Abstract:

The article deals with the issue of testing Russian as a foreign language (TRFL) in the EU countries. It discusses current issues regarding the development and content of the Standardized Test as well as specific deviations from the Test that are the results of the shared experience of testing students in certain EU countries. The article reflects the methodological basis of the testing system based on the well-established tradition of teaching Russian as a foreign language not only in Russia, but also abroad.

Research methodology includes the analysis of academic literature, observation and generalization of pedagogical experience in particular the testing experience.

The paper analyzes the content of the Standardized Test and possible deviations from it with the aim to make national-oriented versions of the Test that will take into account national characteristics of tested candidates as well as their social and cultural experience.

The material of the proposed research is the invariant, i.e., the Standardized Test according to which test materials for different countries should be developed. The Standardized Test was created by authors from leading Russian Universities (Lomonosov Moscow State University, RUDN University, St. Petersburg State University, Pushkin State Russian Language Institute). Obviously, when creating tests that are used outside the Russian Federation, it is necessary to determine the mentality features of tested candidates of a particular country.

The authors propose some modification of the Standardized Test taking due account of the characteristics of tested applicants in the Baltic countries. As it is found such characteristics include topics that should be avoided at the development stage of a test. Notably, the subtests "Writing" and "Speaking" require particularly careful attention, since they are aimed at checking communicative skills and verbal behavior, which in their turn, are conditioned extralinguistically. In order to perform adequately B2 level test tasks, a candidate needs to have relevant social experience. Therefore, to achieve better results a national-oriented version of the Test should be adjusted to the social experience of citizens of a particular country.

The results of the research present a list of typical errors. Firstly, the authors highlight the universal errors which are influenced by interference of a native language of a candidate. Secondly, they reveal the errors that are caused by insufficient knowledge of the norms of modern Russian language and the errors which are arisen because of incomplete socio-cultural experience for an adequate understanding of typical communicative situations. Thirdly, the authors develop some proposals to optimize the process of preparation for TRFL.

To optimize the preparation for testing, it is proposed to place similar tests on the MOODLE platform. The authors analyze the experience of RUDN University in the field and set out specific recommendations on how to use the capabilities of the platform to prepare for testing in both secondary and higher education institutions in Russia and abroad.

Keywords:

Testing Russian as a foreign language (TRFL), national-oriented tests, typical errors, the MOODLE platform.