Development of students’ sociocultural competence with the use of war-themed songs

The article is devoted to the features of working with the material of war-themed songs for the purpose of developing sociocultural competence in the context of teaching Russian to foreigners. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to consider the issues of using war-themed songs for the development of sociocultural competence, which meets the guidelines of modern methods of teaching Russian as a foreign language to master the language in the context of a dialogue of cultures, as well as to form a positive image of Russia in the minds of foreigners. The purpose of the work is to reveal the didactic potential of war-themed songs in the linguoeducational process, to prove the effectiveness of using such songs as a didactic tool for developing the sociocultural competence of foreign students, to consider the organization of work using this material in Russian as a foreign language classes. The integration of war-themed songs materials with the aim of improving the sociocultural competence of foreigners was carried out at the South-West State University as part of teaching Russian as a foreign language at the pre-university stage. In the process of the research, general scientific methods of cognition (analysis, generalization), experimental teaching, as well as the survey method and statistical method were used. The research material is the lyrics of war-themed songs, the developed system of tasks for them, as well as the results of a survey of students conducted as part of experimental teaching. The use of war-themed song material in the linguoeducational process with foreign students seems didactically promising for the development of their sociocultural competence. Well-organised work with the selected educational tool within the framework of three consecutive stages (preparatory, main and control) and based on the dialogue of cultures allows us to form and expand the foreigners’ knowledge of Russian traditions, history, Russian mentality, reinforcing their interest in the country, its language, people and culture, contributing to the formation of a positive image of Russia in the foreigners’ minds.