Abstract:

In academic education, in accordance with the European Qualifications Framework, students should achieve specific course learning outcomes within individual subjects in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences, which are defined in the study programme and syllabuses. In the field of foreign philology (in our case Russian philology), the student expects that the final result of the university education will be a developed ability to use the Russian language effectively in the professional and private spheres. It is believed that an action-oriented approach is one of the effective ways to enhance knowledge, develop skills and form competences in language education. Action-oriented learning is understood as learning through active interaction in a foreign language and interacting with others. An example of such learning is involving students in projects oriented towards the creation of an actual product, service or other tangible outcomes.

This article presents our experiences and results of our analysis of the process of creating a theoretical and practical book in Russian, co-authored by two Russian Studies students and a lecturer. Results from interviews conducted with these students after the publication was developed will also be discussed.

The initiative of preparing a book in cooperation with students is an innovative project at the Russian Philology Department of the University of Bialystok. The aim of the project was to prepare and publish a book in Russian, which will be used in various subjects at the Russian Philology Department. The choice of co-authors of the publication was not accidental. They were students who had achieved learning outcomes, confirmed by very good grades in the completed courses, had completed a pedagogical course and gained qualifications to teach Russian at school.

Inviting students to work on the book was aimed at their development:
1) to show them how the knowledge, skills and competences acquired at the university can be put into practice in real life,
2) to broaden and deepen their knowledge and skills in the use of the Russian language,
3) to shape their soft competences,
4) to show and train them how the process of working on and publishing a didactic book looks like.

The intention was also to produce a publication that meets the expectations of students. The project was carried out and its final outcome was a peer-reviewed co-authored publication, financed by the Faculty of Philology of the University of Bialystok.

Keywords:

Action-oriented approach, Russian philology, academic education, language learning, language skills development, soft skills development.