A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE “FOOTBALL” AND “BASKETBALL” CONCEPTS IN THE ENGLISH ACADEMIC DISCOURSE: A PROFESSIONAL ASPECT

The aim of the research is to identify similarities and differences in the semantics of the “football” and “basketball” concepts in the academic context. The relevance of the research is determined by the attempt to specify the most important issues, which are of interest from the professional standpoint. The cognitive approach allowed us to find out general semantic elements that constitute the main conceptual content: health, traumas, training, rules, and the course of the game. The differential areas included information technologies, leadership, finance, and refereeing for the “football” concept, and gender and age characteristics, psychology, and social aspects for the “basketball” concept. The obtained results are explained by closer public attention to football, which requires increased responsibility of all participants, as well as the application of modern automated methods of game monitoring. The academic issues, which comprise the main “basketball” conceptual content, are related, to a greater extent, to athlete preparation and their physiological changes in ontogenesis. Despite the differences, health and trauma prevention create the semantic core of both concepts.