TEACHING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT A RUSSIAN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY: PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL PECULIARITIES

Teaching international students in a Russian technical university is always followed by their adaptation to the process of teaching and learning itself alongside with their general socialization in the new social and cultural environment. The authors discuss the specific psychological and pedagogical peculiarities of international students that condition the organization of the teaching and learning process in National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU). A complex set of research methods such as a content analysis of international students’ challenges in TPU, a comparative analysis of pedagogical traditions, teaching and learning process supervision and a survey of international students has been used for the study.

The authors have distinguished the psychological and pedagogical peculiarities of international students and validated their recognition in teaching international students in TPU.

The research findings have enabled the authors to suggest a new approach to teaching Russian as a foreign language to international students which involves modern teaching principles which correlate with the national specificity of various ethnic groups of students.