Vol 19, No 1 (2021): Distance and Online Teaching the Russian Language in Different Linguistic and Cultural Environments

Mediadidactics and electronic means of instruction

Creating an Online Russian as a Foreign Language Course during the COVID-19 Epidemic

Berardi S.

Abstract

In March 2020, due to the coronavirus epidemic all Italian universities switched to online classes and managed to ensure the right to education. Making the switch to online learning, teachers faced new difficulties that they had to sort out immediately. The purpose of the research is to provide scientific and methodological substantiation of the development of the online course of Russian as a foreign language at the University of Bologna. Due to the coronavirus lockdown, such a course was considered as the only possible way to provide the educational process. The author of the article made an attempt to empirically determine the potential of information technology used to organize a productive learning environment for language learners (including Russian-language learners). The article analyses the way the online educational process was organized to teach Russian to political science students of the University of Bologna (Forlì Campus). The researcher studied the structure and functions of the IOL and Virtuale learning environment on the Moodle platform, as well as the means of interaction between students and teachers. The methods for analysing distance learning research papers and empirical methods for assessing the communicative-speech activity of Italian students attending the online Russian language course were used. Apart from that, based on the results of the survey conducted to find out the learners’ attitude to online education, a psychological and pedagogical analysis of the students’ educational activities was carried out. The researcher clarified the definition of e-learning, and considered the cognitive theory of multimedia learning in terms of effective transmission of information during the educational process and direct communication with students. As for the theoretical significance of the article, the author made an attempt to substantiate the need to create and use distance courses for students learning foreign languages (in particular Russian). As for the practical significance of this work, the researcher developed practice-oriented modular computer environment to teach Russian as a foreign language and considered computer-assisted language learning. Methodologies to increase linguistic, communicative and regional geographic competencies of Italian students were developed. In addition, new multimedia educational resources were introduced into the process of teaching political science students. The author summed up the results of the study, analysed the weak and strong points of the online course and proposed the ways to improve it.

Russian Language Studies. 2021;19(1):7-20
pages 7-20 views

Distance Learning Technologies in Teaching Russian as a Non-Native Language in Primary School

Zhelezniakova E.A., Lapteva M.L.

Abstract

The article studies distance education technologies in teaching Russian as a non-native language in primary schools. Modern Russian schools are multicultural, because their students have not spoken Russian since childhood together with Russian-speaking classmates. Most of them study in primary schools (grades 1-4). The relevance of the research is determined by the current situation in the world, where distance learning has become an integral part of the educational process, and also by the lack of knowledge of the online resources potential in teaching Russian as a non-native language at school. The aim of the study is to determine the possibilities of including distance technologies in the practice of teaching Russian to foreign-speaking primary school students. The material is scientific and educational literature on the issue, as well as Internet resources for students studying Russian as a foreign and non-native language. The authors used methods of analysis, synthesis, evaluation, forecasting, and survey. The results of the research are detecting the features of distance-learning technologies in modern schools: online resources are used in fragments, the technical capabilities of schools are not used or are not used enough, materials on Russian as a non-native language are not presented on the used platforms, and schoolmasters do not have experience in using distance learning technologies in teaching Russian to foreign speakers and also determining the directions for improving online teaching of Russian as a non-native language to primary school students: interconnected teaching of speech activities, the use of distance learning technologies for students’ individual work on the program, presenting generalized material of lessons, language and speech exercises, as well as materials for monitoring. The conclusion contains findings about the educational potential of distance technologies: massive opportunities for generalizing and revising lesson material, language skills automation and speech skills training, interconnected training of speech activities, cognitive activity intensification and compensation for the lack of classroom time for teaching Russian as a non-native language.

Russian Language Studies. 2021;19(1):21-33
pages 21-33 views

The Project of Communicative Educational Resource in Russian as a Foreign Language with the Use of V-Learning Technology

Zhiltsov V.A., Maev I.A.

Abstract

The article describes the project structure of an electronic educational resource in Russian as a foreign language which is based on a system of social interaction including a component of virtual simulation of the Russian language environment. The relevance of the study arises from modern trends in the development of communicative language learning and computer technology that provides the need to study and develop new efficient approaches improving the theory and practice of distance learning of Russian as a foreign language. The purpose of the study is to make a theoretical research on drawing up the structure of an electronic educational resource in Russian as a foreign language with the use of a virtual simulator of the Russian language environment as its component. The main methods are observation of modern trends in the development of electronic resources, analysis of research literature, generalization of the authors' empirical experience in the development of prototypes of learning systems based on the technology of virtual worlds and educational and game applications in the Russian language. The research materials are the works of Russian and foreign researchers devoted to the use of virtual reality technology in language learning. In the course of the study, the modern trends in the development of electronic resources were analyzed, and on this basis the basic principles and practical approaches to the formation of an electronic language environment were identified. The study resulted in theoretical and practical provisions considering an electronic educational resource in Russian as a foreign language as a living and self-developing virtual ecosystem. The results can be used to create a communication-oriented electronic educational resource on Russian as a foreign language.

Russian Language Studies. 2021;19(1):34-50
pages 34-50 views

Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language with the Use of LearningApps Service

Ignatovitch T.V.

Abstract

The article describes the experience of using applications of the LearningApps service in the practice of teaching Russian as a foreign language (hereinafter - RFL) to students of the Institute of International Education, Henan University of Science and Technology in the 2018-2020 academic years. The relevance of the topic is due to the lack of a comprehensive description of the potential of the LearningApps service simulators in traditional and distance teaching of foreigners. The purpose of the article is to show the possibilities of LearningApps service simulators as an accompanying electronic resource in teaching various aspects of RFL. The study of the service teaching potential was carried out using the analysis of scientific literature and the study of the service functionality, observation and generalization of pedagogical experience, conversations with students and teachers. In the course of the study, the positive and negative aspects of the resource under consideration were identified. Its advantages for a student are interactivity, individual trajectory of the student's performance, the possibility of receiving prompt advice and multiple execution, game form, availability of a large variety of task templates (more than 20). The advantages of the resource for a teacher are simplicity in learning, lack of linkage of exercises with a certain training platform, which allows including them in printed and electronic teaching aids, availability of ready-made exercises in the public database or possibility to make your own exercises based on them, the ability to use it for different methodological purposes: demonstration, search for information, formation of skills and abilities in different types of speech activity, the possibility of intensive learning of vocabulary, grammar, speaking, listening, control, conducting students’ individual work, depending on the level of language proficiency. The disadvantages include the impossibility of quick assessment using a point-rating system, the absence of the Cyrillic font in some templates, the absence of some templates in the database. The prospects for using the resource are associated with the need to develop distance learning of RFL.

Russian Language Studies. 2021;19(1):51-65
pages 51-65 views

Designing Online Educational Russian Language Courses in Finland

Nikunlassi A.O., Loginova A.D., Ufimtsev G.V., Protassova E.Y.

Abstract

When switching to online teaching, the question arises about the feasibility, methods and form of transposing existing teaching materials into the Internet and creating new ones. The aim of the study is to show what opportunities electronic educational environment ViLLE, developed in Finland, has for teaching Russian as a foreign language and as a second home language. The material of the article include exercises created in this e-environment, and the methods of the research include various software and pedagogical solutions aimed at implementing the methodology. During research, starting in 2017, e-learning platform ViLLE has allowed the Russian language to find and to take its place in Finland’s digital language teaching system. Different courses were created, with different sets of tasks and exercises that can be used by teachers and students of any educational institution. Some of the courses, among them those aimed at bilinguals, provide an opportunity to familiarize students with the included theoretical material. Having mastered the necessary minimum skills of using ViLLE, any teacher can independently modify tasks and exercises, combine them in the desired sequence and volume, and thus create courses adapted to the needs of their students. An integrated performance analysis system makes their work easier by allowing the teacher to focus on a specific language teaching problem. The results showed that among the existing electronic educational resources, online platforms and e-learning environments are the most essential tools for teaching a foreign/second language, since only they give the teacher the opportunity to independently plan and structure the entire educational process, manage it, use existing materials and create new ones, automatize certain functions, combine various educational events, and communicate with students. The article compares criteria for evaluating such resources and dividing them into two categories: (1) general criteria that include multi-functionality, the set of features provided by the environment, and compatibility with regard to encoding and format of training materials and other system components; (2) those considering needs of specific teachers and students and their resources, namely, resource administrating, creating tasks and courses, managing and monitoring the learning process. The future plans concern carrying out extensive monitoring of the effectiveness of the system in school and university teaching.

Russian Language Studies. 2021;19(1):66-84
pages 66-84 views

How to Lend the Shoulder, Not to Do Harm during Online Learning Russian as a Foreign Language

Pashkovskaya S.S.

Abstract

The relevance of the research topic is due to the possibilities of online learning in an “uncertain critical situation”. New life conditions made us see a model of teaching Russian as a foreign language in a different perspective: there came changes not only in number and quality of the material being learned, but also the form of communication of active subjects of educational process, teaching strategy itself. The purpose of the article is to present a theoretical analysis of the features of online teaching Russian as a foreign language in a forced situation of general “technologization” of the learning process in Russian universities. On the one hand, modern information and communication technologies open up wide opportunities for choosing a learning model depending on the goals of teaching Russian as a foreign language, and on the other, they create negative stereotypes in the organization of educational process. To achieve this goal, combinations of research methods were chosen: a) methods used at the empirical level - analysis of scientific literature, scientific observation and generalization of pedagogical experience; b) methods used at the theoretical level - abstracting, analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction. The research material includes the theoretical works of linguists, methodologists, practicing teachers, as well as real online education. In the course of the study, the theory and practice of online teaching Russian as a foreign language were analyzed, the requirements for effective online learning were determined; the specific tasks in online education that teachers of Russian as a foreign language face were revealed. The authors conclude that effective online learning requires: 1) understanding its distinctive features; knowing which information and communication technologies are suitable for the solution of particular didactic tasks - the content of the educational material, principles, methods and strategies of teaching depend on this; 2) taking into account the specifics of the subject - Russian as a foreign language, its difficulties, didactic tasks that need to be solved in the learning process. The article shows that the construction of an effective model of online teaching of RFL is possible in accordance with the modern scientific recommendations of methodologists, linguists, psychologists, specialists in the field of using computer technologies in teaching foreign languages. Online learning forms a variable (flexible) model of teaching Russian as a foreign language in constantly changing living conditions, in the conditions of “shock learning”. The prospects for creating effective online teaching of Russian as a foreign language and using all the didactic possibilities of information and communication technologies are outlined.

Russian Language Studies. 2021;19(1):85-101
pages 85-101 views

Prospects of Russian as a Foreign Language Online Learning in Russian Universities

Strelchuk E.N.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has made significant changes in the educational process in almost all countries of the world. The methods and approaches, techniques and technology that teachers used in offline learning, turned out to be ineffective. The issues related to online teaching of Russian as a foreign language have become particularly relevant, since many students had to leave Russia and study the language only online. The purpose of the study is to consider the prospects (immediate and long-term) of the Russian language online teaching to foreign students in Russian universities. The research materials are the results of a survey conducted among the 1st year master degree students, specialty 45.04.01 “Russian as a Foreign Language” of the Faculty of Philology of the RUDN University (Moscow), as well as the experience of the author, who teaches Russian to foreign students online on the TEIS (Telecommunication Educational and Informational System) and Microsoft Teams platforms. The study revealed the pros and cons of online learning of Russian as a foreign language, and showed the ways of improving its effectiveness in Russian universities. As a result of the conducted research, the immediate prospects are identified, which include the implementation of relevant components of pedagogical tools in Russian as a foreign language online learning: modern pedagogical technologies, the principles of individualization and differentiation, and the communicative approach. The long-term prospects concern teaching Russian to foreign students only in a mixed format. The formation of communicative competence, the lack of Russian-speaking environment, difficulties in organising control and developing students' writing skills are among the main problems that undermine the quality of teaching Russian as a foreign language online. It is concluded that in the future we should expect the implementation of a new approach in the world education system, since the pandemic will certainly affect the market of educational services all over the world.

Russian Language Studies. 2021;19(1):102-115
pages 102-115 views

Book Reviews

Review on the Textbook on Russian as a Foreign Language: Stepanenko, V.A., Nakhabina, M.M., Kolovska, E.G., & Plotnikova, O.V. (2020). Hello, Russia! Moscow, Kuchkovo pole Publ.

Elistratov V.S.

Abstract

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Russian Language Studies. 2021;19(1):116-118
pages 116-118 views

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