This study addresses a key issue in cognitive linguistics: how bilingualism influences the sensory-perceptual foundations of word meaning. Grounded in the theory of embodied cognition, which posits that semantic representations are built on multimodal sensory experiences, the research aims to identify the specific impact of bilingualism as a general factor and the differential effects of its variants. The central hypothesis is that both the fact of bilingualism and its specific type (e.g., Tuvan-Russian vs. Uzbek-Russian) systematically shift the perceptual profiles of words in a second language (L2). The research employs a comparative psycholinguistic methodology. The primary empirical base is the author's newly created TuvRusWordPerception database, containing ratings from 198 Tuvan-Russian bilinguals. For comparison, data from two other groups were used: 102 Uzbek-Russian bilinguals (from the UzRusWordPerception database) and 111 monolingual Russian speakers (from the RuWordPerception database). All participants assessed the same set of 600 Russian words (nouns, adjectives, verbs) using a 7-point Likert scale, rating the strength of association with five perceptual modalities: Vision, Hearing, Smell, Taste, and Touch. This unified procedure ensured the comparability of the collected data, which totaled hundreds of thousands of individual ratings. A comparative statistical analysis of the averaged modality ratings across the three groups revealed systematic differences. While the visual modality was dominant across all groups, its strength varied: Uzbek-Russian bilinguals showed the highest visual scores, followed by Tuvan-Russian bilinguals, with monolinguals showing the lowest. The most striking finding concerns non-visual modalities. Tuvan-Russian bilinguals consistently provided statistically significantly higher ratings for auditory, olfactory, taste, and touch modalities compared to both Uzbek-Russian bilinguals and Russian monolinguals. The latter two groups often showed similar, lower scores for these modalities. The study yields two primary conclusions. First, the fact of bilingualism itself has a significant enriching effect, as evidenced by the generally higher sensory ratings from Tuvan-Russian bilinguals compared to monolinguals. Second, and more importantly, the type of bilingualism is a decisive factor. The stark contrast between the Tuvan-Russian and Uzbek-Russian groups indicates that linguistic and cultural context modulates perceptual semantics. The "Tuvan" profile, characterized by balanced, high ratings across all senses, is interpreted as a result of their coordinative bilingualism and a cultural context that may emphasize multisensory experience. Conversely, the "Uzbek" profile, with a strong visual dominance, aligns with a subordinative type of bilingualism. Thus, the research proves that bilingualism does not merely alter language processing but qualitatively reshapes embodied semantic representations, depending on the specific bilingual experience. The author declares no conflicts of interests.
Current requirements for students majoring in economics refer not so much to the knowledge they acquire as to the competencies they develop, which enable them to apply this knowledge in their professional activities. The goal of foreign language training in a professional context is the development of professional foreign language communicative competence. Professional foreign language communicative competence of a future economist is seen as an integral quality of an economic agent - their ability and aptitude to use a foreign language as a tool for effective intercultural interaction in professional foreign language communication. This competence is formed by the following three components: value-motivational, cognitive-activity-based, and reflexive-creative. Reading profession-oriented foreign language texts plays a special role in the foreign language training of future economists, since reading and working with written sources are the primary means of obtaining job-relevant information. The goal of teaching profession-oriented foreign language reading to future economists is to develop their professional foreign language reading skills and to shape them as professionals capable of working with job-related information in authentic economic texts - understanding, analysing, evaluating, interpreting it, and comparing it with Russian realities, while preserving national identity and developing the core values of national culture. Thus, the goal of teaching profession-oriented foreign language reading to future economists is to develop profession-oriented foreign language reading skills. To clarify the objectives of teaching profession-oriented foreign language reading to future economists, we conducted a survey of students majoring in economics. Based on the analysis of written sources and the survey results, the following key objectives were formulated: developing the skills of understanding linguistic material (vocabulary, grammar, economic terminology, non-equivalent and background/partially equivalent vocabulary); developing the skills of understanding the content of economic texts; developing the skills of interpreting the content of economic texts (evaluation, interpretation, correlation with economic processes in Russia); and developing flexible foreign language reading. In order to facilitate the process of teaching a foreign language to students majoring in economics and to enhance their professional foreign language competence, it is essential to develop and implement English language teaching materials that are aimed at developing their professional foreign language communicative competence, are built on interdisciplinary links, and hold the potential to improve their professional communication skills. Authentic economic texts should be the primary focus of such materials. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.
The relevance of this article stems from the need to analyze the visit activities of regional political elites in Siberian regions within the context of the changing geopolitical landscape. Given the rising international tensions and the development of new economic ties, particularly with East Asian countries, it is crucial to understand how regional political visits influence the region's foreign policy and economic cooperation. The methods employed in this research include both qualitative and quantitative analyses of the visit activities of political elites. The authors compiled a database covering the period from 2019 to 2024 that includes regions of the Siberian Federal District, as well as the Zabaykalsky Krai and the Republic of Buryatia, and conducted a quantitative analysis of the visits using network analysis (clustering and the HITS algorithm). Special attention is paid to assessing the effectiveness of visits, measured by the share of signed agreements. The results of the study indicate that Siberian regions maintain significant connections with countries in Central and East Asia, aligning with Russia's foreign policy pivot towards the east and the geographical factor of the proximity of foreign actors. The analysis of visits allowed for the identification of two main clusters of cooperation: ties of Western Siberia with Central Asia and Eastern Siberia with East and Southeast Asia, underscoring the complexity and diversity of Siberia's geopolitical positioning in the contemporary world. We suggest that visit activities serve as an important indicator of the geopolitical positioning of a region and propose an index of visit activity, calculated using the HITS algorithm (also known as "hubs and authorities"), that shows the critical partners for this heterogeneous region. This index helps us understand that, despite the highest numerical activity of visits with Mongolia, the significance for the region in the framework of network analysis is lower because of the concentration on building ties mostly with a border subject. Conversely, Belarus, the PRC, and Uzbekistan demonstrate more spatially distributed visit activity across Siberian territory. The resulting index of visit activity could be used in various quantitative political research studies and in political geography. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.
This article analyzes Rudolf Smend's doctrine of integration, which became one of the key legal and sociological projects in the intellectual life of twentieth-century Germany. Smend may be considered one of the most important participants in the political and legal disputes of the Weimar period, offering an original dialectical theory of the state. Within the framework of integration doctrine, the state and constitution are conceived by analogy with Renan's definition of the nation as a daily plebiscite. The main points of the theory are analyzed, as well as criticisms from Smend's opponents, such as Hans Kelsen. The second part of the article is devoted to the attempt by Wilhelm Hennis, a student of Smend, to reconstruct political philosophy, which draws heavily on the theoretical resources of the doctrine of integration. Hennis believes that modern political science is in decline because of its break with the classical tradition of political thinking. The main problem, according to him, is the reorientation of political science from practice to theory, which has led to the disappearance from its consideration of key elements of classical politics, such as the doctrine of the purpose of the state. As an alternative, Hennis proposes a return to Aristotelian teleology and practical thinking about politics. He underlines the importance of practical knowledge and action in political science, as well as the need to consider the normative claims of political actors in order to describe political reality. Hennis considers Smend's doctrine of integration to be the only attempt in contemporary German political thought to link the problem of political form to the question of what the political is in general. The author declares no conflicts of interests.
Turkiye first faced the problem of accommodating refugees on its territory in 1990-2003 as a result of the Gulf War. However, the beginning of a systematic migration policy toward immigrants of non-Turkish origin was laid in 2005 - with the start of Turkiye's preparations for joining the European Union and the country's accession to the International Organization for Migration. In this regard, the article aims to define the features of Turkiye's migration policy in the period 2005-2025, which saw the mass immigration of Syrians to the country. The main sources of information are state legal acts and interviews with Turkish politicians in the media. The reference "points" of Turkish refugee policy were identified, the evolution of which followed a path of stricter policies. The first response of the Turkish government to the growth of migration was the "open door" policy, which prevailed in political discourse from 2005 to 2013; under the influence of the EU, it was replaced by the policy of "temporary protection," which was the cornerstone from 2013 to 2018; finally, at present, the main opinion is on the need to readmit Syrian refugees, which became dominant in the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkiye in 2023. The changes that occurred in the political life of Syria after the fall of the Assad government at the end of 2024 were perceived in Turkiye as an opportunity to successfully resolve the problem of Syrian refugees, as well as to receive economic dividends from Syria's economic recovery. It has been determined that the return of hundreds of thousands of Syrian citizens to their homeland is hindered by the following circumstances. First, the domestic political situation in Syria is far from stable, and the country cannot be considered safe for Syrian refugees for a long time. Second, the economic situation in Syria remains extremely difficult and is not conducive to the return of its citizens: only recently were the economic sanctions imposed on Syria by the United States partially lifted. Third, it is important to take into account the desire of the refugees themselves to return to the country from which they were forced to flee in order to save their lives. It has been established that, given Turkiye's pursuit of EU accession on the one hand and the need to avoid internal unrest on the other, a strict balance is required between the externalization and instrumentalization of migration policy. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.
