Study of Russian expressions of time in the Chinese audience (based on the material of engineering texts)

Abstract

He aim of the work is a comparative study of grammatical constructions of the expression of time in the Russian and Chinese languages based on the analysis of texts of engineering and technical discourse. The choice of the texts’ orientation is due to the fact that the research is being carried out in order to improve the quality of teaching Russian to Chinese students at technical universities. Thus, this scientific work is linguodidactic in nature. Its results are addressed to teachers of the Russian language who work with Chinese students and do not speak Chinese. This comparative study was carried out on the material of lexical and grammatical means of expressing the idea of time in the Russian and Chinese languages. All the constructions of time were divided into groups: (1) the designation of time using physical units of time measurement, (2) designation of time without the use of time units - designation of intervals, approximate time, repetitive moments of action. All Russian lexical and grammatical models are presented in the work in the form of a parallel catalog, in which each Russian construction corresponds to a construction-translation into Chinese and the construction following the translation-restoration of the Chinese model by means of the Russian language. Thus, using the compiled catalog, a Russian-speaking teacher who does not speak Chinese can accurately see grammatical discrepancies when expressing the idea of time in two languages and, as a result, compile educational materials that allow students to cope with difficulties faster when studying the constructions of time expression in Russian.