Regional economic development : the case of wooden buildings of Kazan Khanate

The article considers one of the stages in the research history of one of the understudied areas in the material culture of the Kazan Khanate, which concerns the matters of residential and utility buildings. Their archaeological studying is one of the important directions allowing to trace the layout of the settlement, its material culture, and development dynamics. Among the most thoroughly studied archaeological monuments of this period is Kazan. Not a single architectural monument of 15th - first half of 16th XVI century has preserved in Kazan until the present day. This is also due to the fact that the primary construction material in the region was timber, which is subject to eventual complete natural destruction. Therefore, intact preserved structures are rarely discovered at excavations. In rare cases, due to a greater humidity of the ground, it is possible to reveal the foundations of preserved wooden buildings. In recent years, numerous wooden buildings have been revealed as a result of large-scale archaeological excavations in the territory of Kazan Kremlin. Their investigation provided new material on the understudied period in the history of the town.peer-reviewe

Exploring scientific language in biologists’ academic course of English

The article is devoted to the questions connected with teaching English to students of non-linguistic specialties. For example, teaching professionally focused reading and writing scientific articles and organization of listening on professional topics. In these cases, as it is mentioned teacher must choose teaching materials carefully and very often use discursive analysis. The methods used in the article are questionnaire and observation. The main purpose of the article is to correlate results of the questionnaire which was connected with expectations of foreign language course and which was done by the first-year students of the Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology and some features of teaching "English for specific purposes" which can help to satisfy expectations. Materials of the article can be useful for university foreign language teachers during elaboration of "English for specific purposes" course.peer-reviewe

Historical background for the formation of manuscript book art of the Tatars

The chosen theme is relevant since in the modern world researchers address to the study of national traditional cultures. Comprehension of the book art significance in its historical evolution is one of the conditions for solving not only the preservation of spiritual and material culture monuments but it is also the study of the cultures genesis and finding the way for their further development. The article is aimed at revealing the factors of the formation and development of the book art traditions, determined by objective historical conditions. In this the worldview of the mystical and ascetic teachings of Islam - Sufism, which is characterized by the cult of poverty, played a fundamental role. The research of the problem is based on the classical methods of various sciences: history, cultural studies, art history, which allows creating a holistic picture of the book art development in the culture of the Tatars.peer-reviewe

Specifics of computer discourse translation from English into Russian

Relevance of the problem under study is caused by need of further development of science and technology in Russia and abroad and it inevitably puts on the agenda the issue of information exchange in the field of scientific and technological achievements. This article is directed on identification and analysis of main features of translation of lexical and grammatical phenomena of computer discourse. The leading approaches to research of this problem are logical and linguistic analysis, method of actualization, selection, systematization and generalization with analysis of the specifics of lexical-grammatical phenomena of computer discourse point of translation studies. The main results of the study are that the concept of computer discourse and the characteristics of technical translation were analyzed; specificity of computer terminology translation was revealed; lexical and grammatical phenomena of computer discourse in terms of the theory of translation were investigated. The article may be useful for IT teachers when preparing teaching aids and manuals on languages, seminars and special courses on English in the field of information technology and dictionaries of the English and Russian languages.peer-reviewe

Formation of place names in Tatar

The relevance of this research is closely bound with the general tendency of linguistics in the attempt to reveal the human factor in the language, as the most valuable results of the research are found in comparison of the languages. The goal of this article is to find out the productivity of the place-naming affixes -lyk/-lek (-ly/-le) in Tatar and their equivalent in English. The main approach of the research is interdisciplinary which requires the usage of such sciences as Geography, History, Linguistics, etc. The given article presents the results of historical and linguistic research that is intended to find out the structural peculiarities of Tatar and English place names. The materials can be useful for linguists and historians to study the History of nations and the History of languages.peer-reviewe

Stylistic peculiarities in self-translation

The paper deals with stylistic peculiarities which are characteristic of V. Nabokov’s self-translation of “Lolita”, his most famous novel. We analyze how the writer translates phraseological units that, on the one hand, are widely used in the source text and, on the other hand, present a real challenge for translators. The research identifies the reasons that caused the writer to translate his novel himself and studies the translation techniques employed by V. Nabokov. Reproducing “Lolita” in the Russian language the writer creates a new text targeting at the Russian reader. He overcomes the asymmetry of the positions in artistic freedom and creative independence of an author and a professional translator. His auto-translation represents “ideal” translation since the author is in a better position than any ordinary translator because he knows his creation as nobody else and has the authority to allow himself shifts in the translation which might not have been ‘allowed’ by another translator. The results of V. Nabokov’s self-translation can be regarded as certain “gold standards” for others to make use of.peer-reviewe

Linguistic innovations in Romain Gary's creative laboratory

In this article we study a new background revealed due to Russian translations made by N. Mavlevich in 2015 of the first unpublished novel by Romain Gary, holder of the two Prix Goncourt prizes for his novels The Roots of Heaven (Les Racines du ciel) and The Life Before Us (La vie devant soi) published under the pseudonym Emile Ajar. The empirical writer mentioned about his debut novel in the book The Night is Calm (La nuit sera calme) and his posthumous literary essay The Life and Death of Emil Ajar (Vie et mort d'Emile Ajar) thus giving a clue to understanding of his “creative laboratory” related to phenomenal literary mystification. We assume that language experts will be interested in studying of Romain Gary's linguistic biography who created his novels in English and French, because Russia was the country where his linguistic development had started. By understanding the role and place of the author's creative laboratory in linguistics we can define relevance and academic novelty of suggested study. The study allows to analyze Romain Gary's creative works from a new perspective and goes beyond the existing method of obtaining knowledge. The main research objects include the author's language and linguistic behavior of his characters that are featured with well-structured images evoked by Russian words kept in mind from childhood. This system of values is close to the Russian readers and is in tune with the spirit of the modern age. This aspect in the framework of the language-specific nature can be a subject for further research. Linguistic findings made by Romain Gary facilitated the development of the literary language and were focused on increasing of capabilities of the literary speech. Analysis of linguistic innovations in the Romain Gary's creative laboratory allows to receive important information about peculiarities of links between the cognitive and linguistic content discovered in linguistic facts and speech phenomena and make some crucial observations.peer-reviewe

Game-based approaches for specializing in information technology

The paper deals with game-based learning approaches to teaching English as a foreign language to students majoring in IT at Kazan Federal University, Russian Federation. As there appeared a lot of game-based teaching methods, the techniques called gamification as well as differences between them are reviewed because both of them are supposed to be similar in education of late. Another problem with games in education is that some scholars still do not differentiate properly between gamification and game-based learning. This misconception is reflected even in their recent scientific works where gamification sometimes is regarded as mere usage of games in learning process. According to researches, the impact of games on learning process is efficient in terms of developing vocabulary and speaking skills, improving foreign language acquisition, boosting motivation and engagement of students and creating opportunities to apply acquired knowledge in practice. Moreover, implementing games in class environment (depending on the type of the game used) enhances critical and logical thinking, problem solving, team work skills. Using various games in the learning process is particularly efficient for IT students, since it is related to their major. Another advantage of game-based learning is that it can be realized within the learning management system (LMS). In conclusion, the experience of the English teachers at Kazan Federal University in introducing game-based methods to teaching process, including its outcomes, is presented.peer-reviewe

Connotation and language culture

Among an array of language skills, which students should obtain during their university education, there are translating skills that will help them to fully comprehend their potential and will promote their knowledge, academic and research mobility. This paper addresses the problem of training and improvement of students’ translating skills and its targets are to reveal peculiarities of non-equivalent vocabulary and transferring from one language into another without distorting reality and without losing characteristics of language society. The leading approach to research is problem – thematic. The main results of research are in systematization of methods of translation. The materials of the article may be of interest for students and foreign language teachers.peer-reviewe