Translation exercises in teaching Russian as a foreign language grammar in the context of closely related languages (based on the Serbian language)

Abstract

The aim of the study is to develop and theoretically substantiate a typology of translation exercises aimed at preventing grammatical interference when teaching Russian as a foreign language to Serbian-speaking students. The article examines the main approaches to using pedagogical translation in the methodology of teaching foreign languages and Russian as a foreign language, analyzes the specifics of developing grammatical skills in a Slavic audience, describes the methodological requirements for translation exercises, and proposes a typology for them. Special attention is paid to exercises aimed at preventing interference when teaching Russian grammar to Serbian-speaking students. The scientific novelty of the study lies in systematizing the translation exercises used in teaching Russian grammar as a foreign language in a closely related language environment, as well as in describing the methodological principles for their application when working with native Serbian-speaking students. As a result of the study, various types of translation exercises were identified and classified: imitative, substitution, transformational, reproductive-translation, and error-correction exercises. It was established that the use of translation exercises serves as a method for the conscious comparison of language systems and for drawing students’ attention to differences in the functioning of similar grammatical phenomena.