The Department of Russian as a Foreign Language
The Department of Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL) has a long history, its own traditions. For many years its staff - teachers and support staff - have been carrying out important and responsible work on language training for students, undergraduates, post-graduate students and trainees from near and far abroad.
The department is headed by Professor, Doctor of Philology, T.G. Bochina. In 2017 T.G. Bochina received the title of Honorary Professor of Beijing University of International Education, the department has been cooperating with since 1998.
The department unites experienced, highly qualified teachers and methodologists, among whom are assistant professors, doctors and candidates of philology U.V. Ageeva, L.M. Akhmetzyanova, E.M. Bastrikova, A.V. Bastrikov, Т.А. Burtseva, M.U. Varlamova, I.R. Galiulina, Т.А. Gimranova, E.I. Kolosova, V.A. Kosova, L.A. Moskaleva, A.N. Miftakhova, E.S. Palekha, I.A. Sadykova, A.R. Salakhova, E.V. Khabibullina, Т.S. Shakhmatova, V.N. Yapparova; senior lecturers, candidates of philology L.R. Akhmerova, T.I. Galeev, A.A. Ershova, U.V. Kapralova, senior lecturers V.A. Bogorodsky, U.Ya. Ziganshina; and young specialists – assistants, candidates of philology A.F. Gainutdinova, A.Z. Malikov, E.G. Shtyrlyna; assistants R.R Guzaerova, E.V. Kapustina, E.A. Makleeva, A.R. Rakhimova, A.V. Spiridonov, O.V. Starostina, Т.V. Uhanova, Zhao Yalin, Chen Yasin.
Assistance to the faculty on organizing the educational process and solving other issues related to the department's work is provided by senior laboratory assistant O.V. Mokeeva.
The department of RFL of Leo Tolstoy Institute of Philology and Intercultural Communication of KFU actively participates in projects of Russian and international scale.
The department is a part of the partner network "Pushkin Institute" and actively participates in the projects of Pushkin State Institute of the Russian Language, aimed at popularizing and spreading the Russian language in the world. In particular, the department is the organizer of the International competition of open education courses in the Russian Language, held in 2016-2017, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
In January 2018 the department staff took part in the International methodological meeting on the issues of expert assessment of the teaching content and the format of the final control in teaching Russian as a foreign language.
The department regularly conducts various refresher courses: four schools were organized in this way, as well as short-term refresher courses in the field "Russian language and culture of speech" for teachers; for several years the staff of the department together with the CMLC has been conducting the retraining program courses, which give the right to conduct professional activities in the field of teaching Russian as a foreign language.
Annually more than 500 students study the Russian language at the department, including students from Turkey, Iran, China, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Poland, Great Britain, the USA, Germany and many other countries. Foreign students with the help of teachers successfully adapt to the new learning and living conditions, join the great Russian culture, the country traditions of the studied language.
Implementing the program of student exchanges, the department conducts annual training of students from partner universities in China, semester training of students from partner universities in Europe, the United States and Japan. The student conference is held annually as well as the Olympiad in the Russian language among foreign students of Kazan, the Youth scientific and educational festival dedicated to the Day of the Russian language; the following clubs function at the department: the Club of the Russian song fans, the Discussion club and the Club of the Russian film lovers.
The undergraduates of the department who study the specialty "Philology: RFL", being popular with foreigners, and being aimed at training teachers of Russian in different parts of the world, have the opportunity to approbate their scientific results in the annual international scientific and practical conference "Russian language in the 21st century: research of the youth" with the subsequent publication of their work in a foreign (Kazakhstan, Astana) collection of conference materials, which also confirms the transnationality and "infinity" of the Russian language.
In 2017, the television program "Russian language over a cup of tea" was launched on Univer TV. The program is devoted to the culture of Russian speech and effective strategies of speech behavior. Teachers and students of KFU take part in the filming, the project being implemented jointly with the Higher school of journalism and media communications of KFU.
Also in 2017 the department actively began to master the new popular method of teaching students in the game form of the quest. Teachers of the department together with Russian-speaking students (future teachers of RFL) have developed several routes for foreigners, during which they get acquainted with grammar, vocabulary and syntax of the Russian language, and the participants also actively supplement and consolidate the information on the history and culture of Russia. The project is carried out in cooperation with museums of Kazan University.
In the largest Russian publishing house "Eksmo" a series of extremely topical novels "Detective from philological department" by Tatyana Sergeevna Shakhmatova, assistant professor of our department, began to be published.
The department staff actively publishes textbooks on author's methods, also in the leading publishing houses of educational literature in Russian as a foreign language.
In September 2017 on the channel Univer.TV began the release of the educational program " Русский язык за чашкой чая ", as a joint project of the department and University television.
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwvq5SzzZcY
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s--Xh5OrNws&t=103s
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSwr1a8Bd3I&t=42s
