Peculiarities of Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language in North Korean Schools (Based on the Analysis of the Textbook Series "Russian Language")

Kukharenko Sergei Vladimirovich ORCID: 0000-0002-0561-4912 PhD in Philosophy Head of Educational department,Confucius Institute, Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University 675004, Russia, Amur region, Blagoveshchensk, Lenin str., 104, office. 200 a kukharenko_s@mail.ru Other publications by this author

 The subject of this study is teaching Russian as a foreign language in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The object of the study is the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language. The author presents the results of the analysis of the educational complex "Russian language", which is the main one for teaching in schools of the DPRK.

The research methods were: a comprehensive analysis of the educational complex "Russian language", analysis and generalization of methodological techniques used in the educational complex, formulation of conclusions. The theoretical significance and scientific novelty of the study is that the educational complex used for teaching Russian in the DPRK was reviewed and analyzed for the first time, the peculiarities of the teaching methodology of the RCT in the DPRK and the presentation of educational material in the considered educational complex were revealed, a number of recommendations were made concerning the improvement of the quality of the educational complex. The main conclusions of the scientific research are that when studying the Russian language in schools of the DPRK, the main emphasis is placed on memorizing phrases and the ability to reproduce them, and not on developing the ability to express one's thoughts. The ideological component can be traced quite strongly in the educational complex. The absence of native speakers in the team of authors led to a significant number of errors on the pages of the educational complex.

Russian Russian Language educational complex used for learning Russian in schools of the DPRK needs to be improved with the involvement of Russian specialists, first of all, to correct existing errors. And also, to introduce the realities of modern Russia into the text and dialogic material being studied, to introduce modern methods of developing speech skills, including those aimed at developing the skills of constructing monological utterances, dialogue, and discussion at more advanced stages of language learning.

 About teaching RCT in the DPRK

In the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, over decades of close cooperation with the USSR, a base for teaching Russian has been formed. Even before the formation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in 1946 300 Koreans were sent to study at Soviet universities ^{[9, p.66]}. In 1948, an agreement was signed between the Ministry of Higher Education of the USSR and the People's Committee of North Korea on the training of Korean students and postgraduates in higher civil educational institutions of the USSR, according to which the Ministry of Higher Education education of the USSR provided an annual quota of 120 places for students from the DPRK to study. An additional quota of 20 places was established for graduate students. ^{[9, p. 69]}

In 1949, when the Institute of the Russian Language was created, which was later transformed into the Pyongyang University of Foreign Languages, the DPRK began independent teaching of foreign languages. However, the systematic study of foreign languages in the DPRK dates back only to 1958. The main foreign language to study at that time was Russian ^[10]. A fairly large number of North Korean citizens speak Russian to this day. Russian Russian was the main foreign language taught in educational institutions of the DPRK before the collapse of the USSR, until that time more than 60% of students of North Korean schools and universities studied Russian ^{[2; 4]}. 

The largest centers of the spread of the Russian language in the DPRK today, as before, are Pyongyang universities – Kim Il Sung University, the Institute of Foreign Languages, the Industrial University named after Kim Il Sung. Kim Chaka, Pedagogical Institute named after Kim Hyun Jika ^[2].  

Until 2011, the study of foreign languages was mandatory only for high school students. However, with the coming to power of Kim Jong-un, it became mandatory to study foreign languages from elementary school ^[11].  

In North Korean universities, English or Russian are studied as the first foreign language, and Chinese and Japanese as the second foreign language. The study of the first foreign language is mandatory, as for the second language, students can choose one of two second languages ^[12].

            RCT educational Complex for North Korean schoolchildren

Russian Russian as a foreign language in North Korean schools, we took the "Russian Language" training complex to study the peculiarities of teaching Russian as a foreign language, authors Cho Nam Chul, Hong Ryong Sun, ed. Kensuk Paka (1st secondary school, secondary school), consisting of 4 parts, which was published in the publishing house "Foreign Literature" in Pyongyang 2011. This educational complex is the main one for teaching in schools of the DPRK.

Each part of the textbook contains about 200-250 pages and is divided into about 15-20 lessons. The lessons are provided with an abundance of illustrative material. The tutorial has an audio application.   

            The first 29 introductory lessons of the first part of the educational complex, preceding the first lesson, contain the study of letters and sounds of the Russian alphabet. The letters of the alphabet and their corresponding sounds are entered not in order, but starting with the most commonly used ones – o, a, y in the 1st lesson, m, p – in the second. After 5-7 lessons, there is a lesson-repetition. Working with sounds that are similar in sound is combined into one lesson – i, s; e, e, e; g, x; y, y; w, h, etc. ^[5]. 

Work on pronunciation also involves tasks for placing accents, reading tongue twisters. From the 13th lesson of the 1st part of the educational complex, work begins with intonation constructions ^[5].

From the first lessons of the introductory course there are tasks for memorizing new vocabulary, not just reading. Starting from the 4th lesson, students need to answer the questions "Who is this?", "What is this?" from the picture. From the 13th lesson, the gradual introduction of grammatical material begins, in particular the categories of the genus of nouns, the tasks for determining the genus begin. From the 25th lesson, the semantics of colors begins, from the 27th – months, and this is done when studying a soft sign, emphasis is placed on the fact that the names of all months in Russian end in a soft sign. From the 29th lesson of the introductory phonetic course, the study of numbers begins. From the 4th lesson of the main course of the 1st part of the educational complex, work begins with grammar – conjugation of verbs, declension of nouns, gender of nouns and possessive pronouns ^[5].

The dialogue, which is given in part 4 of the educational complex, apparently expresses the authors' view on the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language: 

Conversation with Ivan Petrovich

? What do you think, Ivan Petrovich, is it possible to learn a foreign language quickly?

? What do you mean fast?

? Well, for example, will I be able to learn a language if I study it for two months? I think the most important thing is to learn the words. If I learn one word per minute, then in an hour I will know 60 words. And in a month 1500 words. And next month I'll learn all the grammar. 

? No, we are Su, I think that knowing the language does not mean knowing a lot of words and grammar. It is necessary to build phrases quickly and correctly, to think in this language.

? Do you think you can learn the language yourself?

? Yes, of course, but it is very important to study every day. A person who studies a foreign language does not have days off. It is very useful to listen to the radio, tape recorder, read a lot ^{[8; pp. 41-42]}.

Student Nam Su presents a naive view of the goals and methods of studying a foreign language. Ivan Petrovich expresses the point of view of the textbook authors. The purpose of the study is quite clearly expressed - to build phrases quickly and correctly, to think in a foreign language.  The key to success is complete immersion in the language, "a person who studies a foreign language has no days off", "constantly listen to the radio, tape recorder, read a lot". Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the authors encourage independent language learning, ignoring the importance of live communication for the development of speech skills, including with native speakers. A number of researchers note that when teaching foreign languages in the DPRK, the main emphasis was on reading texts, and not on speaking, such a practice developed due to the fact that reading skills were enough to understand technical texts and study Western technologies ^[4]. North Korean schools have so far focused on reading while mastering the language, paying little attention to oral and written speech. But recently there have been changes in educational institutions aimed at strengthening the importance of conversational skills ^[12].

In general, the analysis of the educational complex does not allow us to conclude that the emphasis in it is on the study of texts. There are a lot of dialogues, exercises for working out speech patterns. There are really no issues of a debatable nature, the emphasis is on the reproduction of phrases and sentences. The training complex is a relatively new edition.

The ideological component

It is impossible to ignore the pronounced ideological component that can be traced in the considered educational complex "Russian language". The second textbook of the educational complex begins with the theme "We learn words about songun". In particular, it contains the following dialog:

? In Ho, what words about songun did you learn in class?

? Listen to this: songun ideas, songun era, songun politics, Songun revolution and Songun

guide.

? And who created the songun ideas?

? The great leader Generalissimo Kim Il Sung created the ideas of songun. And the songun policy was started by the great leader Marshal Kim Jong Il. Songun politics is our great policy ^{[6; C. 8]}.

Also in the 1st lesson of the 2nd textbook there is such a text:

The most expensive word

You guys are second graders. Here you have already learned Russian words. The words are different. Here are the words: my father, my mother, our comrade, son, daughter, brother, sister. They are native words.

There are still polite words: thank you, please, hello. There are very important words: our party, our Motherland.

But the greatest, most precious word is the leader. Our great leader is Generalissimo Kim Il Sung. Our great leader is Marshal Kim Jong Il.

There was also a blatant disregard for the existence of such a country as South Korea. Neither South Korea nor Japan is marked on the map given in the second part of the educational complex, but Kazakhstan is marked ^{[6; p. 24]}.

Fig. 1 Map of the neighboring states of the DPRK ^{[6; p. 24]}.

 Errors on the textbook pages

The absence of native speakers in the team of authors could not but result in the presence of errors on the pages of the educational complex. Here are just a few of them.

So in the first part of the educational complex, the famous tongue twister "Sasha was walking along the highway ..." is given in a distorted form:

Sasha was walking along the highway

and sucked the dryer

Sasha with a hat

Knocked down a bump ^{[5; C.43]}

In an imperfect form, verbs are used that should be used in a perfect form ? "All 30 letters were written correctly – "excellent"" ^{[5; C.59]}. ^{[8; C. 10]}. Dad was writing his autobiography. I happened to read it.

The names of the countries of the DPRK, China, Russia on the maps are written with a small letter ^{[5; C.108]}.

The word "robot" in the accusative case is used unchanged:

? I love the computer.

- me too. But most of all I love the robot ^{[6; p. 199]}.

The same error is repeated on the next page:

            ? I advise you to look at this robot. How it works well ^{[6; p. 200]}.

There is an incorrect word usage: The girl stood on the ball. The ball ran to the right, and to the left, and forward, and back. And she ran with the ball as she flew ^{[6; C. 202]}. I really like to play a game on the computer. ^{[8; C. 6]}. And so, the full name consists of three parts: first name, patronymic and surname ^{[8; C. 7]}. Errors in endings ? "Find the right information" ^{[6; p. 147]}.

 Conclusions

In the DPRK, over decades of close cooperation with the USSR, a base for teaching the Russian language has been formed.

Russian Russian as a foreign language in North Korean schools, we took the "Russian Language" training complex to study the peculiarities of teaching Russian as a foreign language, authors Cho Nam Chul, Hong Ryong Sun, ed. Kensuk Paka (1st secondary school, secondary school), consisting of 4 parts, which was published in the publishing house "Foreign Literature" in Pyongyang 2011. This educational complex is the main one for teaching in schools of the DPRK.

The purpose of learning the Russian language, the authors of the educational complex see in the formation of the ability to quickly and correctly build phrases, think in a foreign language. The main emphasis is on memorizing phrases, building grammatically correct sentences. The educational complex is diverse in methodological terms. Basic vocabulary, simple grammatical material and everyday communication topics were selected for study. The educational complex does not contain difficult-to-understand literary texts.

In the educational complex under consideration, the emphasis is on memorizing and reproducing phrases, the educational complex does not contain issues of a debatable nature.

The ideological component can be traced quite strongly in the educational complex. The absence of native speakers in the team of authors led to a significant number of errors on the pages of the educational complex.

Russian Russian Language educational complex, used for learning Russian in schools of the DPRK, needs to be improved with the involvement of Russian specialists, primarily to correct existing errors. And also, to introduce the realities of modern Russia into the studied textual and dialogical material, to introduce modern methods of developing speech skills, including those aimed at developing the skills of constructing monological utterances, dialogue, and discussion at more advanced stages of language learning.