Problems of teaching Russian as a foreign language for special purposes: analysis of students' opinions

Abstract

Introduction. For foreign students of Russian universities, the Russian language serves as a means of obtaining higher professional education. In this regard, one of the priority tasks of improving the quality of training specialists for foreign countries is the language training of foreign citizens in the Russian language for special purposes. Materials and methods. 126 foreign students of the first year of technical specialties of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University participated in the survey. The results of the study. The survey made it possible to identify the difficulties that foreign students have in the process of learning the language of their specialty and communicating in Russian in the educational environment of the university of the Russian Federation. Among the main difficulties affecting successful communication, foreign students noted communication with teachers of specialized disciplines (46.1%) and with employees of the dean's office (40.4%). The greatest difficulties in the training sessions are caused by understanding the lecture material (49.4%) and understanding the tasks for laboratory work (46.1%). Among the difficulties directly related to the study of the Russian language of the future specialty, the following types of tasks were noted: forming sentences (43.85%), grammar tasks (42.7%), writing dictations (36%). Discussion of the results. The results of the survey allow us to place methodological accents in the preparation of curricula, the creation of modern textbooks and tutorials; to take into account the communicative needs of foreign students who are starting to study on higher professional education programs in Russian technical universities; to implement the principle of continuity and interdisciplinary connections in the formation of the educational route of foreign students. Conclusion. Effective organization of teaching foreign students in the Russian language for special purposes contributes to improving the quality of training of highly qualified competitive specialists for foreign countries and the growth of the international authority of Russian higher professional education.