THE NONLINEAR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RUSSIAN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS IN CHINESE STUDENTS

Over the past ten years, the number of Chinese students coming to Russia to study Russian has increased significantly due to the active interaction between the Russian and Chinese peoples and their interest in each other’s languages. However, for international students, learning Russian is always difficult and psychologically stressful. The relationship between language learning and psychological stress is a growing concern. The study investigated the dynamic relationship between improving Russian language proficiency and relieving psychological stress during Chinese international students’ study in Russia. The study analysed the different effects of language proficiency levels from TRKI-A1 to TRKI-C2 on stress related to academic adjustment. To measure the level of psychological stress, the study used the Perceived Stress Scale (S. Cohen, G. Williamson (1988)). It is argued that stress levels do not increase linearly, but rather have tipping points (e.g., B1 stage) and fluctuation intervals, which overcomes the limitations of traditional static analysis. The data analysis showed that there is a non-linear relationship between psychological stress and Russian language proficiency, and the authors were able to determine that the influence of Russian language proficiency on psychological stress is not a simple linear pattern.