Teaching Latin medical anatomy terminology in a multilingual group: main difficulties and ways of overcoming them

Abstract

This article analyzes the methods of teaching Latin medical anatomical terminology in multilingual groups of students, where the language of teaching is Russian. The analysis is carried out on the example of multilingual groups of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN), peculiarity of which is joint training of foreign students and students with Russian as a native language. In such groups, it is difficult for the teacher to rely on the native language of the students (there are too many such languages) or on the language of teaching, which is poorly spoken by the foreign part of the group. The common languages spoken in multilingual groups of the Medical Institute of RUDN University are indicated. The main problematic aspects in the study of Latin terminology for both students speaking different foreign languages and for the teacher conducting lessons in a multilingual group are discussed; the methods of overcoming these problematic aspects are suggested. The relevance of this problematic is substantiated by the increasing number of multilingual groups in Russian universities, including those where the teaching language is Russian. Our methodological recommendations can be used by teachers for preparation of the program and for development of test materials for multilingual groups.