Larisa А. Nedospasova

The international cooperation with Chinese universities is developing at a rapid pace in Russia due to economic and political interaction. This cooperation between the two countries has accelerated development in the field of education. The relevance of the presented methodology of Russian as a foreign language lies in its effectiveness and improvement of the educational process organization, which is required by new international educational standards. The issue of teaching Russian as a foreign language is considered using the works of foreign and domestic scientists. The article analyzes methods of teaching Russian as a foreign language to Chinese students in the field of “System programming and artificial intelligence technologies.” The authors examine existing educational and methodological materials using the ethnic orientation of students. The purpose of the research is to generalize the methodology and practice of teaching Russian as a foreign language in the educational process of the university. They highlighted the requirements for the organization of the educational process, for educational training and providing language training taking into consideration the students’ national linguistic specificity. The characteristics of works on the consideration of Russian as a foreign language in the sociocultural context are given. The article proposes an educational process that is divided into four stages of learning with gradual immersion in the social environment. Each stage is complemented by a subject focus, taking into account the communicative approach. Systematic training with a communicative focus ensures obtaining high-quality results in the acquisition of linguistic, communicative and sociocultural skills. The authors described the practical experience of teaching Russian as a foreign language with elements of edifying, educational and socially focused orientation obtained over several years at the Rostov State Transport University. The existing problems of studying Russian as a foreign language are analyzed, including modern approaches to the forms and methods of mastering vocabulary, grammar and colloquial speech. Taking into account the positive results of the method, we can note its practicability and effectiveness. The article may be of practical importance for teachers of Russian as a foreign language who do not have experience working with Chinese students and can use the proposed methodology in the teaching process.

Over the past three decades, the relevance and prospects of using chatbots in foreign languages learning have increased significantly, having turned this topic into one of the most debated among researchers, developers of artificial intelligence, students and teachers. A lot of work is done by a teacher to recreate the language environment in the classroom – there are effective methods of pair and group work, didactic materials aimed at intensifying the development of language skills. The studies conducted so far give a fairly complete picture of the sociolinguistic, didactic, psychological aspects of chatbots in language education, reveal their cognitive potential. Online chatbots can become a means of language practice for the learner in any convenient situation, given that they are compatible with any operating system of smartphones, tablets, laptops. In the last decade, chatbots have been increasingly used as aides in language learning due to their easy adaptability to specific requests (for example, aspect study – vocabulary, grammar, speaking and writing), for solving complex tasks – the study of an entire topic with all didactic units, and linguistic flexibility – the study of the first, the second or subsequent language. This article aims to show not only the positive impact of artificial intelligence on the effectiveness of a foreign language learning, but also to point out the positions insufficiently developed by the creators of chatbots. Another goal is to find out whether chatbots with artificial intelligence are equally effective in studying different didactic units of a language, to identify possible pedagogical, social and technological opportunities provided by chatbots. Comparative analysis of the chatbots use in the student’s and teacher’s environment, opportunities and obstacles for the chatbots implementation in language teaching were used as research methods. As a result of the study, the experience of domestic and foreign researchers regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using chatbots in language education is analyzed. The article discusses the aspect of psychological readiness for communication among trainees (based on the theory of social presence) and how chatbots help or complicate this process. The article may be of practical interest to researchers of this issue.