PROBLEMS AND METHODS OF TEACHING CHINESE STUDENTS FOREIGN LANGUAGES AT A RUSSIAN UNIVERSITY

The paper is devoted to the problem of finding effective methods of teaching and testing the communicative competence of Chinese students in Russia in a cross-cultural and cross-linguistic context. At the same time, a trilingual situation is considered – teaching English to native Chinese speakers in a Russian-speaking language environment. The purpose of this study is to analyze the features of the Chinese and Russian systems of teaching a foreign language (English) and its testing/evaluation. The research task is solved by pedagogical observation and a survey of students’ problems and needs. According to the results of the experiment, it was revealed that the differences between the psycho-linguistic model of the oral exam in Russia and the traditions of the educational process, the conduct of tests and their significance in Chinese culture are significant. The greatest difficulties for Chinese students are linguistic, psychological and cultural barriers. Language difficulties are manifested primarily at the phonetic level, since the contacting languages have different organization of the sound system (Chinese – syllabic, English and Russian – phonemic languages). Among the psychological difficulties, there are communicative, emotional, associative barriers that can cause stress during oral exams. Among the cultural difficulties, special attention in this article is paid to the clash of value systems in teaching English to Chinese students, reflected in vocabulary and phraseology. The article analyzes the features and functioning of English and Chinese lexical units reflecting the national and cultural values. Both languages under consideration demonstrate the presence of the main ideologies in the system of spiritual values. Attempts are being made to offer solutions to the problems that arise when teaching Chinese students at a Russian university.

Key words: foreign language, education system, language testing, communicative competence, psychological barrier, intercultural competence, value system, phonological problems

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