Vol 18, No 4 (2020)

Distance Russian Language Learning

Online teaching Russian practical grammar at a Chinese university during the epidemic

Zhang W., Vesnina L.E.

Abstract

Due to the pandemic in the spring of 2020, all educational institutions in China had to organize distance learning. It was crucial to introduce effective teaching methods and to use distance learning technologies. The authors of the article described the way online education was organized during the “quarantine” semester on the example of teaching “Practical Russian grammar” at Jilin International Studies University (Changchun, China). The purpose of the research is to describe the three-step process of teaching “Practical Russian grammar” to foreign students and the way distance learning technologies were used. The teachers organized online classes on “Practical Russian grammar” using BOPPPS model for lesson planning (five teaching steps: B - bridge-in, O - objective, P - pre-assessment, P - participatory, P - post-assessment, S - summary). Lessons were based on this method and the educational process included three steps: 1) students used Xuexitong application to acquire primary knowledge before the lesson; 2) classroom work was organized through the Xuexitong and DingTalk applications - it was aimed at internalization and expansion of knowledge, the ultimate goal was to develop Russian grammar skills; 3) using Xuexitong and DingTalk applications after the classes, the students improved their grammar and communication skills. In addition, the authors of the article proposed the ways to improve the knowledge assessment system and the entire educational process based on the suggested online learning model. Results and scientific novelty are that a practice-oriented approach to language learning can be implemented on the basis of the proposed teaching method. Such an approach enables students to have constant access to a large number of educational resources and to be promptly informed of any changes, which meets learners’ individual needs and increases their motivation, self-learning abilities and self-organization. Apart from that, students learn better and improve their oral and written communication skills.

Russian Language Studies. 2020;18(4):383-408
pages 383-408 views

Methods of teaching russian as a non-native and foreign language

Russian-as-a-heritage-language vocabulary acquisition by bi-/multilingual children in Canada

Makarova V., Terekhova N.

Abstract

The significance of this paper is in its contribution to the innovative and rapidly developing research area of Russian as a heritage language (RHL) around the world. The purpose of the reported study is to explore Russian vocabulary development by bi-/multilingual children acquiring Russian as a heritage language in Canada. The materials come from vocabulary development and non-canonical lexical forms (NCF, earlier known as “errors”) in the speech of 29 bi-/multilingual children (between the ages of 5 and 6) from immigrant families in Saskatchewan, Canada (RHL group) as well as of 13 monolinguals from Russia (MR group). The study employs a method of a comparative analysis of vocabulary in picture-prompted narratives by children from the above two groups. The results demonstrate that bi-/multilingual RHL speaking children produced significantly more lexical NCFs as compared to their monolingual peers (MR), whereas narrative length in words, speech rate in wpm and vocabulary size did not differ across the two groups. Most NCFs in the RHL sample related to the use of verbs, followed by NCFs in the use of nouns. Unlike the speech of MR speakers, RHL participants’ language use exhibits some slight impact of dialectal forms, a few borrowings from English and code-switches to English. The study has applications for the theory of bi-/multilingualism as well as for teaching RHL to children of immigrants in North American and other contexts.

Russian Language Studies. 2020;18(4):409-421
pages 409-421 views

Forming a methodical thesaurus of a foreign author of a manual on Russian as a foreign language

Farysenkova L.V., Zhellali E.I.

Abstract

The article aims at investigating the specifics of the modern practice of training foreign authors of Russian as a foreign language (RFL) textbooks and identifying the prospects for the formation of a professional thesaurus of this group on the basis of modern educational technologies. This issue is really relevant, since, as it is shown in the article, there are currently almost no methodological studies and manuals addressed to this group of trainees. At the same time, practice shows that foreign colleagues are in urgent need of diverse methodological support from Russian methodologists. The paper shows that in 1970-1980-s, when such support was purposefully implemented, modern textbooks on RFL were created in foreign countries, which contributed to the Russian language spreading in Europe, Asia and Africa. The research materials were textbooks on the Russian language for foreigners, which marked a certain stage in teaching methods of RFL development. The authors of the article rely on general scientific theoretical research methods: comparative analysis of available sources of information, comparative analysis of the conceptual system of the topic under research, synthesis of their own points of view (or positions), based on the analysis of various ways of solving the problem. The article resulted in the proposed topic of training and consulting materials for potential foreign authors of RFL textbooks, which are supposed to be based on the developed electronic platform, as well as the introduction of materials of the round table “Designing a communicative textbook of RFL” into the system of professional training and advanced training. The authors concluded that potential foreign authors of RFL textbooks are currently in urgent need of systematic scientific and methodological support. In this regard, it is recommended to intensify work with this contingent, using the potential of domestic methodological research, both classic and modern.

Russian Language Studies. 2020;18(4):422-438
pages 422-438 views

First Steps in Science (until 20.06.2021)

Role-playing games as a key technology for developing students’ speaking skills outside the language environment

Balakina K.D.

Abstract

This article deals with the issues related to speaking skills development among advanced students outside the language environment. The importance of this subject is determined by the crucial role that speaking assumes in the light of communicative approach to teaching Russian as a foreign language. The goal of the study is testing the effectiveness of regular use of role-play activities when working on untrivial B2 topics with advanced students under conditions of few in-class hours. The paper presents an overview of the scientific methodological work on the subject and generalizes teaching experience accumulated in the sphere of higher education in Italy. The research demonstrated that the use of role-play activities as a key didactic technique leads to an increased amount of speech produced by Italian students in the Russian language classroom. The author stresses the importance of role-play activities as it represents an extremely flexible technique that can be successfully adapted to a wide range of topics and objectives. It also contributes to creating a more comfortable and stimulating atmosphere in order to involve students into a live communication process and to boost their motivation. Finally, the article reports on the results of the inquiry carried out among students that confirm the effectiveness of the applied approach.

Russian Language Studies. 2020;18(4):439-453
pages 439-453 views

Gender issue in the Runet blogosphere language

Soltys V.K.

Abstract

Due to the active changes in the social structure and position of women over the past hundred years, and also due to the gradual increase in the influence of the feminist movement on everyday culture, the gender aspect of sociolinguistic research is of particular interest. This work relates to gender linguistics, its purpose is to study speech behavior in Runet, demonstrating the potential of the language in solving the problem of gender asymmetry. The study was conducted on the material of the Russian-speaking blogosphere, as the most open field for language experiments, which has a significant impact on the language practices of the younger generations and the formation of modern culture. The article studies, describes and analyzes the syntactic, morphological, lexical and word-formation processes observed in Runet: syntactic violations that serve to give constructions gender marking, transformation of stable phrases, new and newly updated word-formation models, the use of neologisms-feminists. In addition, the article for the first time describes the gender gap - a new graphic phenomenon observed exclusively in the oral-written Internet discourse.

Russian Language Studies. 2020;18(4):454-468
pages 454-468 views

On Cultural Heritage of Russian Philology

The dispute on the language norm in A.P. Sumarokov’s article “To typographers”

Slozhenikina Y.V., Rastyagaev A.V.

Abstract

The actuality of the undertaken research is conditioned by the necessity to study the role of Russian literature and journalism, separate linguistic programs of the middle of the 18th century in assertion of the main characteristics of the literary standard, which began to take shape in 80 years of this century. The aim of the scientific study is to analyze the similarities and differences between the linguistic theories of A. Sumarokov and V. Trediakovsky, to establish the place of this polemic in the history of Russian literary language of the 18th century, its significance for the formation of the literary standard. The language material is the original text of Sumarokov's article “To typographers” (“K tipografskim naborshhikam”), published in the May issue of the journal “Trudolyubivaya pchela” (1759). The system of views of scholars and writers of the mid-18th century on the Russian language are presented by means of descriptive and comparative methods with revealing the specifics of each language concept. An integral part of the methodology was the observation of the word usage in the texts by A. Sumarokov and V. Trediakovsky. The use of methods of linguoculturology made it possible to present linguistic polemics as a phenomenon of Russian culture. The extra-linguistic method and the method of reconstruction from historical sources were used to establish the phenomena of extra-linguistic reality that influenced the problems of the philological discussion. The results of the research showed that the extra-linguistic reason for writing the article was determined, the tradition of the writers' appealing to the typesetters in the history of domestic printing of the first half of the 18th century was traced, the group of works with which Sumarokov-philologist enters polemics was determined, the main concepts of the article were identified, the position of Sumarokov from the point of view of normalization of graphic, morphological, orthographic practice in the middle of the 18th century was fixed; the article by Sumarokov was considered in accordance with the concept of metatextual unity in the world. The prospects of the research relate to the fundamental theoretical development of the role of 18th century Russian literature in the formation of the Russian literary language standard.

Russian Language Studies. 2020;18(4):469-480
pages 469-480 views

Book Reviews

Review on the monograph: Babenko, N.G., & Shkapenko, T.M. (Eds.). (2019). Own vs aliens in the modern Russian language discursive practices. Kaliningrad: Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University Publ.

Kusal K.

Abstract

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Russian Language Studies. 2020;18(4):481-485
pages 481-485 views
pages 486-488 views

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