Strategies for language education integrating semiotic mechanisms of visual symbolism in english and russian

Abstract

The study examines how culturally encoded symbols in English and Russian communicative practices can be used to develop intercultural communicative competence in language education, using the eye as a focused case of semiotic analysis. The research adopts a qualitative multimodal design that combines comparative semiotic analysis of idioms and fixed expressions, thematic reading of selected literary texts, and a synthesis of empirical findings on gaze and eye contact in cross-cultural interaction. Data are drawn from major linguistic corpora, canonical and modern literature, and studies of non-verbal communication in English-speaking and Russian-speaking contexts. The results show systematic differences in how the two cultural systems associate visual symbolism with individual experience, social vigilance, and moral evaluation. These differences are consistent across verbal, narrative, and non-verbal modes and help explain typical zones of misunderstanding in intercultural communication. The conclusions emphasize the educational potential of integrating semiotic perspectives into foreign language teaching. Classroom work with culturally loaded symbols, including eye related expressions, literary episodes, and reflection on gaze norms, can support learners in recognizing culture specific patterns of meaning making, interpreting figurative language more accurately, and responding more appropriately to non-verbal cues. In this way, semiotic analysis becomes a practical tool for designing strategies that link linguistic training with the formation of intercultural awareness