Teaching forms of language ethics to non-Georgian speakers (within the 1+4 program)

Abstract

Learning a language is improbable without taking into account the socio-cultural context,
and etiquette is an integral part of the society's culture, which is manifested in the language
along with other factors.
When teaching the means of expressing etiquette, we think that the language learner should
first understand that the euphemism of speech in the Georgian language is realized in
different ways: through a grammatical morpheme, syntactic means, lexical substitution, and
intonation.
At the early level of language competence (A1-A2), the learner should know about the
pronoun ‘tkven’ (you) and the second function of the plural ending -t (shen khar (you are) –
tkven khart (you are) (polite), as well as about the verb substitute forms (brdzandebit (you
are (polite), dabrdzandit (sit down (polite), mobrdzandit (come in (polite), miirtvit (help
yourself)…).
At the next levels of language learning (B1-B2), we gradually move on to the replacement of
the lexical form and introduce the diversity of verb euphemisms in the Georgian language
(saying, commanding, reporting, etc., for example, in the phrases required when drawing up
official documents.
The language learner should also know that the manner or intonation of pronouncing
words/sentences has the function of semantic differentiation: an etiquette form pronounced
with a different intonation may contain nuances of irony and mockery instead of politeness.
A B2 level learner should be able to perceive syntactic forms when: a) a sentence expresses
euphemism; b) euphemism is expressed by a collocation (for example, forms of address,
subjunctive mood, etiquette interjections, so-called “compensating words and phrases” used
to construct the text...).
The report will discuss the methods of teaching the mentioned language units using both
existing and new resources and means