Understanding of cultural codes as a means of building communicative competence in teaching Russian as a foreign language (on the example of Anton Chekhov’s short story ‟At the Marshaless”)

In the article the problem of improvement of methodology of teaching of Russian as a foreign language is considered. It is noted the necessity to include in the practice of work the activities to expand the knowledge of linguistic-cultural character. Knowledge of the cultural codes of the people whose language is studied, provides not only the productivity of mastering the linguistic system, but also the success of integration into the social institutions of the country. A cultural code is a set of information that human culture absorbs. Works of classical Russian literature are an important source for mastering the image of the Russian world. Work with authentic texts implies semantisation of lexemes, as well as demonstration of various visual materials. Anton Chekhov’s short story ‟At the Mashaless” was chosen as a source illustrating the variety of culturally marked units. Several groups of words endowed with national-cultural semantics were selected by the method of solid sampling. Linguistic-cultural comments are given to the words. Words indicating the social status of a person, different types of clothing, food, transportation are considered. Of special importance are words reflecting basic cultural categories connected with traditions of remembrance of the deceased. In the author’s text, historicisms reflect a specific period, so they also need explanation to realise the depth of the cultural process in the country.