Intercultural Learning in the French-as-a-second-foreign-language Classroom after English

The article looks at the intercultural learning of students mastering French as a second foreign language after English in the system of higher education as one of the most topical issues of modern linguodidactics. In the course of French learning, many linguistic and cultural phenomena, which arise in learners' consciousness at the level of conceptual schemes, become as if passed through language expression and correlated to verbal forms. At the same time, learner language consciousness does not want to accept a language system alien to it and, in communication in French, makes use of language samples which are English or Russian calques, whereas his / her cognitive consciousness rises against another foreign language seeing and describing reality differently. Due to the fact that failures in learning French as a second foreign language after English can be caused not only by linguistic interference, but also because of so-called extra-code information in the student's minds, the authors discuss some of the most significant factors influencing intercultural learning in the mastering of French as a second foreign language after English in connection with, firstly, perception, secondly, stereotypes actualization, and, thirdly, ethnocentrism. Students get the opportunity to learn phenomena of a new foreign language, accept them or, by means of dialogue and textual analysis of cultural information, correct mistakes made by them. The student's French-language consciousness is systematically differentiated from consciousness in his / her native language and English as a first foreign language, the interference is minimized, and Russian and English become the main support for learning French as a second foreign language. The specificity is shown of how the process of French-as-a-second-foreign-language learning is organized in a cross-cultural context. The contributors emphasize the importance of student learning to allocate as common and distinctive in his / or her own culture and a non-native one, to interpret phenomena of another language and culture, to analyze and explain the nature of values and motives, i.e. to develop empathy with a foreign environment. In this regard, a case is discussed which shows how an English university professor as a representative of British language and culture reacts to being compared with the Frenchwoman, which, in the opinion of a Russian teacher of English should sound as a compliment. At the same time, it is recommended to use in the educational process not only text material, but also films which reflect the specificity of a certain culture, considering, for example, the extent of context orientation in business communication. This promotes a better mastering of lexis, acquisition of concepts of native and target linguocultures through juxtaposing them, development of the listening skill, code switching, and formation of cultural sensitivity. In conclusion, intercultural learning in the French-as-a-second-foreign-language classroom after English in the context of multilingualism requires the teacher making use of a combination of specific and general cultural approaches. This allows addressing the issues of ethnocentrism and cultural identity, which cannot be only solved through acquiring knowledge about a particular culture or solely through forming the ability to behave correctly in a certain culture.

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