Improving Cross-Cultural Communication Skills among Chinese University Students through the Mastery of the Zoological Code of the Russian Language

Abstract

The aim of the study is to substantiate the educational value of phraseological units with a zoonym component for teaching Chinese students Russian as a foreign language and forming their cross-cultural communication skills. The paper develops criteria for selection and inclusion of phraseological units - zoonyms of the Russian language in educational materials for teaching Chinese students. The stages of mastering the zoological code of the Russian language by Chinese students are characterised, as well as effective methods of their implementation. Scientific novelty lies in the fact that the paper proposes a system of exercises for introduction and consolidation of lexical material containing the zoological code of the Russian language for improving cross-cultural communication skills among Chinese university students. As a result of the study, the role and significance of the zoological code of the Russian language in ensuring cross-cultural communication of Chinese students have been actualised; the national-cultural specificity of zoonyms and the animalistic component, their ethnospecific and universal features have been characterised.