Conditions for Functional Literacy Development: Pushkin Centre as a Springboard for the Expansion of the Russian Language in the Near and Far Abroad

Nowadays the role of the social orientation of the individual is increasing, it integrates education (primarily general) with multidimensional human activity. The development of functional literacy is put forward as one of the key tasks of modern education - the need to form the ability to solve life problems in various fields of activity on the basis of applied knowledge necessary to navigate in a rapidly changing society. Such literacy becomes a factor in promoting people's participation in social, cultural, political and economic activities. Functional literacy is necessary for the implementation of life in a cultural environment, it is a situational characteristic of a person, it manifests itself in a specific situation, therefore the problem of functional literacy is considered as a problem of human activity. In a multicultural world, the demand and prevalence of the language abroad are the key indicators of the authority of the state and its influence in the world. One of the most important mechanisms for the development of cooperation in the humanitarian and cultural spheres between Russia and other countries is comprehensive support for the promotion of the Russian language abroad. In this regard, the Russian language must be considered as one of the main tools for promoting and realizing the strategic foreign policy interests of the Russian Federation. Its distribution abroad contributes to the formation of a positive attitude towards the Russian Federation in the world community, the strengthening and expansion of the Russian presence in the international arena. Thus, activities to support and promote the Russian language and culture abroad is an important part of the foreign policy of the Russian Federation. The expansion of forms of educational cooperation, the creation of educational institutions outside the territory of the Russian Federation are among the priority tasks in the field of international cultural and humanitarian cooperation at the present stage of the development of society. The Russian Federation gives higher priority to the promotion of the Russian language abroad. The Russian Federation is interested in creating a stable and effective system for attracting the attention of the foreign public to the Russian language, stimulating interest in studying it abroad and, as a result, shaping a positive image, increasing its international authority and protecting its own geopolitical and strategic interests. The support and promotion of the Russian language abroad are carried out in the following priority areas: a) popularization and support of studying the Russian language as one of the main languages of the world and an important element of the world cultural diversity which provides conditions for the development of functional literacy in the multicultural society; b) maintaining the status of the Russian language as the language of interstate and interethnic communication in the international space; c) support of the Russian language in order to preserve the ethnocultural and linguistic identity of the compatriots living abroad, development of their functional literacy. The national project «Education» and the Federal project «Export of Education» set global goals for the popularization and promotion of the Russian language in the world community. The main tools are: creating a target model for attracting foreigners to the Russian educational institutions; organizing and holding the events to promote and popularize the Russian language abroad; summer and winter schools in the Russian Federation; resource centres for training established abroad; cultural Russian centres established abroad; Olympiads for talented international students; developing information resources; developing the infrastructure; forming the language environment, etc. Separate measures should be aimed at improving information support of activities, support and promotion of the Russian language. The emphasis is on Russian mass media operating in the international information arena with the active use of advanced technologies. In order to improve the forms and methods of providing support and assistance in promoting and strengthening the position of the Russian language abroad, it is necessary to involve Russian educational organizations, public associations, the media, etc. At the same time, some difficulties and problems connected with the development, promotion and positioning of the Russian language in the world can be noted. These unresolved issues include: the declining number of people who speak Russian, the continuing narrowing of its scope as an opportunity for intercultural communication and communication in certain cities, regions and even countries. To solve these problems, it is planned to extensively update and improve the regulatory framework for the protection and support of the Russian language. This concerns the comprehensive support of Russian literature, improving the quality of school and university education, establishing new modern norms of the Russian literary language, preserving linguistic features and traditions of oral and written speech. It is extremely important to revive the interest of young people in reading, and increase the level of the population's language culture and functional literacy. All this is possible when implementing program measures aimed at developing and updating human resources, improving programs in Russian, and applying modern pedagogical technologies. Nowadays, new formats of education (e-learning, distance education) have appeared. Contests, olympiads in the Russian language and literature, tests for knowledge of Russian culture are held annually. This article presents the mission of the Centre for Open Education in Russian «Pushkin Centre», created at the Federal State Budget Educational Institution of Higher Education «Perm State Humanitarian Pedagogical University». The mission is to popularize and promote the Russian language, culture and education in Russian aimed at the development of functional literacy. Thus, the goal of Pushkin Centre is to popularize and support the Russian language and culture as one of the main languages of the world, an important element of the world cultural diversity, as well as to promote the Russian language on the basis of the mutual popularization of the languages of the partner countries.

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