Designing Online Educational Russian Language Courses in Finland
- Authors: Nikunlassi A.O.1, Loginova A.D.1, Ufimtsev G.V.1, Protassova E.Y.1
-
Affiliations:
- University of Helsinki
- Issue: Vol 19, No 1 (2021): Distance and Online Teaching the Russian Language in Different Linguistic and Cultural Environments
- Pages: 66-84
- Section: Mediadidactics and electronic means of instruction
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/2618-8163/article/view/324623
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2618-8163-2021-19-1-66-84
- ID: 324623
Cite item
Abstract
When switching to online teaching, the question arises about the feasibility, methods and form of transposing existing teaching materials into the Internet and creating new ones. The aim of the study is to show what opportunities electronic educational environment ViLLE, developed in Finland, has for teaching Russian as a foreign language and as a second home language. The material of the article include exercises created in this e-environment, and the methods of the research include various software and pedagogical solutions aimed at implementing the methodology. During research, starting in 2017, e-learning platform ViLLE has allowed the Russian language to find and to take its place in Finland’s digital language teaching system. Different courses were created, with different sets of tasks and exercises that can be used by teachers and students of any educational institution. Some of the courses, among them those aimed at bilinguals, provide an opportunity to familiarize students with the included theoretical material. Having mastered the necessary minimum skills of using ViLLE, any teacher can independently modify tasks and exercises, combine them in the desired sequence and volume, and thus create courses adapted to the needs of their students. An integrated performance analysis system makes their work easier by allowing the teacher to focus on a specific language teaching problem. The results showed that among the existing electronic educational resources, online platforms and e-learning environments are the most essential tools for teaching a foreign/second language, since only they give the teacher the opportunity to independently plan and structure the entire educational process, manage it, use existing materials and create new ones, automatize certain functions, combine various educational events, and communicate with students. The article compares criteria for evaluating such resources and dividing them into two categories: (1) general criteria that include multi-functionality, the set of features provided by the environment, and compatibility with regard to encoding and format of training materials and other system components; (2) those considering needs of specific teachers and students and their resources, namely, resource administrating, creating tasks and courses, managing and monitoring the learning process. The future plans concern carrying out extensive monitoring of the effectiveness of the system in school and university teaching.
About the authors
Ahti Olavi Nikunlassi
University of Helsinki
Author for correspondence.
Email: ahti.nikunlassi@helsinki.fi
PhD, Adjunct Professor of the Department of Languages
P.O. Box 4, 3 Yliopistonkatu, Helsinki, 00014, Republic of FinlandAnastasia D. Loginova
University of Helsinki
Email: anastasia.loginova@helsinki.fi
Master of Arts, Assistant of the Department of Languages
P.O. Box 4, 3 Yliopistonkatu, Helsinki, 00014, Republic of FinlandGeorgy V. Ufimtsev
University of Helsinki
Email: georgy.ufimtsev@helsinki.fi
received Diploma in Language Pedagogy, Assistant of the Department of Languages
P.O. Box 4, 3 Yliopistonkatu, Helsinki, 00014, Republic of FinlandEkaterina Y. Protassova
University of Helsinki
Email: ekaterina.protassova@helsinki.fi
PhD in Philology, Dr. Habilitat in Pedagogy, Adjunct Professor of the Department of Languages
P.O. Box 4, 3 Yliopistonkatu, Helsinki, 00014, Republic of FinlandReferences
- Bagicheva, N.V., Demysheva, A.S., & Bugueva, N.V. (2019). “Lentyayam v etoi igre net mesta”: Mobil'nye interaktivnye tekhnologii v obuchenii russkomu yazyku kak inostrannomu i rodnomu [“There is no place for lazy people in this game”: Mobile interactive technologies in teaching Russian as a foreign and as a native language”]. Pedagogicheskoe Obrazovanie v Rossii [Teacher Education in Russia], (2), 31–37. (In Russ.)
- Barkhudarova, E.L., Gudkov, D.B., Klobukova, L.P., Krasilnikova, L.V., Odincova, I.V., & Pankov, F.I. (2018). Aktual'nye problemy teorii i praktiki prepodavaniya russ-kogo yazyka kak inostrannogo v sovremennoi obrazovatel'noi paradigme [Actual problems of the theory and practice of teaching Russian as a foreign language in the modern educational paradigm]. Moscow, MAKS Press Publ. (In Russ.)
- Chambers, A., & Davies, G. (2001). ICT and language learning: A European perspective. Lisse, Svets & Zeitlinger Publ.
- Chappelle, C.A., & Sauro, S. (2017). The handbook of technology and second language teaching and learning. Hoboken, NJ, Wiley-Blackwell.
- Chun, D., Kern, R., & Smith, B. (2016). Technology in language use, language teach-ing, and language learning. The Modern Language Journal, 100(S1), 64–80.
- Crawford, J., Butler-Henderson, K., Rudolph, J., Malkawi, B., Glowatz, M., Burton, R., Magni, P.A., & Lam, S. (2020). COVID-19: 20 countries’ higher education intra-period digital pedagogy responses. Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching, 3(1), 9–28.
- Farr, F., & Murray, L. (2016). The Routledge handbook of language learning and tech-nology. Oxford, Routledge.
- Fotos, S., & Brown, C. (2004). New perspectives on CALL for second and foreign lan-guage classrooms. Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Golonka, E.M. (2014). Technologies for foreign language learning: A review of technol-ogy types and their effectiveness. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 27(1), 70–105.
- Guzhova, N.V. (2019). K voprosu ob onlain-prepodavanii russkogo yazyka kak in-ostrannogo [On the issue of online teaching of Russian as a foreign language]. Modern Paradigm of Teaching and Learning Russian as a Foreign Language: Ma-terials of the International Scientific and Practical Conference. Moscow, MPGU Publ. (In Russ.)
- Kähkönen, K. (2019). Obuchenie russkomu yazyku v internet-srede [Teaching Russian in the Internet environment]. Mnogoyazychie i Obrazovanie [Multilingualism and Education]. Berlin: Retorika Publ. (In Russ.)
- Kosmarskaya, I.V. (2001). Kontrol'nye testy po russkomu yazyku [Final tests on the Rus-sian Language]. Moscow, Akvarium Publ. (In Russ.)
- Li, L. (2017). New technologies and language learning. London, Palgrave Macmillan.
- Mustajoki, A., & Alestalo-Shepelenko, M. (2001). Taipuisa venäjä, Venäjän peruskieli-oppi ja harjoituskirja. Porvoo, WSOY. (In Finn.)
- Mustajoki, A., Alestalo, M., & Viimaranta, H. (2008). Luggage: Basic Russian grammar with exercises. Saint Petersburg, Zlatoust Publ.
- Nikunlassi, A. (1993). Venäjän kielen sanastovaikeuksia. Helsinki, Finn Lectura. (In Finn.)
- Nikunlassi, A. (2012). Ispol'zovanie informatsionnykh tekhnologii v obuchenii in-ostrannykh studentov russkoi nauchnoi rechi [The use of information technolo-gies in teaching foreign students Russian scientific speech]. Russkii Yazyk v Rossii i v Mire: Aktual'nye Problemy Izucheniya i Prepodavaniya [Russian Language in Russia and in the World: Actual Problems of Study and Teaching]. Tver, Tver State University. (In Russ.)
- Peräsalo, K. (2020). Tsifrovye igry v obuchenii russkomu yazyku [Digital games in teach-ing Russian] (Master dissertation, Helsinki). (In Russ.)
- Petrosyan, M.M., & Smirnova, A.A. (2020). Ispol'zovanie servisov Google v onlain-prepodavanii russkogo yazyka kak inostrannogo [Using Google services in online teaching of Russian as a foreign language]. Humanitarian Foundations of Engi-neering Education: Methodological Aspects in Teaching Speech Disciplines and Problems of Speech Education in Higher Education: Collection of Materials of the VI Interuniversity All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference. Saint Peters-burg, Voennyi institute Publ. (In Russ.)
- Pikalova, E.V. (2020). Prepodavanie russkogo yazyka kak inostrannogo s ispol'zovaniem onlain-tekhnologii v vuze [Teaching Russian as a foreign language with the use of online technologies in higher education]. Gumanitarnye i Sotsial'nye Nauki [Humanitarian and Social Sciences], (4), 283–290. (In Russ.)
- Pölönen, A. (2018). Geimifikatsiya i igry v shkol'nom obrazovanii (na primere sozdaniya tsifrovoi obuchayushchei igry na temu russkikh glagolov dvizheniya) [Gamification and games in school education (on the example of creating a didactic game on Rus-sian verbs of movement)] (Master dissertation, Helsinki). (In Russ.)
- Problemy i perspektivy metodiki prepodavaniya inostrannykh yazykov i perevoda v voen-nom vuze: Sbornik materialov kruglogo stola [Problems and prospects of methods of teaching foreign languages and translation in a military university: Collection of materials of the round table]. (2017). Saint Petersburg, VAS Publ. (In Russ.)
- Reinhardt, J. (2019). Gameful second and foreign language teaching and learning. Theo-ry, research, and practice. New York, Palgrave Macmillan.
- Rudenko-Morgun, O.I. (2006). Komp'yuternyi urok bez komp'yuternogo uchebnika [A computer lesson without textbook]. Russkii Yazyk za Rubezhom [Russian Lan-guage Abroad], (3), 39–48. (In Russ.)
- Shadiev, R., & Yang, M. (2020). Review of studies on technology-enhanced language learning and teaching. Sustainability, 12(2), 1–22.
- Soler Cervera, A., Rueda Ramos, C., & Arnó Macià, E. (2005). Students' profile as au-tonomous learners in an Internet-based EAP course. Ibérica, 9, 53–78.
- Thorne, S.L., & May, S. (2017). Language, Education and Technology. 3rd ed. Cham, Springer.
- Vyazovskaya, V.V., Zlobina, M.E., & Cherkasov, G.V. (2016). Innovatsionnye tekhnologii v obuchenii russkomu yazyku kak inostrannomu: Elektronnyi ucheb-nik “Ruso Comunicativo” kak obuchayushchii resurs novogo pokoleniya [Innova-tive technologies in teaching Russian as a foreign language: Electronic textbook “Ruso Comunicativo” as a new generation learning resource]. Dinamika Yazy-kovykh i Kul'turnykh Protsessov v Sovremennoi Rossii [Dynamics of Language and Cultural Processes in Modern Russia], (5), 1697–1702. (In Russ.)
Supplementary files
