Image of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine in the Language Awareness of Polish Philology Students (Results of the Linguistic Experiment)

Abstract

The ability to properly communicate with representatives of other cultures is a key asset in the modern globalized world. Its quality depends on the knowledge of a foreign language and the knowledge one has about their co-interlocutor. In order to obtain information on the ideas functioning in the minds of Polish students about the Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian culture, which reflects their knowledge and can be a premise to prepare them for intercultural contacts, a linguistic experiment has been conducted. The study used an association test among 24 students of Russian philology. 555 free Polish-language responses to stimuli about Russia, Belarus and Ukraine were collected. The results of the linguistic experiment have shown that, in general, the image of the three cultures is stereotypical. However, the respondents' knowledge of Russia and Russians, acquired as part of several years of academic education, is more extensive than that of Belarus and Belarusians as well as Ukraine and Ukrainians. The results of the study also showed that preparing for intercultural contacts and increasing the chances of young people on the labour market requires changes in academic curricula.