Structural and content-related characteristics of the field “Extracurricular Activities” in English and Russian: a linguocultural aspect

The study aims to compare the designations of extracurricular activities in English and Russian in a linguocultural aspect, based on normative and programmatic educational documents, as well as curricula of schools in Great Britain, the USA, and the Russian Federation. The article considers the structural and content characteristics of the field “Extracurricular Activities”, reveals the features of institutionalization and educational traditions in Great Britain, the USA, and Russia. As part of the study, universal and unique units were identified and compared, and an analysis of the elements of subfields was carried out from the point of view of semantic diffusion and transparency, as well as hypero-hyponymy. The study is novel in that it is the first one to systematize the criteria for classifying subfields (institutional, thematic, linguocultural) on extensive language material, as well as to determine the structures of subfields and the key dominants of the field “Extracurricular Activities” in English and Russian. As a result of the study, it was found that the educational term systems of Great Britain, the USA, and the Russian Federation are influenced by the centrifugal process of units functioning. There is a persistent trend towards deglobalization, preservation of originality, reinterpretation, and semantic expansion of some original units. The linguistic objectification of naming units for extracurricular activities is not only implemented in accordance with the typological characteristics of languages and cultures, but is also determined by educational traditions, socio-economic and sociocultural factors, as well as the historical and political context, which forms ethno-specific models of organizing the educational process.