Methodological aspects of background knowledge formation in future military translators through supplementary education

Aim. To determine the place and role of background knowledge in the language training of translators in the field of professional communication through the program of supplementary education at a military aviation university.

Methodology. The works of domestic and foreign scientists in the field of cultural studies, linguoculturology, sociolinguistics, linguistics and methods of teaching foreign languages were used as a theoretical base. The provisions of competence-based, linguo-cultural, sociolinguistic, and cognitive approaches, as well as methods of systemic, semantic, and contextual analysis, have become the most significant for the study. Methods of theoretical analysis and synthesis, comparison and interpretation, generalization of pedagogical experience were used.

Results. The importance of background knowledge for effective intercultural interaction and adequacy of translation in the field of professional communication is justified, which makes it possible to consider mastering background knowledge as one of the objectives of training translators. The concept of “background knowledge” has been clarified, which implies in a broad sense knowledge of realities of communication participants, and in linguo-didactics and translation studies – vocabulary with sociocultural component, the understanding of which guarantees communication between representatives of different cultures. The classification of background knowledge of a military translator in the field of professional communication is proposed; the language features of the background knowledge of military discourse are described. A system of exercises for the development of background knowledge by military translators and the formation of the necessary translation skills and abilities in them is presented.

Research implications. The results obtained can be used in further study of the role of background knowledge in the preparation of translators for another field of activity. The practical significance of the study is explained by the implementation of the developed system of exercises for the formation of background knowledge of military aviation orientation in the creation of original teaching aids and in the practice of teaching translation disciplines at the Department of Foreign Languages, Air Force Institute for Pilots as part of the program of additional education “Translator in the field of professional communication”.

Conclusions. Mastering background knowledge is recognized as an important component of training military interpreters in the field of professional communication, and therefore should be integrated into the educational process and used to form a multilingual, multicultural personality that forms a certain level of foreign-language professional communicative competence. In addition to mastering language phenomena, adequate communication and translation requires a large amount of nonlanguage information, the so-called background knowledge, among which special attention should be paid to language realities that do not have an exact correspondence in their native language. In the scientific community, lexical units with national-cultural semantics and the ability to use them in situations of intercultural interaction are called linguistic competence. To provide methodological support for the development of this competence in future translators, firstly, the most characteristic linguistic features of military discourse were selected and described and, secondly, a system of exercises was proposed for mastering background knowledge by military translators and developing the necessary translation skills and abilities. The study done will contribute to increasing the effectiveness of the educational process in the additional education program “Translator in the field of professional communication.”

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