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In this paper, I offer a critical reflection on the thesis of the general educational value of foreign languages developed by Russian linguist Lev Vladimirovich Shcherba. I do so against the background of current debates on the positioning of foreign languages in the school curriculum in the United Kingdom (UK). I argue that Shcherba's thesis, which was developed almost a century ago, retains its currency and can make an important contribution to the on-going discussion on the value of foreign languages in UK schools. The paper outlines Shcherba's scholarly explorations in general linguistics which underpin his arguments in favour of the inclusion of foreign languages in the basic school curriculum. The conception of language as a system immanently positioned in social experience assigns the foundational role to language in the literacy project. The conscious analytic processing of language phenomena is viewed as an essential pre-condition of literacy, and foreign languages are shown to be instrumental in developing such an analytic capacity of mind. Shcherba's argumentation reflects a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach, both to foreign language education and to curriculum matters, and merits the attention of language practitioners, educationalists and policy-makers alike.

The article develops views that were introduced in lecture related to threefold aspect of linguistic phenomena and experiment in linguistics from all the speech and comprehension acts of a social group. Topics include individual's psycho-physiological speech organization with speech activity it engenders socially; and linguistic system of a language, used to be equated with a human's psycho-physiological organization, which was considered with a system of potential language representations.

The article develops views that were introduced in lecture related to threefold aspect of linguistic phenomena and experiment in linguistics from all the speech and comprehension acts of a social group. Topics include individual's psycho-physiological speech organization with speech activity it engenders socially; and linguistic system of a language, used to be equated with a human's psycho-physiological organization, which was considered with a system of potential language representations.

During the five decades of its involvement in the infamous 'Cyprus problem', the United Nations (UN) has undertaken several largescale attempts to lead the process of conflict resolution, however, the UN's mediation has failed to produce a settlement on the island. The issue at the heart of the conflict, political inequality, remains the major stumbling block. This block is firmly and consistently embedded in the UN's successive resolutions on Cyprus which continue to sustain the status of inequality and thus, perpetuate the problem. By drawing attention to the roots of the current conflict in Cyprus, and to the UN's positioning in the conflict, this article challenges the UN's myopic policy towards Cyprus. It is argued that the UN's partiality protracts the conflict, and that attempts to reach a workable solution are deemed improbable as long as the UN's stance on Cyprus remains uncontested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]