2023 has been declared the Year of the Russian Language in the CIS. Within the Year, all Commonwealth countries will host events aimed at enhancing the prestige of Russian as a language of interethnic communication.
And this is no coincidence: Russian is the official language of many international organizations, including the UN, the CIS, the SCO and other integration entities. As of the end of 2022, Russian is the second most popular language on the Internet. Parents in the CIS countries choose schools for their children where education is in Russian. The Russian language in the CIS retains its status, continues to play an important role in all spheres of life, and it is indispensable in interethnic communication.
Therefore, the project of the International Russian Language School "Russian Language in Education and Media Communication" implemented by the partner of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly - the Center for International Studies "Caspian-Eurasia"- was among the best projects of the Astrakhan region among non-profit non-governmental organizations involved in the development of civil society in 2022.
The aim of the project is sharing information about the modern competencies of journalists and teachers of the Russian language as a language of interethnic communication in the countries of Central Asia and the Caspian region, strengthening the status of the Russian language in the post-Soviet space. The development and strengthening of international cooperation between the countries of the Caspian Sea and Central Asia in the humanitarian, educational and information spheres is another vector of the project's tasks.
The Center for International Studies “Caspian-Eurasia” already has a similar experience: the online quest “Learning to understand Russia - learning to understand each other”, successfully conducted over the past few years. Two Caspian media schools and the International online school “Russian as a tool for interethnic harmony” caused interest not only among the participants of the events, but also received a positive response in the CIS space.
“In view of the growing interaction in the field of education in the countries of the Central Asian region, there is an increasing need for the exchange of methodological experience among teachers of various educational institutions whose curriculum includes the study of Russian as a separate discipline on the one hand, and when Russian is the language of teaching subject courses for students of different ages, on the other hand. This is evidenced by the increasing number of Astrakhan students from the Caspian region, Central Asia and the Middle East," - say the organizers.
The program of the International Russian Language School "Russian Language in Education and Media Communication" is addressed to current and future teachers of Russian as a foreign/non-native language (senior students, undergraduates, graduate students of philological areas), current and future journalists of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and others countries interested in the development of the Russian language. During the training, students will get acquainted with modern methods and practical methods of working in a multilingual group of students, as well as with modern trends in media development.
The work of the school will take place in two stages: in April and May, an online school will be held in Astrakhan (Russian Federation) for two weeks, training will be organized in the form of lectures, webinars, online consultations, online testing. Students will receive a set of materials and complete a practical task, the results of which will be available to all participants. As a result, a certificate of participation is issued.
Upon completion of the online project, teachers, journalists and students of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Uzbekistan will be able to undergo in-depth training. The sites of Sh. Yessenov Caspian University of Technology and Engineering (Aktau, Kazakhstan) and the branch of the partner of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly ASTU in the Tashkent region of the Republic of Uzbekistan will be involved in the field school. At the sites, in addition to the actual educational content for school participants, it is planned to hold round tables to exchange participants’ and invited experts’ opinions.
For the implementation of the project activities, the Department of the Russian Language of the Astrakhan State Technical University was involved as partners. Having many years of experience in training foreign students and teaching them the Russian language (in the Soviet Union, ASTU, the former AstrRybVTUZ, was one of the few universities in the RSFSR, where a preparatory department for foreign students functioned), the department has developed and owns unique methods and developments for teaching Russian language as a foreign language. The speakers of the online school will also be expert teachers from other Astrakhan and Moscow universities.
2023 has been declared in the CIS as the Year of the Russian Language as the Language of Interethnic Communication, and, of course, it will be full of interesting events. The Astrakhan region does not lag behind - thanks to grant support from the Government of the Astrakhan region, beginners and experienced media specialists, future and practicing teachers of the Russian language in the CIS will be able to deepen their knowledge, skills and competencies. But the project is also open to other countries outside the Commonwealth.
Thanks to the Russian language, we find new contacts, unite people, build bridges of mutual understanding and friendship between peoples.