Lexico-cultural focus of French as a second language acquisition as a contributing factor to successful academic mobility

Introduction. The article examines the problem of enhancing student academic mobility. The purpose of the study is to identify the main lexical and cultural difficulties encountered by students at different levels of French proficiency in various situations in a foreign educational environment in a multicultural society. Materials and Methods.The authors used a questionnaire as a method of collecting survey information. Undergraduate students and graduates of Novosibirsk State University and Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University (n = 200) having experience of academic mobility were recruited for this study. The majority of respondents demonstrated B2 and C1 levels of language proficiency. The questionnaire contained a set of open-ended questions aimed at identifying linguistic and cultural difficulties experienced by students at a foreign university. The open questions enabled the respondents to express their opinion freely and completely. Moreover, the authors managed to collect useful information for developing individual educational trajectories. 63 students undertaking various degree courses at Novosibirsk State University who studied French at the beginning level for one academic year and reached A1-A2 levels of language proficiency were interviewed in order to identify which situations of everyday communication they considered as difficult. The authors clarified possible reasons for these difficulties. Results. The authors reveal typical communicative situations which are not appropriately included in the language courses. In addition, the authors summarize lexical and cultural difficulties experienced by Russian students at French universities and emphasize that teaching French at modern higher education institution should include situations typical for academic communication of mobile students and develop cultural and cross-cultural competencies. Foreign language acquisition should be based on cultural phenomena included in learning situations, aimed at ensuring a productive intercultural dialogue. Conclusions.The research highlighted the main lexical and cultural problems encountered by students at different levels of French proficiency in various situations of a foreign educational environment.