Information on the thesis

The work studies the problem of organization of the concepts of EDUCATION
in terms of their cognitive and cultural perception and linguistic interpretation by the
native speakers of English.
Topicality of the research is predetermined by the wide explication range of
EDUCATION concepts due to social and cultural significance of this phenomenon.
EDUCATION-related concepts are investigated within two dimensions: the national
picture of the world of the native speakers of English and the individual author’s
picture of the world of David Lodge. The comparative analysis of the ways of
semantic representation of EDUCATION-related concepts in both dimensions has
been carried out.
Conceptual sphere of EDUCATION is viewed as an integral part of the overall
conceptual system of the English language, and can be studied as a conglomeration of
EDUCATION-related concepts.
Current research is based on an integrated approach, referred to as semantic and
conceptual analysis which allowed to identify, describe and analyse the equivalents
of the relevant concepts in the English language and to reconstruct the conceptual
sphere, or domain, of EDUCATION. In the course of processing the verified data
collected from English dictionaries, encyclopaedias and The British National Corpus,
five groups of conceptual conglomerations (conceptual fields) in the language picture
of the world of the native speakers of English have been identified. Language data
taken from the novels by David Lodge served the source for reconstruction of the
conceptual sphere of EDUCATION in the individual language picture of the world of
a native English speaker.
In the course of the research, the following conceptual fields within the domain
EDUCATION were identified: «Man in Education», «Education as a process»
«Education as a result», «Education as a physical object», «Education as an abstract
notion». Field-oriented approach favoured to distinguish nuclear, central and
peripheral constituents of the domain.
The obtained dictionary and textual data served the material for further
comparative analysis of the nominative content and structural organization of the concepts of EDUCATION in the language picture of the world of the native speakers
of English and the language picture of the world of David Lodge. The results of the
study show that the conceptual fields are heterogeneous and contain different
numbers of nuclear, central and peripheral constituents, although the overall structure
of the conceptual sphere as well as the ways of organization of the concepts coincide
in both dimensions under study.
Having considered the results of linguistic and conceptual analysis combined
with the obtained statistical data, a conclusion has been made that, despite certain
statistical differences between the nominative density of the conceptual fields in the
studied pictures of the world, they both display similar tendencies as to reflection of
the phenomenon of EDUCATION in the English language. First of all, the
dominance of the conceptual domain «Man in Education» over other conceptual
fields suggests the anthropocentric tendency in the perception of the world by the
native speakers of English. Secondly, the descending order of language interpretation
of the other concepts, as observed in both studied dimensions, is as follows:
«Education as a process», «Education as an abstract notion», «Education as a result»,
«Education as a physical object». Herewith, the basic hypothesis of cognitive
linguistics about the correlation between nominative content of a concept and its
associative significance for a speaker may be confirmed. The comparative analysis
reveals that individual language picture of the world of David Lodge partially copies
nationally related aspects of the concept of EDUCATION. It is natural, since the
individual worldview is narrower than the national one. However, some individual
concepts were identified in the author’s discourse which cannot be grasped through
dictionary definitions only (Religious Values, Military Training, Bureaucracy in
education, Routine in education and others).
In the result of the complex linguistic and conceptual study and the comparative
analysis, it was disclosed that the EDUCATION concepts, as interpreted through
language, are universal, characteristic of the sphere of EDUCATION all over the
world; they are also nationally-marked, peculiar to British educational system, and
individual, that is, created by and important for a particular citizen.
Key words: the domain of EDUCATION, concept, nominative content,
nominative density, national language picture of the world, individual language
picture of the world.