ATTITUDE OF CHINESE STUDENTS TO LEARNING RUSSIAN ORAL SPEECH (BASED ON SURVEY RESULTS)

For Chinese learners, mastering Russian oral speech is accompanied by special difficulties, which are caused not only by linguistic and cultural differences between the contacting languages. Chinese students studying foreign languages in educational institutions of China have experienced a phenomenon known as “Dumb foreign language”, including “Dumb Russian”. This article reports on the results of an anonymous survey of 142 Chinese undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students. The study analyzes reasons for students’ willingness or unwillingness to actively participate in speech communication with teachers and fellow students during speaking practice classes. The responses are collected from students studying in various educational programs at Chinese universities. The study reveals that many Chinese students refuse to take the initiative in speaking classes due to traditionalism, which values modesty as a virtuous personality trait. The authors suggest that interesting and diverse lessons can motivate Chinese students to improve their oral-speaking skills in Russian. The findings will inform the development of strategies to enhance their speaking skills in Russian language classes. The authors argue that further research is needed on foreign language speaking training technologies, considering the cultural and psychological characteristics of Chinese students. This research can help Chinese students over-come psychological communication barriers and increase their motivation for oral communication in the target language.