Russian Language Teaching in a Chinese University: Theories and Methods

The aim of this research is to find and explain the special features of Russian language teaching in the PRC's universities by using data obtained through literal sources, and the authors' work experience. The authors conducted a theoretical analysis of Chinese authors' articles on Russian, Chinese and English languages devoted to the issue of foreign language teaching. The authors' own experience of studying for Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees in China was also taken into consideration. In 2014-17, the authors conducted semi-formalized interviews with Chinese natives who were teaching English, Russian and Chinese in Shenyang Ligong (Polytechnic) University and Jilin University. The PRC's central television programs, their internet versions and Chinese culture precedent texts on the role of teacher and teaching process were also used as data sources. The work depicts the systemic analysis of main differences between Russian and Chinese methods of foreign language teaching. The authors suppose that the historically formed culture and traditions are the reason for the relatively low efficiency of Chinese students' education in Russian universities. The authors found some problems which influence foreign language (especially Russian) teaching in Chinese universities. The common problems are the lack of Chinese theoretical research on foreign language teaching, the lack of teachers' competency in the implementation of new teaching techniques and approaches, the lack of high-quality teachers, over-regulation of the teaching process, poor relevance of Chinese teaching materials to the modern Russia's situation. The authors analyzed methods used in China for teaching foreign languages. The article explains the reasons and sources of students' stereotypes about language learning: the imagined need to memorize dialogues and texts, use similar tests for learning grammar, etc. The difficulties students face in speaking and listening are not only the consequence of the teaching methodology and the teacher's level, but also the consequence of the overall assessment system influence. The article discusses the difference between Chinese and Russian styles of teaching. In Russian universities, the person-centered approach is currently used in relations between a teacher and students; in China, teacher-student relations are more authoritarian. The notion ^гЙЩР' (which may be roughly translated as "Dignity of Teacher's Profession") is explained in the article as an example of the students' attitude to the teacher. It is noted that some teaching methods and techniques, which are quite common in Russia today, are very rarely used in China. Particularly, communicative teaching technologies are seen in China as new and unusual. It is also stressed that many teachers in China recognize the differences between Chinese and European ways of teaching and many of them advocate openly the use of new teaching methods. The systematization of these data helped to find out reasons which influence the effectiveness of Russian language teaching in Chinese universities and allowed to make some recommendations for teachers who work with Chinese students.

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