Formation of Sociocultural Competence among Foreign Students

The modern methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language combines the effectiveness of education with the formation of a number of important competencies, the key role among which is played not only by linguistic or communicative competence but also by the culture-oriented one. Within the latter, it is possible to distinguish a linguistic and local history competence as a component of the most important socio-cultural competence. The question of methods, ways, and opportunities for learning a foreign language, including Russian, can be treated differently, but today one of the most effective methods in teaching Russian as a foreign language is the synthesis of two learning models "language as a purpose, culture as a means" and "culture as a purpose, language as a means", which will allow a foreign student to achieve the best results in mastering a foreign language and to plunge into a new cultural and language environment. As part of these two models of teaching Russian as a foreign language (hereinafter referred to as RFL), it is worth paying most attention to the technology of aspect-based learning in a particular language environment that surround a foreign student who masters the Russian language. This article attempts to present the practical side of the formation of linguistic and local history competence as a component of sociocultural competence in RFL classes. One of the possible ways of its formation in the framework of the development of the Russian language by foreign students in preparatory courses is the introduction to the language and culture through local history texts reflecting the historical and cultural heritage of the Republic of Tatarstan, which also includes the Yelabuzhsky District with its richest thousands of years of history.