A functional-semantic approach to the study of Russian diminutives in an Iranian audience

The relevance of the study is determined by the need to study diminutives in learning Russian as a foreign language due to their widespread use in the everyday speech of native speakers. Mastering key models of diminutive word formation based on a functional-semantic approach allows foreign learners to significantly expand their vocabulary and improve their communication efficiency as a result. The aim of the study is to develop exercises for enriching the speech of Iranian students with diminutive vocabulary (level A1-B1) based on a functional-semantic approach. To achieve this aim, the authors used a set of complementary methods: a theoretical and methodological analysis of linguistic and methodological literature on the topic; a comparative analysis used to identify differences in the system of subjective evaluation in Russian and Persian; a word-formation analysis of diminutives; and an included pedagogical observation of teaching Russian to Iranian students. The study presents exercises based on the functional-semantic approach for developing the skills of using diminutive vocabulary in the speech of Iranian students. The exercises contain scientific and methodological recommendations and educational materials, structured and adapted according to the levels of Russian language proficiency. The exercises use relevant lexical and grammatical topics, diminutive forms of personal names, animal names, and descriptions of human appearance, and so they can be flexibly integrated into existing educational programs for various forms of education - universities, short-term courses, and independent study. The prospects for research include application of a functional-semantic approach to study other diminutive meanings in the course of Russian as a foreign language - emphatic forms, subjective evaluation forms, and emotional prefixes. This will allow Iranian students to experience the emotional features of Russian speech.