another name for a party used in the working class environment - do. Kate Fox also notes that the treats served at a function are called refreshments,

As Kate Fox puts it: “… England is a society with a highly developed class conscious …”

[6, p. 119].

According to A.D. Schweitzer and L.B. Nikolsky the social variability in a language is realized in two planes: situational and stratification. If the situational variability is influenced by the social situations, the stratification variability is determined by the linguistic and speech differences between social classes, strata and groups. The class conditioned lexical units that were described above are stratification variants. At the same time, the scientists observe a close relationship between the stratification and situational variability. It is almost impossible to de-

42

scribe stratification variants without taking into account their situational conditioning [11, p. 76-85].

For example, in accord with Kate Fox's research, the children from the democratic strata of the society address their parents as mum and dad, while the children from upper circles call them mummy and daddy. At the same time, the scientist notes that these indicators are not accurate. A small kid might call their working-class parents mummy and daddy and vice versa. But, if a child who is more than ten years old calls their parents mummy and daddy, then they definitely belong to high society [6, p. 103].

The addresses mum, dad and mummy, daddy are stratification variants because they are determined by class differences, but the child's age, which is relevant for precising the fact that the speaker belongs to a particular social class, is certainly an element of the situational variability.

When working with the general cultural topics, the students also encounter the British and American lexical variants determined by the geographic localization, for example, BE wardrobe; AE closet. The existence of not one, but of two or several ways of nominating the objects of the environment requires the explanation of the nature of the phenomena of variability to students [12, p. 10].

As a rule, the students do not have difficulties in learning the facts of the sociolinguistic or sociocultural nature that are interesting to them, but for a more lasting memorization of the educational material students can be suggested to do a number of exercises that highlight the differences between the lexical variants described above.

Here are the examples of such exercises:

Exercise 1. Choose variants A, B, or C to replace the word in parentheses.

In the first exercise, it is necessary to select a lexical unit-variant depending on the proposed situation. For example, you can only be invited to Buckingham Palace for a festive dinner, so the variant dinner should be chosen.

Exercise 2: Match the word in column A with its definition in column B.