DEVELOPMENT OF READING SKILLS AT RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASS USING AFANASY NIKITIN'S NOTES “A JOURNEY BEYOND THE THREE SEAS”

Abstract

Developing reading skills is one of the cornerstones of language learning. The article discusses the concept of “reading”, there are many incomplete definitions, but the authors provide a more complete one: “Reading is the process of extracting meaning from written texts. It is a complex skill that requires the coordination of interrelated sources of information”. For the student of Russian as a foreign language, reading is the way, and sometimes the goal, of learning Russian. Afanasy Nikitin's travel notes - a monument of Old Russian literature can be used in Russian as a foreign language lessons starting from A2 level. This unique literary work by a merchant from Tver, entitled “A Journey Beyond the Three Seas”, is a fascinating record of his journey to India in the period from 1468 to 1474. The authors of this article describe the methodology and stages of working with texts, they emphasize that every reading lesson plan should include three stages: the pre-reading, reading, and post-reading stages. According to constructivists, we create new knowledge by building on our prior knowledge. The ability to decode information from a text alone is not enough. Teachers should encourage students to use their own knowledge of the world and worldview to make sense of the text. This knowledge, often called schemas, is essential to the process of constructing meaning. The way reading skills are taught depends on what the teacher's goals are and how he or she constructs lesson plans. For this purpose, the teacher needs to decide on the objectives of the reading comprehension lesson. Teachers should activate students' knowledge of the topic of the text they are about to read by using the following activities: brainstorming, discussions, pictures, primers, prediction, and others. Activities during reading are exercises that help students focus on text features and comprehension. In addition to helping students better comprehend the text, these activities also help students to understand the text. The authors of the article have developed exercises to develop reading skills based on the work of Afanasy Nikitin.