Russian Skills Research Articles

Features of the Formation of Communicative Competence in Russian Language Lessons

Communicative competence plays an important role in the formation of communication skills in Russian. According to the authors of the article, in Russian language lessons, special attention should be paid to developing the ability to correctly use language tools for effective communication. Classes should be structured in such a way as to stimulate students to active speech activity, develop listening skills and the ability to adequately respond to the statements of their interlocutor. It is also important to promote the formation of intercultural communication skills and increase the linguistic literacy of students. The authors emphasize that in their work, teachers should use a variety of methods and forms of work aimed at developing the communicative competence of students, including role-playing games, discussions, work in pairs and groups, as well as the use of authentic texts and audio materials.

Обучение чтению текстов экономического профиля китайских студентов на занятиях по русскому языку с учётом этнопсихологических особенностей обучающихся

The purpose of the study is to develop an algorithm for working with economic texts in a Chinese audience, taking into account the ethnopsychological characteristics of students in the formation of reading skills in Russian at the B2 level. To achieve this goal, the article examines such cognitive and psychological features of Chinese students as an imaginative type of thinking, a visual-motor type of memory, a high level of mnemonic abilities and a predisposition to perceive information in portions. Based on these features, the author suggests the stages of working with the text and the types of tasks suitable for this psychotype of students. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the algorithm for working with Russian economic texts is considered from the point of view of taking into account the ethnopsychological specifics of a particular contingent (in this case, Chinese). The result of the study was a number of practical recommendations aimed at optimizing and facilitating the process of working with texts in the specialty in the aspect of Russian as a foreign language in the Chinese audience.

ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ ТЕКСТОВ ПО СПЕЦИАЛЬНОСТИ В ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНО ОРИЕНТИРОВАННОМ ОБУЧЕНИИ РУССКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ ДЛЯ СТУДЕНТОВ ТЕХНИЧЕСКОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА

The article deals with the issue of using specialized texts in the specialty in professionally-oriented teaching of the Russian language to students of non-linguistic universities in the context of modern higher education. The purpose of the study: to study the features of the use of professionally oriented texts in teaching the Russian language to students of a non-linguistic university in the formation of speech, communicative and professional competencies. Research objectives: to study the principles and criteria for the selection of professionally oriented textual material; substantiate the stages, methods and techniques of working on specialized texts; consider the methods and techniques of working on special terminology and concepts in the chosen specialty. Research hypothesis: the correct selection and systematic use of professionally oriented texts when teaching the Russian language to students of a non-linguistic university will contribute to the formation of professional communication skills in Russian and positive professional motivation. Research methods: analysis of theoretical scientific research and practical pedagogical experience in the use of specialized texts. Achieved results: theoretical and practical substantiation of the use of professionally oriented texts as one of the main types of methodological activity of a Russian language teacher in a non-linguistic university.

СОВРЕМЕННОЕ СОСТОЯНИЕ И ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ СОВЕРШЕНСТВОВАНИЯ СОДЕРЖАНИЯ ПРЕДМЕТА «РУCСКИЙ ЯЗЫК И ЛИТЕРАТУРА» В ШКОЛЕ С КАЗАХСКИМ ЯЗЫКОМ ОБУЧЕНИЯ (Я2) (на материале программ и учебников 5-6, 8-9 классов по обновленному содержанию)

The article provides a scientifi c and methodological analysis of the content of curricula and textbooks on the subject «Russian language and literature» (grades 5-6, 8-9) in a school with the Kazakh language of instruction (L2). The issues of implementing the leading principles of communication, functionality, consistency, minimization in the updated content system are considered. These are the principles that defi ne the basic requirements, and subsequently infl uence the development of strategies and tactics for teaching a non-native or foreign language. The fi nal result of the training should be communication skills in Russian in accordance with the levels presented by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) assessment system: grades 5-9 – A2-B1.The structure of the term «communicativeness» is complex, including linguistic, speech, pragmatic, ethno-cultural, etc. components. Therefore, a correct understanding of this term, and, consequently, a specifi c formulation of the goals and objectives of training will allow us to fi nd new ways and opportunities to improve the content of the school course of the Russian language (L2).

Developing critical thinking skills in Russian language studies: Online learning tools in Chinese universities

AbstractThe article aims to determine the role of critical thinking skills in learning Russian at Chinese universities and to consider this aspect when organizing an online learning environment for students. The research involved 600 students and 50 teachers from the Russian language and math faculties. The analysis of Chinese students' Russian language learning allowed the conclusion that there is a possible relationship between language competence and critical thinking skills. At the same time, the study did not identify any educational standards that included critical thinking as a skill in the educational process. The study showed that the Chinese education system needs to align educational standards with fundamental concepts of critical thinking and move away from a random use of individual theories tools. Future research might concentrate on testing the hypothesis about the close relationship between critical thinking and success in learning Russian as an L2 using various statistical methods (for instance, Student's t test or Kruskal–Wallis test).

Фразеология в обучении иностранных студентов профессиональной коммуникации на русском языке

The article is devoted to the role and possibilities of using phraseology in teaching professional communication skills in Russian to foreign students. As an example, phraseological units are discussed that are used in professional communication in the field of economics and business. The article contains such linguistic characteristics of phraseological units in the economic discourse as semantics, stylistic properties, etymology, communicative value. Teaching professional communication with the use of phraseology assumes acquaintance of foreign students with the main linguistic characteristics of phraseological units, i.e. with their grammatical properties, lexical and syntactic compatibility, features of functioning in speech. Control tests are aimed at mastering the semantics of phraseological units, at developing the skills and abilities of using phraseological units in professional speech. The author of the article comes to the conclusion that the use of phraseological expressions in teaching professional communication allows to consider phraseology as one of the linguistic resources that contributes to the formation of communicative competence in the professional sphere among foreign students.

Biscriptuality as a Bridge to Biliteracy: The Development of Scriptual Skills in Reading and Writing in Russian as a Heritage Language in Germany

Due to the specific context of language acquisition and language learning within a migration situation, students may have only restricted opportunities to acquire literacy (reading and writing) in their heritage language in institutional settings. Therefore, in migration contexts, students’ literacy skills in different languages may follow different developmental paths resulting in various levels of reading and writing skills. While previous research has shown that the exposure to different scripts in biscriptual bilinguals may contribute to the heterogeneity of writing skills in a heritage language, the role of scriptual skills in constituting complex literacy profiles of both reading and writing remains to be clarified. Utilising Latent Transition Analysis, the present study investigates students’ profiles of scriptual skills in reading and writing and the patterns of change within the profiles occurring over time. This study draws on the data of the German panel study “Multilingual Development: A Longitudinal Perspective” (MEZ). Overall, it analyzes the development of scriptual skills in Russian as a heritage language of 131 German-Russian bilinguals from the two cohorts (grade 7 and grade 9) over three waves. The results reveal different developmental patterns for scriptual skills in reading and writing of biscriptual bilinguals and suggest that the use of the Latin script may serve as the bridge to biscriptuality. Furthermore, the findings highlight the role of heritage language classes in the development of scriptual skills.

Academic writing skills in Russian of foreign students

The article analyzes the types of exercises for foreign students in order to develop academic skills. In particular, we are talking about foreign medical students. Speaking about the current trends towards updating the content of foreign language teaching and the new requirements of individual universities for the implementation of professional training in foreign languages, we have to state that due to the novelty and multidimensional nature of the phenomenon, this problem in the conditions of domestic higher combined education has been developed only to a small extent. In the context of distance learning, it is quite difficult for foreign students of medical faculties to read the text in their specialty and extract the information necessary to solve a specific speech problem. The article deals with the peculiarities of teaching academic writing in Russian as one of the types of speech activity. Special attention is paid to the distinctive features of the written speech by students of medical specialties; several stages of work based on structural and semantic analysis of the text material are highlighted and described. The development and implementation of adapted special texts and exercises in the educational process allow foreign students to understand the content of articles, accurately determine the main and secondary information in the material, reproduce its main content using the skills of summarizing, annotating, note-taking.

ТИПОЛОГИЧЕСКАЯ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКА ТЕСТОВЫХ ЗАДАНИЙ ДЛЯ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ И РАЗВИТИЯ КОМПЕТЕНЦИЙ ПРИ ОВЛАДЕНИИ РУССКИМ ЯЗЫКОМ КАК ИНОСТРАННЫМ

Modern certification requirements for mastering Russian as a foreign language require the creation and systematic updating of the content of training materials for preparing for testing in the Russian language. Compliance with the methodological and methodological principles of the formation of test tasks in this regard is an actual didactic skill for teachers engaged in the process of teaching and preparing for testing students and students, since it will provide an individualized approach to each student, thereby creating favorable conditions for mastering the Russian language and improving the existing level. The article considers the content of individual levels of testing of language and communication skills. The analysis of the compliance of the Russian state system of testing in Russian as a foreign language and the European national testing systems is carried out. In the context of the considered levels of testing, the typology of tasks is given. Each type of task is evaluated in terms of compliance with the level of testing and application tasks: processing and storing test results. Specific examples of each type of task are given, taking into account the possible varieties. Examples of tasks are also analyzed from the point of view of the components of communicative and language competencies, the formation, development and consolidation of which they are aimed at. Special attention is paid to the selection of language material for the preparation of test tasks, the application of the rules for the preparation of test tasks, in particular, the rules for the use of distractors. The considered rules are based on six basic principles of constructing linguodidactic tests: scientific, effective, comprehensive, hierarchical organization, systematic and consistent, and objective. The stages of designing test tasks are also described, each of which consists of a number of practical actions, the conscientious implementation of which, in turn, allows you to implement the above principles in relation to different types of speech — oral and written, expressive or impressive. A detailed review of the types of tasks, their varieties, principles, rules and stages of their creation allows us to formulate clear, unambiguous criteria for evaluating both the results and the process of developing skills in Russian as a foreign language.

An initial stage of preparation of study material (For the purpose of teaching Russian monologue speech)

This article discusses the preparation of study materials in Russian as a second foreign language in Georgian schools for the purpose of teaching monologue through the inductive method. The development of speaking skills in Russian in Georgian schools is one of the most acute problems due to the fact that Georgian textbooks are traditionally built in grammatical order which hinders the development of speaking skills, and the new requirement of the state standard - to compose teaching and learning materials and textbooks according to the thematic principle becomes only formal. To solve this problem, we offer tips and principles for preparing training materials through consistent teaching of speaking topics. The requirement of the State Standard - to construct the textbook according to the thematic principle - is not easy to meet due to the flexional nature of the Russian language. Based on this problem, this article discusses the ways a) to develop a working scenario for a speaking monologue at class, b) to select new learning speaking items based on the qualitative and quantitative indicators of grammar and vocabulary items, and c) to compile samples of mini-monologues similar to which students are expected to be able to compose after practice.

Taking into account Chinese students’ cognitive and psychological characteristics while teaching Russian grammar

This paper aims to discuss the problem of nationally oriented teaching of Russian grammar to Chinese students. The author analyzes the works that are devoted to the study of Chinese students cognitive and psychological characteristics. The analysis revealed specific learning strategies that Chinese students use when learning a foreign language. When training a mono-ethnic group, the national-oriented approach is considered optimal. To implement this approach, a comparative analysis of systems of contacting languages is necessary to determine the zones of interlanguage and intralanguage interferences. The most important factor in the effectiveness of the educational process is the adequacy of the teachers ideas about students from different regions. The author concludes that in order to maintain motivation for mastering the Russian language and optimize the learning process as a whole when developing curricula and class books for Chinese students, it is necessary to strive to make the learning process not only effective, but also as comfortable as possible for students. Taking into account Chinese students cognitive and psychological characteristics will not only contribute to the development of strong grammar skills, but will also ensure the development of oral speech skills in Russian. The paper provides recommendations for intensifying the process of teaching Russian grammar to Chinese students. The following research methods were used: a comparative analysis, an analysis and a synthesis.

Развитие монологической речи на русском и английском языках у младших школьников

This article focuses on the development of primary school students’ monologue skills in Russian and English. A thorough examination of different definitions of the term “monologue” shows that they are synonymous. The article analyses educational aims and objectives of teaching monologue to young learners in two languages. The following similarities in both languages have been identified: primary school children should be taught (1) to talk about themselves, their friends and families; (2) to express and argue their opinion, and (3) to prepare a brief speech with their attitude towards the text they have read. The differences have to do with the speech length and degree of novelty: in English, students are only required to use speech patterns taught by a teacher as they are only beginners. The paper gives an overview of types of exercises for the development of speaking skills in Russian and English. In the Russian language, the key tools for their development include teaching students synonyms and antonyms and allowing them to reflect on different topics. In the English language, speaking skills are developed by providing speech patterns and asking students to learn texts by heart. Speaking about one’s family, describing pictures, retelling texts and special exercises on expanding sentences are used both in Russian and English. Particular attention is paid to the methods of development of monologue skills in the Russian language and stages of development of monologue skills in the English language. The main difference between the two languages is that when entering school young learners have already mastered monologue in their native language (Russian), whereas they start learning English only in the second grade at the age of 7–8. Thus, monologue skills of young learners in the Russian language are improving, while in the English language they are being developed from scratch.

Psycholinguistic model of salience translation applied to paremia (on the example of Buryat-English correlations)

The article suggests that state standards for general and vocational education should provide mandatory training in communication skills in Russian in various special fields. First of all, it is necessary to develop skills in how to use Russian as the state language for the Russian Federation. The acquired skills are expected to ensure reliable social communication between the authorities and citizens. The article presents basic requirements for Russian when used in legal acts: certainty, clarity, and intelligibility to a wide audience. The article provides results of a comprehensive study, carried out by St. Petersburg Univeristy, of legal acts issued in 2014– 2015 in eleven regions of the Northwestern Federal District of the Russian Federation. Types of speech errors found in the texts of these normative acts are singled out, and the significance of the errors is assessed from regarding the risk of social communication disorders. For this purpose we prepared a list of stylistic errors in business language. Among these: semantic violations of compatibility, wrong case forms, formal errors and semantic matching parts of a sentence, the prepositional selection error control, errors of usage, violation of stylistic unity and genre of the text. The evaluation of the significance of certain errors regarding risk to social communication disorders is provided. It is argued that the purpose of language policy in the field of education should improve the quality of oral and written language in various fields of professional activity. The article depicts the translation process in intercultural communication within a psycholinguistic approach, namely the model of salience translation developed by P. P. Dashinimaeva (2010, 2017a). According to this model, mental and speech stages occur as separate and asymmetric activation processes. This extends the stage of the original salience decoding, which includes three receptive versions of salience: natural salience-I, artificial version of salience-1 (of the addresser), and a version of salience-2 (of the addressee). The author applies the model to the translation of paremic units, which are classified as difficult-to-translate. Buryat-English correlations are used for the analysis. At the first stage of decoding, perception of the proverb evokes involuntary associations and images in the author’s mind that come out of his personal experience. At the next stage, the author “suppresses” these images and identifies the proverb’s didactic value, analyzing Buryat traditional values. At the last stage, he makes a pragmatic adaptation of the addresser’s version to the addressee’s, predicting the communicative effect. After analyzing the English behavior in different communicative situations, the author seeks English correlates with similar didactive value. The author then compares metaphorical images and ways of describing the situation in Buryat-English correlates and finally chooses the most appropriate English variant. In conclusion, the author provides several arguments that illustrate the reasonableness of using this model for the translation of paremic units.

Problems in the development of professional communicative competence in socially oriented spheres of activity — the example of typical mistakes in the use of the state language of the Russian Federation in legal documents

«Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Язык и литература» — научно-теоретический журнал, публикующий научно-исследовательские статьи и критические научные рецензии на русском и английском языках, призванные отразить актуальную проблематику современной лингвистики, литературоведения и междисциплинарных гуманитарных исследований, а также представить многообразие существующих здесь подходов и плюрализм мнений исследователей.

Организация контроля знаний, умений и навыков по русскому языку как иностранному студентов технических вузов

Организация контроля знаний, умений и навыков по русскому языку как иностранному студентов технических вузов

Orthographic learning and self-teaching in a bilingual and biliterate context

The aim of this study was to examine self-teaching in the context of English as a foreign language literacy acquisition. Three groups comprising 88 sixth-grade children participated. The first group consisted of Russian–Hebrew-speaking bilinguals who had acquired basic reading skills in Russian as their first language (L1) and literacy and who were literate in Hebrew as a second language. The second group consisted of Russian–Hebrew-speaking bilinguals who had not learned to read in their native Russian but had acquired Hebrew as their first literate language. The third group consisted of Hebrew-speaking monolingual children who were literate in Hebrew. This design facilitated examining the effect of biliteracy and bilingualism on basic English reading skills. We hypothesized that due to the proximity between the Russian and English orthographies as opposed to the Hebrew–English “distance,” the Russian–Hebrew-speaking biliterate group who acquired basic reading and spelling skills in L1 Russian would have superior self-teaching in English as opposed to the two other groups. The standard two-session self-teaching paradigm was employed with naming (speed and accuracy) and orthographic choice as posttest measures of orthographic learning. Results showed that after 4years of English instruction, all three groups showed evidence of self-teaching on naming speed and orthographic recognition. The Russian–Hebrew-speaking biliterate group, moreover, showed a partial advantage over the comparison groups for initial decoding of target pseudowords and clear-cut superiority for measures of later orthographic learning, thereby showing self-teaching while supporting the script dependence hypothesis.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE HOUSES: IDENTITIES IN TRANSITION

This study examined the lived experience of students participating in foreign language houses to improve their skills in Russian, French, or Japanese. American students residing in apartments with other language learners and a native-speaking resident facilitator were required to speak with one another exclusively in the target language and participate in activities such as preparing and eating dinner together. Data sources for the study included interviews, observations, and video recordings. The data, which were analyzed qualitatively, revealed that the central experience of living in the foreign language house was the creation of a livable community and that use of the L2 was a secondary priority. A number of factors influence the livability of a given community, including the size of the community, proficiency levels, and participants' investments in and identification with the community. Participants forged alternate identities in relationship to their new communities. Based on these findings, the study includes programmatic implications for optimizing such programs.

Exploratory study investigating the opinions of Russian-speaking parents on maintaining their children's use of the Russian language

This study explored why and how Russian speaking parents in an Irish context maintained the Russian language in their school-age children. Using a self-administered unstandardised questionnaire, the opinions of 16 Russian-speaking parents, reporting on 24 children, were surveyed. Of this sample, five parents were then interviewed using focus group methodology. The main findings revealed that Russian-speaking parents living in Ireland strongly supported Russian language maintenance in their families and wanted their children to be as fluent as possible in the Russian language. The reasons for the support of Russian language were: cultural preservation, general knowledge of languages in addition to English, and communication with the homeland. Methods employed to maintain the Russian language included conversing with children through Russian, reading and watching Russian TV/ DVD. Although most parents spoke only Russian to their children, just three children were considered by their parents to have sufficient language skills to interact through Russian in Russian speaking countries. Interestingly, 15 children were thought to have adequate skills in Russian to speak with those outside their immediate family when in Ireland. Congruent with other studies of bilingualism, development of English, or the secondary, majority language, was also important to parents, as they lived in a dominant English-speaking society.

Attitudes and Psycholinguistic Aspects of First Language Maintenance among Russian‐Jewish Immigrants in Israel

ABSTRACT This study investigated the social attitudes and academic skills in Russian and Hebrew of Russian‐Jewish immigrant students in northern Israel. The Russian community in Israel is unique in that its members maintain their language and culture and always show their singularity as a strong cohesive ethnic group. A total of 60 participants took part in the study. They answered an attitude questionnaire and the following tests in Russian and Hebrew: working memory, oral cloze, visual condition, phonological condition, orthographic condition, word attack, word identification and spelling test. Further, for validation of attitudes results beyond self‐report questionnaires, 30 open interviews were conducted. The results indicated that these Russian new immigrants were inslrumentally oriented towards learning Hebrew. They possessed moderate anxiety and did not learn Hebrew for army service purposes or to integrate into Israeli society. Their attitude towards the class‐learning situation was not very positive. The results of the linguistic skills in Russian and Hebrew indicated superiority of the former. Regression procedures indicated that only the spelling test score of the Russian language was a significant predictor of Hebrew word recognition.