Working with texts by A. S. Pushkin in classes on Russian as a foreign language

Aim. To define and propose ways to optimize educational materials and forms of work with A.S. Pushkin’s texts and works about A.S. Pushkin for foreign students, based on the analysis of the perception of these texts by students and the analysis of published educational materials.
Methodology. Analysis of theoretical approaches in foreign language teaching, analysis of practical methodological developments for working with texts by A.S. Pushkin and about A.S. Pushkin, surveys and questionnaires of students, analysis of students’ speech activity.
Results. Surveys conducted among 3rd year undergraduates from the People’s Republic of China with specialization in the Russian language, diagnostic tasks performed by students within the framework of individual disciplines included in the program “Practical course of Russian language” for foreign trainees, show that students have advanced regional expertise. At the same time, they cannot use the acquired knowledge in real communication and educational activities. This is largely due to the fact that students are little involved in the learning process, and the available training materials based on literary texts mainly contain tasks that can be performed mechanically. The authors offer methodological recommendations for the development of communicative tasks for foreign students based on modern pedagogical technologies (collaborative learning, project method, quests) and information presentation methods (infographics) that allow students to engage in independent research of the life and work of A.S. Pushkin, to organize communication in the classroom.
The theoretical and/or practical significance of the work. The paper contains generalizations about the features of working with classical literature within practical Russian language course for foreign students that can be used to conduct further research of Russian as a foreign language teaching methodology, as well as particular practical recommendations for organizing such work.
Conclusions. The analysis shows that classical literature and texts about classical writers can and are used as educational material. The already created developments contain an insufficient number of tasks that motivate students to analyze the writer’s creative path, his literary heritage, the culture of the country of the language being studied, as well as the tasks that motivate students to communicate in the language under study. The methods of work discussed in the methodology of teaching foreign languages, including the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language, can be used when working with the works of A.S. Pushkin and materials about the life and work of A.S. Pushkin. Their use, alongside relevant work of a teacher-methodologist, increases the effectiveness of classes and allows students to develop their communicative competence and become interested in exploring the culture of the country of the language being studied.

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