Continuing education courses as a segment of the model of organizational and methodological support for teaching the Russian language in the Republic of India

Marinina Yuliya Anatol'evna PhD in Philology Associate Professor; Department of Russian and Foreign Philology; Minin Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University (Minin University) 603095, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanova str., 1 umarinina@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Latukhina Anna Leonidovna ORCID: 0000-0001-5150-969X PhD in Philology Associate Professor; Department of Russian and Foreign Philology; Minin Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University (Minin University) 603950, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanova str., 1, office 406 alatuhina@yandex.ru

Introduction

At the present stage, understanding the value potential of Russian culture, its spiritual and moral meanings, and the role of the Russian language as a link in intercultural dialogue is one of the most significant priorities in the field of Russian education. The state program "Development of the export potential of the Russian education system" (Passport of the priority project "Development of the export potential of the Russian education system" as amended by Protocol No. 6 dated May 30, 2017), adopted for the period from 2019 to 2025, set the task of increasing the competitiveness of Russian education in the international educational services market. Russia is actively cooperating with Asian and African countries, where interest in learning Russian is increasing.

Against the background of these processes, the so-called "intellectual resource" plays an important role in the strategy of educational export. By an intellectual resource, economic researchers understand: "the totality of accumulated knowledge on developed technologies and scientific discoveries; the results of creative and intellectual work of people, as well as organizational knowledge inherent in each enterprise" ^{[1, p. 34]}. These are "human capital, intellectual property, information, innovations, business technologies, organizational (corporate) culture" ^{[1, p. 34]}. Russian Russian language and Russian education opportunities of "intellectual resources" in the promotion of the Russian language and Russian education are expressed in the model of organizational and methodological support for teaching Russian as a foreign language (hereinafter referred to as RCT) in the cultural and linguistic space of countries where foreign speakers live.

The purpose of this study is to present the results of the work on the implementation of methodological support for teaching Russian as a foreign language in the Republic of India on the example of the organization of additional education courses for teachers of the Russian Academy of Sciences, students of schools and universities.

The current situation in language education is characterized by a variety of forms: along with traditional classical education at school and university, focused on the formation of basic competencies among foreign speakers, short-term courses of additional education are becoming popular, the goals of which are local, limited to the development or formation of one of the key competencies, depending on the needs of students. Students of the courses can be students of different levels of education, as well as teachers of Russian studies ^[2].

Russian Russian comprehending the possibilities of methodological support for teaching the Russian language to non-Russian speakers, D.Yu. Guzhel draws attention to the two-component nature of this process: "methodological assistance to foreign students and students in mastering Russian as a foreign language ... and to foreign teachers of the Russian Language in their professional development in order to improve the quality of pedagogical activity" ^{[3, pp. 495-496]}.

Russian Russian is of high interest in the Republic of India: according to data for 2022, Russian is taught at fifty universities in India at different levels (from short-term courses to vocational training), is studied in twenty schools, Russian centers of science and culture have five departments across the country ^{[4, p. 15]}.

Russian Russian has been changing its status as an academic subject in Indian schools in the last decade, the social order in the field of training specialists with knowledge of the Russian language continues to vary, and the requirements imposed by society on the level and volume of communicative training of students are changing. Russian Russian language is changing in schools due to the introduction of a New educational policy, where the Russian language is offered for study in secondary school along with other foreign languages ^{[5, p. 15]}. In addition, intensive training courses are popular for entrepreneurs, as well as tourists and students who are going to study in Russia. The current state of Russian-Indian cultural contacts, including in the field of Russian studies, the study of RCT, and academic research contacts, is experiencing a rebirth, which is reflected in the "Joint Statement on the results of the XXI Russian-Indian summit "Russia–India: Partnership for Peace, Progress and Prosperity" dated December 6, 2021 ^[6].

The subject of the research is the courses of additional education as a key element of organizational and methodological support for teaching Russian as a foreign language in educational institutions of the Republic of India.

The scientific novelty of the research is determined by the analysis of the existing educational system of India in the aspect of teaching Russian as a foreign language at different levels of training. Russian Russian language teaching is characterized by a systematic approach to the formation of the proposed programs of additional education courses as part of the model of scientific and methodological support for Russian language teaching, since they are aimed at students with different levels of proficiency in Russian as a foreign language and different professional needs.

When designing a model of organizational and methodological support for teaching Russian in the cultural and linguistic space of the Republic of India, the interests of the student and teaching audience identified as a result of the survey, as well as educational gaps that would partially allow additional education courses to be filled, which are an effective tool for professional training ^{[7, p.6]}, were taken into account.

Research methodology and the degree of elaboration of the problem

Comprehending the organizational and methodological support of the process of teaching Russian as a foreign language, researchers primarily talk about the export of Russian education to countries where potential university applicants live in the Russian Federation, with the aim of propaedeutic training of future foreign students entering Russian-language educational programs of Russian universities ^[8]. The methodology of organizing pre-university training courses, as well as advanced training courses, became the basis for designing and expanding the range of additional education courses designed not only for potential applicants, but also students studying Russian at universities in the Republic of India, as well as Russian teachers.

The theoretical basis of the research consists of scientific works considering the concept of exporting Russian education, methodological support for the activities of an RCT teacher abroad, V. I. Skorobogatova ^[9], M. A. Tanina, V. V. Bondarenko, V. A. Yudina, O. N. Leskina ^[10], M. A. Egorova, V. V. Grib, A.V. Minbaleeva ^[11], E. M. Kanunnikova, I. S. Moga ^[12]. The research was also based on works devoted to the issues of teaching Russian as a foreign language, including in a distance format, by D. Yu. Guzheli ^[3], V. A. Maryanchik, L. V. Popova ^[13], K. B. Prigozhina, O. A. Muratova ^[14], T. Rostovskaya, V. Skorobogatova, V. Kholina ^[15], I. Potapova ^[16].

The research methods are the analysis of pedagogical ^{[7; 11; 12]} and methodological literature on the problem of methodological support of teaching the Russian language^{[3; 4; 8; 15]}; Russian Russian as a foreign language and further design of additional education courses based on the study of the needs of the target audience of students, graduate students and teachers ^[2]; modeling of methodological support for the process of teaching Russian as a foreign language, reflecting the experience of Russian scientists in in terms of education export strategies ^{[8; 10; 15; 16]}, in the field of educational and methodological support of the Russian language teaching process in foreign schools, in the field of modern approaches in the teaching methodology of Russian language teaching ^{[9; 13; 20]}.

The development of additional education course programs was preceded by a stage involving a survey of teachers and students of Indian universities in order to identify their interest and determine the topics of intensive courses.

The survey was conducted in the summer of 2023 and 2024. 892 people from the University of Delhi (New Delhi), the University of New Delhi took part in the survey. Jawaharlal Nehru (New Delhi), Chaudhary Charan Singh University (Meerut). Russian Russian was surveyed online using a Google form, and included questions about personal data (gender, age, place of study/work, status (student/graduate student/teacher), level of proficiency in Russian), as well as motivation to learn Russian ("Why do you want to learn Russian?") and about choosing a course of additional education for the development of Russian language skills from a number of suggested courses (a total of 13 courses of different orientation were offered). In the aspect of this study, we will focus in more detail on the analysis of data related to the choice of courses.

Diagram 1. Preferences of students of additional education courses in the Russian language

Russian Russian language additional education courses and the percentage of interest in Russian language courses is shown in the table below.:

Russian Russian language education Table 1. Percentage of interest in additional education courses in Russian and Russian language teaching

Russians Russian language courses related to the formation of skills in the field of business communication ("Business Russian language") have become the most in demand, a survey of students and teachers showed. The interest in this course is due to the involvement of students of different training profiles who are considering options for continuing their studies or working in Russia, or with native Russian speakers in India. Thus, in this case, the Russian language remains the language of international communication and a communication channel for citizens of different countries.

The course "Digital and audiovisual technologies in teaching RCT" was also in great demand among students. The interest in this course among teachers and students is due to the increasing attention to modern digital technologies used in teaching. Digital tools, including chatbots, platforms for creating video and audio content, sites for remote collaboration, visualization tools, virtual maps, museums, etc., make learning a foreign language interesting and effective.

Russian Russian Russian Russian language courses focused on students of philology turned out to be the least in demand: "A journey through Russia with Russian writers", "Russian mentality in language and speech", "Communicative functions of Russian grammar", "Everything secret becomes clear" (a Russian language metaphor), which was due to the contingent of respondents, among whom the percentage of professional The percentage of Russian philologists was 35%.

The results of the study

Russian Russian Language Open Education and Russian Language Training Center of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Central Educational Institution), opened by Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University named after Kozma Minin, has been operating at Chaidhari Charan Singh University (Meerut, Republic of India) since September 2023. In 2024, work on the basis of the Center for Open Education is carried out with the assistance of the Foundation for the Support of the Humanities "My Story".

Teachers of Mininsky University conducted courses in Russian philology, methodological, educational, and educational events at the sites of various universities and schools.

The target audience of the courses are teachers and students of universities of the Republic of India: Chaudhary Charan Singh University (Meerut), Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi), Delhi University (Delhi), Amity University (Harayana), Maharaj Sayajirao Baroda University (Vadodara), Jamia Milia Islamia University (Delhi New Delhi), Savitribai Phule Pune University (Pune), Bhagat Phul Singh Women's University (Sonipad), Pimpri University (Pimpri Chinchwad), students of S. B. Patil School (Pimpri Chinchwad), Pimpri Chinchwad School. Herman Gmeiner (G. Bhimtal) and others.

In just two years of work, more than 950 people have been trained in thirteen different courses.

The additional education courses, which were implemented on the basis of the Central Educational Institution, are addressed to students of different levels of professional training and proficiency in Russian.

The most popular courses for senior students who speak Russian at the B1-B2 level, undergraduates (B2), postgraduates (C1) and teachers are courses on the teaching methodology of RCT, reflecting current trends in language education: a communicative approach to teaching different types of speech activity, interactivity, digitalization. This group of students is focused on professional pedagogical activities related to teaching RCT at different levels of education. A serious problem for the introduction of Russian as a second foreign language in schools in the Republic of India is the lack of Russian specialists who possess the skills of teaching methods to schoolchildren. In pedagogical universities and colleges, there are no profiles related to the study of foreign languages, including Russian languages; students receive basic linguistic education at classical universities, which is why courses of additional methodological education allow them to solve the problem of training personnel for schools and universities.

The methodological block consisted of the courses "Digital and audiovisual technologies in teaching RCT", "Philological analysis of text in teaching RCT", "Features of teaching different types of reading in RCT classes". As a result of studying the courses, students got acquainted with digital educational platforms and tools in teaching RCT, learned how to design their own diagnostic and visual materials in electronic services and place them on digital platforms. Working with text, whether printed or audiovisual, is the basis of RCT classes, therefore, it is especially important to learn how to work with texts, which is primarily associated with the development of reading and listening skills. Classes on philological analysis of the text are focused on studying reading, acquaintance with the texts of modern Russian literature, mass literature, modern journalism. The object of the analysis is unadapted authentic texts. Mastering these courses contributes to mastering the methodology of working with text as didactic material for RCT classes: the formation of the ability to extract linguistic and cultural information from the text, improving the skills of interpreting texts, designing a system of tasks for literary texts corresponding to different types of reading.

As a result, these courses contribute to the formation of students' professional competence in the field of teaching RCT, which is especially important for the modern school education system in India – the possibility of introducing the study of Russian as a second foreign language into the school curriculum.

Russian Russian language courses related to the formation of metaphorical competence of foreign speakers, describing the processes taking place in modern Russian, philological analysis of the text and the study of the modern literary process in Russia also aroused interest for students, undergraduates and postgraduates of advanced level of proficiency in Russian. Particular interest in this area came from translators, including fiction.

The function of these courses in the system of additional education is to form professional competencies related to linguistics and literary studies, as well as translation from Russian into Hindi or English and vice versa. They contribute to the formation of a "secondary linguistic personality": the language picture of the world of native speakers is mastered. Russian Russian Metaphor The course "Everything secret becomes clear" (Russian language metaphor)" is aimed at the formation and development of skills in working with Russian casual and occasional metaphors. The analysis of the mental connections that are formed between the meanings of the original and metaphorical images contributes to a better translation of artistic and journalistic texts, as well as the formation and development of metaphorical competence. Russian Russian metaphor Given that "different languages have different metaphorical systems" ^{[17, p. 158]}, it can be assumed that the development of this course will contribute not only to the expansion of the vocabulary of foreign speakers and the understanding of the Russian language metaphor, but also bring closer to the understanding of the Russian mentality as a whole.

Russian Russian Language courses "Semantics and pragmatics of words in speech", "Communicative functions of Russian Grammar" have been developed for undergraduates, graduate students and teachers of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the purpose of which is to introduce foreign speakers to the variation of the meanings of Russian words in the context, with the relations of synonymy, antonymy, homonymy in modern Russian that are significant for understanding the meaning of utterance. Important objectives of the courses are to familiarize students with the pragmatics (i.e., with the functions important for the successful achievement of the speaker's communicative goal) of the word-formation, lexical and syntactic units of the Russian language; to improve the skills of using and interpreting grammatical forms, morphological and syntactic, in texts of different styles, including colloquial and artistic.

For school students and first-year students who are at the initial stage of mastering Russian as a foreign language, it is important to get acquainted with the history, culture and traditions of Russia. A special linguistic and cultural studies course "Such a different Russia" was designed for this group of students. Russian Russians are so different. The course is designed to form students' general ideas about Russia: about the territory and landscape, about nature and climatic features, about the culture and way of life of the Russian people, about Russian holidays. Russian Russian cultural conceptosphere, concepts of "happiness", "longing", "family", "home", etc., images of men and women in proverbs, sayings, language and literature were presented at the course "Secrets of the Russian Soul". The main objective of this course is to motivate students to study the Russian language, the formation of socio-cultural and linguistic and cultural competencies.

Russian Russian Language courses offered to a wide audience, including those foreign citizens who are going to continue their education in Russia or are connected with the Russian Federation by business contacts, are "Business Russian Language" and "Politeness Strategies in Russian–speaking Culture", "Traveling through Russia with Russian writers". Their study involves familiarity with the Russian-speaking culture of business communication and Russian speech etiquette, the geography of Russia. Russian Russian speech etiquette classes, organized as practical training sessions, students had the opportunity not only to get acquainted with the theoretical foundations and rules of Russian speech etiquette, but also to work out communication skills, oral and written speech in Russian in an official business style, learned how to write some documents (resume, business letter, statement).

Russian Russian literature and culture reflect the image of Russia in the course "Traveling through Russia with Russian Writers". During the course, the students got acquainted with Moscow and the cities of the Golden Ring, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod, and visited virtual tours of these cities. The course materials included animated films from the cycles "Multi-Russia" (about Yaroslavl, Tambov, Smolensk, Kazan, etc.), "Bodo Borodo" (about Veliky Novgorod and Jaipur); got acquainted with the description of cities in the texts of N.S. Leskov, I.S. Aksakov, M.M. Prishvin and other writers.

Russian Russian Metaphor The course "Everything secret becomes clear" (Russian language metaphor)" is aimed at the formation and development of skills in working with Russian casual and occasional metaphors. The analysis of the mental connections that are formed between the meanings of the original and metaphorical images contributes to a better translation of artistic and journalistic texts, as well as the formation and development of metaphorical competence. Russian Russian metaphor Given that "different languages have different metaphorical systems" ^{[17, p. 158]}, it can be assumed that the development of this course will contribute not only to the expansion of the vocabulary of foreign speakers and understanding of the Russian language metaphor, but also bring closer to understanding the Russian mentality as a whole.

Russian Russian Language courses "Semantics and Pragmatics of words in speech", "Communicative functions of Russian Grammar" have been developed for undergraduates, graduate students and teachers of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the purpose of which is to introduce foreign speakers to the variation of the meanings of Russian words in the context, with the relations of synonymy, antonymy, homonymy in modern Russian that are significant for understanding the meaning of utterance. Important objectives of the courses are to familiarize students with the pragmatics (i.e., with the functions important for the successful achievement of the speaker's communicative goal) of the word-formation, lexical and syntactic units of the Russian language; to improve the skills of using and interpreting grammatical forms, morphological and syntactic, in texts of different styles, including colloquial and artistic.

The methodological block consisted of the courses "Digital and audiovisual technologies in teaching RCT", "Philological text analysis in teaching RCT", "Features of teaching different types of reading in RCT classes". As a result of studying the courses, students got acquainted with digital educational platforms and tools in teaching RCT, learned how to design their own diagnostic and visual materials in electronic services and place them on digital platforms. Working with text, whether printed or audiovisual, is the basis of RCT classes, therefore, it is especially important to learn how to work with texts, which is primarily associated with the development of reading and listening skills. Classes on philological analysis of the text are focused on studying reading, acquaintance with the texts of modern Russian literature, mass literature, modern journalism. The object of the analysis is unadapted authentic texts. Mastering these courses contributes to mastering the methodology of working with text as didactic material for RCT classes: the formation of the ability to extract linguistic and cultural information from the text, improving the skills of interpreting texts, designing a system of tasks for literary texts corresponding to different types of reading.

Russian Russian courses offered for study at the Center for Open Education to a wide audience and the professional community of the Republic of India are aimed at demonstrating the possibilities of teaching disciplines in Russian, as well as getting acquainted with the current problems of modern Russian studies: the functioning of the modern Russian language, its history, modern literary process; philological analysis of the text; actual problems of teaching Russian as a foreign language in the aspect of digitalization of educational practices, etc. Russian Russian remains the language of interethnic communication ^[20] Due to the New educational Policy of India, which includes national and foreign languages in the education system along with English ^{[18, 19]}, there is a growing interest in learning Russian both in the form of long-term educational programs and in the form of short-term courses in educational institutions of the country.

The results of the testing of the developed programs of additional education courses were, on the one hand, the improvement of the linguistic, linguistic, cultural, communicative, methodological competencies of foreign speakers, as evidenced by the final certification for each of the courses, on the other hand, confirmation of the effectiveness of the local form of methodological support for teaching a foreign language, including Russian as a foreign language, focused on a personal approach, meeting the needs of a wide range of foreign language listeners.

Conclusions

Russians Russian language courses in the Republic of India played a special role in designing the model of organizational and methodological support for Russian language teaching, which are able to solve a number of tasks: to increase the level of professional competence of teachers of Russian, improve the language and speech competencies of students and undergraduates, motivate school students and students to study the Russian language and Russian culture, to form business communication skills., to introduce the history, culture and literature of Russia. The course system, aimed at students who speak different levels of Russian, and offered to Indian school students, students, undergraduates and teachers, was the export of Russian education to the Republic of India – the introduction of the experience of teachers of Mininsky University (Nizhny Novgorod) with foreign students and Russian teachers. The developed textbooks, course programs, control and measuring materials, taking into account the national specifics of foreign languages, contributed to the updating and enrichment of the methodological base of Indian Russian teachers.

The testing of the courses has demonstrated the effectiveness of including this form in the general model of organizational and methodological support for teaching Russian as a foreign language: firstly, short-term courses of additional education allow solving specific tasks in connection with the needs of the audience of listeners; secondly, if necessary, courses can be adapted into a distance format; thirdly, courses, oriented towards a communicative approach in teaching RCT, they are designed in accordance with modern requirements for the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language: classes are conducted using interactive and digital technologies.

The feedback questionnaire offered to the students after the courses showed a high degree of satisfaction with the classes. Russian Russian students noted that it was "Good and interesting for them to study!", they learned a lot about Russia and Russian culture, most of the respondents would like to continue studying the Russian language and culture.

The research materials allow us to conclude that additional education courses on the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language are in demand, addressed to school teachers, the development of programs taking into account regional specifics seems to be a promising area of work in the field of Russian studies in India.