AI tools and cognitive lexicology in language education: A cross-linguistic perspective

Abstract

The paper looks at several conceptual questions in contemporary cognitive lexicology and considers how recent AI tools can be brought into language teaching in a way that does more than automate routine tasks. At its centre is a premise that lexical meaning cannot be separated from the cognitive mechanisms through which speakers organise and transmit knowledge. From this angle, the relationship between mental structures and linguistic form becomes more than a theoretical point and serves as a practical guide for analysing how meaning is built and negotiated. The discussion turns to the discursive-cognitive direction in cognitive lexicology, which has increasingly emphasised the need to move towards a more grounded, communicative-pragmatic interpretation of lexical and metaphorical phenomena across different languages and cultures. The study pursued two aims: to trace the conceptual metaphors and frames that emerge in Russian, English, and Kazakh, and to assess how AI-based tools contribute to students’ cognitive awareness when working with such material. The project combined quantitative methods (corpus queries, embedding models, and statistical testing) with a qualitative reading of students’ reflections and of the metaphorical patterns that surfaced in their work. The contribution of the study lies in the creation of a cognitively oriented AI platform together with a set of teaching modules that show how AI can act as a mediator between languages. These modules allow learners to explore cross-linguistic conceptual structures, observe culturally specific mappings, and see more clearly how metaphor, categorisation, and framing condition lexical meaning. The approach provides a practical framework for integrating AI into language teaching and supports the development of metalinguistic awareness and intercultural understanding.