The Russian language in mining engineering education in the 1990s – the beginning of the XXIth century

Relevance of the study. Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. About 300 million people on the planet speak Russian, and it puts it on the fifth place in terms of prevalence. Technical universities graduates and, in particular, those of mining engineering, carry out their professional activities worldwide in national and international corporations and companies. This fact contributes to strengthening the status of the Russian language as a language of professional communication. The Russian language teaching methods need to be improved in this regard, which is reflected, first of all, in teaching practice of Russian as a foreign language in technical high school.

The purpose of this study is to analyze and summarize the experience of teaching various aspects of the Russian language at the first higher technical educational institution in Russia – Saint Petersburg Mining University – in recent history (the 90s of the XXth century – the beginning of the XXIth century).

Research methodology. The research is based on the following methods: structural and substantive analysis of normative documents, educational and methodological literature and scientific publications; historiographical approach to understanding the role of the Russian language in the highly qualified professional training for the mineral resource complex.

Results and discussion. The concept and structure of disciplines aimed to study various aspects of the culture of Russian speech were introduced into the curricula of technical universities of Saint Petersburg in the late 90s. The role of the Department of the Russian Language and Literature at the Mining University in the development of the Russian language and speech culture program for universities of non-humanitarian profile and its implementation in the educational process is decisive. Textbooks created with the aim of studying a new discipline are addressed both to students of mining engineering profile and students of other non-humanitarian universities. The presented modern concept of studying the Russian language at the Mining University is connected with the traditions of teaching Humanities at the oldest technical higher educational institution in Russia. The communicative competencies being formed by the educational standards of the new generation determine the relevance and significance of the described scientific and methodological work. In connection with the trend towards the humanization of technical education and need of society for the formation of the intercultural communication the study of national culture, an integral part of teaching Russian, was included in the academic process.

Conclusion. For the first time the experience of teaching Russian (as a native and as a second language) in a higher educational institution of a mining technical profile from the 1990s up to the beginning of the XXI century has been summarized. The specifics of teaching the professional Russian language (native and foreign) at a technical university are described.

Keywords: engineering education, Humanities; Russian as a foreign language, the Russian language and speech culture, linguistic regional studies, Saint Petersburg Mining University

For Reference: Egorenkova, N. A., Shchukina, D. A., & Bondareva, O. N. (2022). The Russian language in mining engineering education in the 1990s – the beginning of the XXIth century. Perspektivy nauki i obrazovania – Perspectives of Science and Education, 59 (5), 491-505. doi: 10.32744/pse.2022.5.29

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Information about the authors:

Natalia A. Egorenkova (Russian Federation, St. Petersburg) - Associate Professor, Cand. Sci. (Philol.), Associate Professor of Russian Language and Literature Department. Saint-Petersburg Mining University. E-mail: donkip@yandex.ru. ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2863-0368. Scopus Author ID: 57215078058

Daria A. Shchukina (Russian Federation, Saint-Petersburg) - Professor, Dr. Sci. (Philol.), Head of Department of Russian Language and Literature. Saint-Petersburg Mining University. E-mail: dshukina@yandex.ru. ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2312-2794. Scopus Author ID: 57212656728. ResearcherID: A-5467-2019

Olga N. Bondareva (Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg) - Cand. Sci. (Educ.), Associate Professor of Russian Language and Literature Department. Saint-Petersburg Mining University. E-mail: olga_bondarewa@mail.ru. ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6173-206X. Scopus Author ID: 57221535354