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This article analyses university textbooks on introduction to linguistics. The most commonplace textbook topics present a comprehensive overview of the main problems of linguistics. Yet, many confine themselves to a system-structural approach to language, neglecting or superficially addressing linguistic issues that became a priority at the turn of the 21st century. The topics most frequently covered include the essence of language, language levels, language as a system of signs, the origin of language, language and society, writing systems, languages of the world and the laws of language development, each explored in more than a third of the analysed textbooks. In addition, the following topics are occasionally raised: applied problems of linguistics, linguistic methods, speech and communication, language and thinking, history of linguistics, linguistics among other sciences and the comparative historical method. None of the textbooks, however, provide a rationale for introducing the topics in the selected order. Questions and assignments aiding in consolidating the knowledge are an uncommon occurrence, as are linguistic tasks. Most textbooks expect students to merely read, memorise and reformulate the material for seminars or exams without engaging in other activities. These and other problems of the course Introduction to Linguistics stem from a notable lack of discussion of its content and teaching methods in scientific periodicals. Discussing the general, rather than specific, issues related to the content and teaching of the course is essential for teaching it effectively in current conditions. This approach would also help unify educators teaching this course into a cohesive community with shared challenges and goals.

This article analyses how media texts utilise phraseological units featuring family relationship vocabulary, aiming to identify the relationship between the semantics of kinship terms and the overall phraseological meaning while describing possible semantic shifts in the understanding of these phraseological units by modern Russian native speakers. Empirically, the study draws on the newspaper corpus of the National Corpus of the Russian Language. A broad understanding of phraseology is adopted, encompassing phraseological expressions and fixed naming units. Continuous sampling methods were employed, along with observation, lexicographic, lexico-semantic and contextual analysis, systematisation and classification of linguistic material.

The analysis demonstrates that contemporary media language unveils the semantic richness of phraseological units containing kinship terms, elucidates the cultural connotations embedded within them and highlights usage trends, including individual variations in how native speakers interpret such expressions. A comparison of dictionary definitions and usage contexts made it possible to identify four types of connections between the meaning of a family relationship term and the idiomatic meaning of a phraseological unit: the preservation of the semantics of consanguinity in the meaning of the phraseological unit; the dependence of phraseological semantics on the figurative meaning of the kinship component; the augmentation of the meaning of the fixed expression; the development of a figurative phraseological meaning that does not directly reflect kinship semantics. It is demonstrated that media texts favour phraseological units that express direct kinship through patrilineal units.

This article delves into the ambiguous terminology surrounding intermediate translation, defining terms like intermediate translation, indirect translation, relay translation and support translation. Distinguishing between open and hidden variants of intermediate translation, the study is the first to examine intermediate translation from the perspective of translation output using a lingua franca as the source language. Additionally, it discusses the positive and negative effects of intermediate translation on the source culture and language, emphasising the dominant influence of the mediating language and intermediate culture.

This article aims to describe the linguistic features of explicating the cognitive model of ‘NARCISSISM’ in Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Methodologically, the study draws on cognitive salience theory, dealing with elements such as trajectory and landmark when analysing the verbalisation of the model in question. This way, it becomes possible to describe the processes of focusing and defocusing and thus identify the most prominent features of characters in the novel constituting the immediate circle of the narcissist. The research enabled the description of a three-level cognitive model of ‘NARCISSISM’ derived from Wilde’s text. Two blocks are distinguished in the model at the basic level: ‘the narcissist’s attitude towards the world’ and ‘the world’s attitude towards the narcissist and itself as perceived by the narcissist’. At the subordinate level, the block ‘the narcissist’s attitude towards the world’ is divided into ‘the narcissist’s attitude towards themselves’ and ‘the narcissist’s attitude towards their associates’, and ‘the world’s attitude towards the narcissist and itself as perceived by the narcissist’ falls into ‘the world’s attitude towards the narcissist’ and ‘the world’s attitude towards itself’. The article also details the primary means of expression and stylistic devices representing the cognitive model of ‘NARCISSISM’ in the text.

This article provides the first examination of the advertising efforts by the OBERIU avant-­garde collective, integrated into the leftist art paradigm of the first quarter of the 20th century. The study explores the pragmatic and semantic facets of OBERIU advertising, including its verbal and visual components as seen in placards, posters, and slogans. Advertising is presented as a speech act aimed at changing the viewer’s perception, using literary devices such as letter play, original slogans, and others. This article sets out to identify differences and similarities between OBERIU advertising and conventional ‘state-­supported’ advertising in Russia in the 1920s. It is shown that OBERIU advertising borrowed the form of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s versicular constructivist advertisements and pre-revolutionary cubo-futurist posters.

The ‘eastern branch’ of Russian émigré literature has received less scholarly attention than the works of authors who headed for the West in the aftermath of the 1917 revolution, making the position of the former within 20th-century Russian poetry a relevant research question. Valery Pereleshin is one of the prominent figures in the Chinese segment of Russian émigré literature. This article examines the metaphorical image of the bee, which has a crucial role in the poetics of Pereleshin’s book of poems On the Way (1937). The study focuses on three poems where this image is central. Analysing the image of the bee in the context of literary tradition and mythological connotations suggests that the bee is metaphorically related to the persona. This image embodies Pereleshin’s vision of the poet’s role and the nature of poetic work: the spiritual endeavours of a wordsmith should be accompanied by hard work, self-sacrifice and, ultimately, submission to the Higher Will.

This article aims to interpret the images of the red horse and the white poodle featured in Victor Sosnora’s poem The Latvian Ballad. These characters, mentioned in the final verses of each odd-numbered stanza, provide the leitmotif of the poem. Their appearance in the fictional world of The Latvian Ballad constitutes the primary event of the text. The title, indicating the genre and setting a national or local context, also significantly influences the meanings attributed to the red horse and the white poodle. The analysis pays particular attention to the spatiotemporal organisation of the text, highlighting the persona’s interpretation of the appearance of the red horse and the white poodle as miraculous within the context of the depicted rural idyll. A description is provided of the persona’s perspective and some aspects of the lyrical plot, which is chiefly shaped by the images of the two animals. A conclusion is drawn regarding the status of the persona as an artist and creator, which allows the entire The Latvian Ballad to be considered as a poetic text dedicated to the art and mission of the artist capable of perceiving hidden facets of the world and conveying to others the emotions evoked by what they have seen.

This article provides a brief overview of the current situation in Russian fanfiction, using texts from the popular Ficbook website. Although the research draws primarily on established concepts of the communicative component of fanfiction, it also offers a novel perspective on the relationship between readers and writers. This study presents the results of an internet-based survey and compares them with data from previous research efforts. It focuses on currently popular works, with particular attention given to fanfics based on Russian and Soviet literature. Of particular interest are those interactions between the author and the reader where there is a tendency for these roles to merge. The study explores readership preferences based on age and selected text stimuli. It also provides an overview of authors’ preferences and the most popular source materials, analysing ficwriters’ selection of prose, genres (such as fantasy and science fiction) and prevalent themes (including love, historical and social themes). The study also posits a unique relationship between the author and the reader within the Russian fanfiction community, shaped by the digital landscape and operating on market principles.

This study posits a correlation in younger school children between high levels of current stress and reduced self-acceptance, as well as between an increase in current stress and decreased satisfaction with emotional and instrumental support. The respondents were 131 pupils aged 8 to 12 years from years 3 and 4 of a school in the Moscow region. Methodologically, the study relied on the Bazhin-Etkinds colour relationship test, which helped analyse the ranks of preferred colours associated with the concept of ‘self’ and the categories of ‘self-acceptance’, ‘self-rejection’, ‘positive evaluation’, and ‘negative evaluation’. It also employed the F-SozU K-22 questionnaire in the version proposed by Kholmogorova and Petrova to determine satisfaction and types of social support. The Perceived Stress Scale — Children (PSS-C) was used to measure current stress in children. The study showed that the need for instrumental support among younger school children increases with the intensification of stress. Emotional support and social integration in stressful situations often prove ineffective, which can be attributed to insufficient support from family and friends and the fact that children experiencing intense stress narrow their circle of contacts, thereby limiting support from others.

The updated federal state educational standard designates the development of functional literacy as one of the intended outcomes for elementary school. Achieving this educational result is possible by engaging with the student in both the current developmental zone and the zone of proximal development. Such work, which requires preparing future teachers for this specific professional activity, can be organised through individualised interaction between the teacher and pupils. This study aims to examine the problem of individualisation in response to the need to individualise primary school pupils’ education while developing functional literacy and to assess the feasibility of preparing future teachers to master relevant professional competencies. Methodologically, the study draws on the competence-based approach, the findings of Volf Merlin and his associates regarding integral individuality as intra- and meta-individuality and the ideas developed under the supervision of Oleg Grebenyuk about individuality as the primary objective of a teacher’s professional role, the evolving nature of a future teacher’s individuality and the importance of cultivating the capacity for making meaningful professional choices. Theoretical sources were explored using methods of analysis and synthesis, while empirical research involved the group discussion method. The study emphasised the importance of focused efforts to cultivate among students of pedagogical universities the professional competencies needed for an individualised educational approach. It also uncovered the potential of a professional examination in evaluating the level of these competencies. In this line of thinking, the examination will serve as a motivation for enhancing the educational curriculum and the environment at a pedagogical university.

This article presents research findings on the potential of the educational process at a University college. It analyses the concepts of ‘potential’, ‘society’, and ‘potential of the educational process’. A model of educational potential is proposed and the requirements of the federal state standard for general and professional competencies within the disciplines Fundamentals of Life Safety and Life Safety in students of technology is examined. The study uncovers and examines forms of educational and extracurricular activities, delineates the principles behind the structure of educational potential and identifies three components of this potential: organisational, substantive and methodological.