https://rlsj.ir/ 2026/09/17T00:00:00Z https://rlsj.ir/article-teaching-russian-indian-university-communicative-activity-approach.html 2026/10/17T00:00:00Z

The paper presents the results of a sociolinguistic survey conducted among learners of Russian as a foreign language at Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi, India). The relevance of the study is determined by the role of Russian in Russian-Indian educational cooperation and by the need to consider learners’ needs when organizing language training. From the perspective of the communicative-activity approach, the study aims to establish how the curriculum structure relates to the difficulties and motivational orientations reported by survey participants. The data sources comprise a sociolinguistic survey of 189 respondents conducted in India in 2025 and a regulatory curriculum document defining the content and distribution of the course load across Russian language courses at Jawaharlal Nehru University. The study employs descriptive statistics, content analysis, thematic analysis, and linguodidactic interpretation. Grammar was perceived as the most difficult aspect of Russian, while the main difficulties in speech activity concerned listening, speaking, and language barriers. Reading and writing were much less frequently identified as major difficulties. Career prospects prevailed among the motives for learning Russian: respondents associated proficiency in the language with employment opportunities and professional development. Comparison of the survey findings with the curriculum structure revealed differences between the formal representation of particular components of language training and the difficulties reported by learners; no causal relationship between them was established in this study. The findings indicate the need for systematic listening and speaking practice while maintaining consistent grammar instruction. The study specifies areas of methodological support for students in a foreign-language educational environment.

O. A. Solopova; N. N. Koshkarova; S. Saini https://rlsj.ir/article-mythological-significance-water-russian-literature.html 2026/10/16T00:00:00Z

Water, the source of life, is not merely a life-giving element in the myths and legends of cultures around the world; it is also associated with concepts such as creation, transformation, healing, and the boundary between the human and supernatural worlds. Throughout history, humans have employed various approaches to understand the phenomena of existence, and mythology has been one of them. Mythology is among the earliest forms of human explanation used to interpret the world and explore the unknown dimensions of nature. Influenced by geographical, political, economic, and religious characteristics, these concepts reflect fundamental aspects of each culture. They have been expressed in various forms through folk beliefs, folkloric narratives, and literature, providing a basis for literary reinterpretation and recreation. This study examines how mythological motifs associated with water are reflected and transformed in Russian literature, exploring the relationship between Slavic traditions and the literary representation of water. It adopts a descriptive-analytical approach based on a comparative reading of mythological and folkloric sources alongside three selected works of Russian literature: Alexander Pushkin’s Rusalka, Nikolai Gogol’s May Night, or the Drowned Maiden, and Taman, a novella from Mikhail Lermontov’s A Hero of Our Time. The study demonstrates that, depending on the narrative context and each author’s perspective, water in these works is associated with concepts such as death, transformation, the relationship between the living and the dead, and the unknown. Through these literary representations, mythological and folkloric elements acquire new meanings.

Samin Babazadeh https://rlsj.ir/article-fate-family-human-values-don-stories.html 2026/10/04T00:00:00Z

This article examines the fate of the family and the representation of human values in Mikhail Sholokhov’s Don Stories against the historical background of the Russian Civil War. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, it considers family relationships and the moral conflicts experienced by characters when political and military divisions place members of the same family—and even close relatives—on opposing sides. The analysis suggests that war not only disrupts family structures and social bonds but also creates difficult situations that test individual moral choices. Compassion, sacrifice, forgiveness, and love for others coexist with resentment, fanaticism, violence, and the desire for revenge. From this perspective, the family in Sholokhov’s stories is more than a private social unit: it becomes a narrative space in which the wider crisis of society and the fate of the Don people are represented. Through the consequences of conflict for ordinary human relationships, Sholokhov’s realism exposes the complexity of historical experience and highlights the tension between collective loyalties and personal moral responsibility. The article therefore reads the Don Stories as a multifaceted portrayal of the damage war inflicts on family life and of the endurance—or collapse—of human values under extreme circumstances.

Parvaneh Radandish; Mohsen Beigi https://rlsj.ir/article-challenges-russian-technical-military-terminology.html 2026/10/01T00:00:00Z

Translating technical and military terminology from Russian into English is a challenging area of specialized translation because the two languages organize terminology through different lexical, syntactic, and conceptual patterns, while many terms are strongly dependent on their specialized context. In such texts, a word-for-word equivalent does not necessarily provide an accurate representation of the intended concept. The translator must therefore consider not only the linguistic form of a term but also its position within the conceptual system of the relevant field. This study examines major challenges in selecting English equivalents for Russian technical and military terms and analyzes strategies for transferring their specialized meanings into English. The study follows a descriptive-analytical approach and draws on selected terminology from technical, military, and particularly aerospace domains. The analysis focuses on polysemy, differences in semantic range, multiword terminology, contextual dependence, differences between conceptual systems, and the role of subject-matter knowledge. The findings indicate that successful equivalence selection often requires moving beyond literal translation toward conceptual transfer. The simultaneous use of specialized dictionaries, textual sources, contextual comparison, and subject-matter knowledge can improve translation accuracy. On this basis, a six-stage model is proposed for Russian-English terminology work: term identification, domain identification, contextual analysis, concept identification, comparison of equivalents, and final evaluation and consolidation.

Ali Zomorodi https://rlsj.ir/article-role-of-context-russian-verbal-aspect.html 2026/09/26T00:00:00Z

Russian verbal aspect is a central grammatical category that distinguishes between imperfective and perfective forms and contributes substantially to the interpretation of events. Although aspectual pairs are often introduced through simplified contrasts such as ongoing versus completed action, the interpretation of an aspectual form is strongly conditioned by context. This article examines the role of context in understanding Russian verbal aspect through a qualitative descriptive analysis of selected imperfective/perfective verb pairs. Particular attention is given to the interaction of aspect with temporal reference, event boundaries, repetition, habituality, resultative interpretation, and communicative perspective. The analysis focuses on the pairs писать/написать, читать/прочитать, делать/сделать, and смотреть/посмотреть. Drawing on general theories of aspect and studies of Slavic and Russian aspect, the article argues that aspectual meaning cannot be adequately understood by treating imperfective and perfective forms as simple equivalents of unfinished and finished actions. Instead, aspect expresses how a speaker chooses to construe and present an event, while contextual information helps the hearer identify that construal. The discussion has implications for learners of Russian as a foreign language, particularly those who rely on one-to-one translations or isolated aspectual pairs. A context-sensitive approach can provide a more accurate account of aspectual choice and can support more effective learning and interpretation of Russian verbs.

Mohammadali Norouzi https://rlsj.ir/article-ai-supported-multimodal-russian-language-learning.html 2026/09/17T00:00:00Z

The rapid expansion of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is changing the conditions under which foreign languages are taught and learned. In Russian language education, AI-based conversational systems, automated feedback, adaptive content generation, and multimodal digital resources create new possibilities for individualized practice and contextualized communication. At the same time, the availability of these technologies raises pedagogical questions concerning learner autonomy, critical evaluation of machine-generated information, cognitive overload, cultural interpretation, and the changing role of the teacher. This conceptual article develops a framework for AI-supported multimodal Russian language learning that connects technological affordances with learner development rather than treating technology as an educational outcome in itself. The proposed framework is organized around five mutually dependent dimensions: AI-supported personalization, multimodal task design, learner autonomy, critical AI literacy, and intercultural communicative competence. The framework argues that AI becomes educationally productive when learners actively select, evaluate, adapt, and reflect on digital resources within purposeful pedagogical sequences. Multimodal learning is therefore treated not as the simple accumulation of text, audio, image, video, and dialogue, but as the coordinated use of modes to construct meaning and support linguistic action. The article further proposes that critical AI literacy should be integrated into Russian language instruction so that learners can recognize uncertainty, detect inappropriate or biased outputs, and compare AI responses with reliable linguistic and cultural sources. The resulting framework provides a conceptual basis for curriculum planning, teacher mediation, assessment design, and future empirical research in Russian as a foreign language.

Mohammadmahdi Rubin