No. 4 (2025) Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics

This article substantiates how national mentality is expressed and reinforced through language, and how the culture, fundamental spiritual values, moral standards, and centuries-old life experiences of a people are reflected as a semantic structure through language, especially in proverbs. The reflection of national mentality in Uzbek folk proverbs containing the "horse" component is analyzed using a linguocultural approach.

This article is devoted to the study of linguistic problems of translation of diminution forms between Russian and Uzbek languages. The paper examines the morphological features of the formation of diminutives in both language systems, analyzes the main translation difficulties and suggests strategies to overcome them. The study shows that differences in the structural and typological characteristics of languages create significant obstacles to the adequate transmission of semantic and stylistic nuances of terminative formations.

This study examines the application of Skopos Theory in translating Uzbek tourism texts into English, highlighting the need for cultural adaptation to meet the expectations of international audiences. As tourism discourse aims to promote destinations and attract foreign visitors, the translator’s role goes beyond linguistic equivalence, requiring sensitivity to pragmatic functions, target culture norms, and promotional intentions. Skopos Theory, introduced by Hans Vermeer, prioritizes the purpose (or skopos) of the translation over strict fidelity to the source text. This functionalist approach is particularly suitable for tourism translation, where cultural transference and persuasive impact are central. The research examines specific examples of Uzbek tourism texts, identifying common cultural references, idioms, and historical expressions that present challenges in direct translation. It then demonstrates how adapting these elements for English-speaking audiences can enhance comprehensibility and appeal without compromising authenticity. The study also discusses strategies such as localization, omission, and explanatory additions that align with the intended skopos. The findings support the view that effective tourism translation must mediate between source and target cultures through purposeful, audience-oriented choices.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI), especially large language models (LLMs), has become one of the most transformative yet debated innovations in education. Advocates contend that AI can act as a strong cognitive scaffold, providing personalized feedback and encouraging higher-order thinking. Critics, however, warn about superficial engagement, cognitive offloading, and algorithmic biases that could weaken deeper learning. This paper explores whether generative AI can genuinely support the development of cognitive skills in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. Using Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and Bloom’s taxonomy, it investigates how AI-facilitated Socratic dialogue, reflective learning logs, and genre transformation tasks can promote analytical reasoning, metacognitive awareness, and skill transfer. However, risks like “illusory facilitation” and digital inequalities highlight the importance of careful pedagogical integration. By incorporating AI into reflective practices, critical questioning, and peer collaboration, teachers can turn it from a passive tool into a proactive partner in fostering independent, critical, and socially responsible learners.

This article explores the role of active reading and question formulation strategies in enhancing critical thinking among young adolescent learners. It emphasizes the integration of top-down and bottom-up reading approaches and highlights the importance of activating learners’ background knowledge, encouraging inquiry, and making personal connections. The use of traditional stories, such as Uzbek folk tales like Zumrad and Qimmat, The Golden Watermelon, and Nasreddin Khodja anecdotes, serves as a culturally rich context for critical reading. The study demonstrates how these narratives can foster student engagement and promote deeper understanding through guided questioning. Practical classroom applications and recommendations are also provided to support the development of reflective, analytical readers in the EFL context.

This article explores the translation of linguacultural realia in two culturally distinct folktales: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs and the Uzbek folktale Zumrad va Qimmat. Through a comparative analysis, it examines how culturally specific items such as food, household objects, social titles, and ritual expressions are rendered in translation. The paper applies qualitative comparative methods to identify realia types and analyse translation strategies such as loan translation, adaptation, descriptive translation, and omission. The findings highlight the translator’s role as a cultural mediator, showing that descriptive translation dominates in the case of culturally unique items, while adaptation and substitution are preferred for more universal concepts. The article contributes to understanding the complexities of folklore translation and offers practical insights into balancing cultural preservation with reader accessibility.

This study investigates the integration of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technologies in the collection and analysis of spoken learner corpora, with a focus on L2 contexts. Employing a mixed-methods design, the research evaluates the effectiveness of ASR systems, specifically, Whisper and BERT-based models in producing accurate transcriptions and facilitating language acquisition. Quantitative results demonstrate high transcription accuracy, while qualitative data reveal that ASR-supported feedback significantly enhances learner engagement, pronunciation, and speaking proficiency. Technological limitations and ethical concerns related to data privacy and feedback mechanisms are also taken into account. Overall, the findings highlight the transformative potential of ASR technologies in language education by enabling scalable, real-time assessment and personalized feedback, while underscoring the need for continued refinement and equitable implementation across diverse learner populations.

This article examines the effectiveness of using audiovisual materials in education. It also describes methods for presenting these audiovisual materials in accordance with contemporary requirements, providing examples.

This article analyzes the pedagogical and psychological foundations of developing academic writing skills among prospective English language teachers. The study employed theoretical analysis of literature, comparative‑analytical methods, psychological‑pedagogical analysis, and systematization of data. The results demonstrated that academic writing is distinguished by its structured organization, scientific style, analytical approach, and cognitive orientation. It was also found that academic writing enhances students’ critical thinking, metacognitive strategies, independent research skills, and communicative competence. The study confirms that the effective formation of academic writing skills requires an integrative approach that combines national and international experiences. This article contributes to improving the scientific and professional training of future English language teachers.

This article explores the content, structural components, and development criteria of pre-service primary school teachers’ methodological competencies based on pedagogical collaboration. It analyzes the key elements of methodological competence, including cognitive, practical, reflective, innovative, and cooperative components. The study substantiates the role of pedagogical collaboration in methodological training, referring to the educational policy documents of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The article also provides practical recommendations for developing professional competencies in future teachers.

This article examines the core pragmatic aspects of literary texts. The pragmatics of a text is analyzed at phonographic, lexical, syntactic, and whole-text levels. The role of each level’s devices in shaping communicative impact between author and reader, as well as among characters, is discussed. Using examples from Uzbek literature, the study explains the pragmatic significance of devices such as italics, capitalization, quotation marks, lexical expressiveness, word order, and repetition. Based on relevant scholarly sources, the article also presents classifications of literary text pragmatics and outlines methods of analysis.