Suedyn Cao

The relevance of the study is determined by the need to identify effective approaches to developing lexical competence and enhancing the comprehension of authentic texts among learners of Russian as a foreign language (RFL) at the B2 level. Given the high density of derived vocabulary in journalistic discourse, word-formation models acquire particular significance as a means of fostering inferencing skills and autonomous reading. Despite the substantial body of research on teaching word formation, the functioning of word-formation models in coherent texts and their systematic didactic application remain insufficiently explored. The aim of the paper is to identify the linguodidactic potential of word-formation models in journalistic texts of socio-economic content (for learners of Russian as a foreign language (RFL) at the B2 level). The methodological basis of the study includes communicative activity-oriented, cognitive, text-centered, and functional approaches, which allow word formation to be considered as a systemic and cognitively grounded mechanism of lexical organization and acquisition in text-based learning. The primary method employed is the word-formation analysis of authentic journalistic texts, supplemented by elements of comparative analysis and instructional modeling. The findings reveal a stable and structurally predictable set of productive word-formation models (suffixal, prefixal, agentive, affixoid, and semantic) characteristic of texts dealing with labor relations. These models are shown to perform not only a nominative but also an interpretive function, shaping the conceptualization of socio-economic phenomena. On this basis, a methodological model of text-based instruction has been developed, including step-by-step organization of learning activities, a word-family (nest-based) principle of lexical presentation, and a system of tasks aimed at developing word-formation analysis and meaning interpretation skills. The theoretical significance of the study lies in clarifying the functions of word-formation models as a means of cognitive processing and systematization of vocabulary. The practical value is determined by the applicability of the proposed methodology in teaching RFL at the B2 level, including in Chinese classrooms, for developing linguistic inferencing skills, expanding potential vocabulary, and fostering independent work with authentic journalistic texts.