The first foreign students at the Kazakh National University began to study in 1980. At first there were 15 students from the Republic of Cuba. Among the first foreign students were also representatives of Vietnam, Laos, Afghanistan, Mongolia.
Gradually the contingent of foreign students has increased, expanding the geography, and in 1985 at the Kazakh National University (former S.M. Kirov Kazakh State University) were opened the Preparatory Faculty for foreign citizens and two Chairs: the Russian language, where 10 teachers worked, and the Chair of general studies disciplines. The faculty had an enrollment of 110 foreign students from 12 countries.
Our Chair provides a language training for foreign students, we have been teaching them the Russian language for 10 months, so that students can further communicate freely in the country of the studied language and study in HEIs.
In addition, we were able to improve our skills at Moscow State University in Moscow. We learned a lot there.
The load was, of course, a huge, after working 6 hours at classes, we conducted excursions, holidays, evenings, helped students to adapt to our country, acquainted with the culture and traditions of Kazakhstan, and even prepared methodical lessons, compiled dictionaries and wrote methodical manuals, but teachers never lost their optimism. Our chair was distinguished by a friendly and creative atmosphere, passion for the business.
Teachers have always helped each other, together wrote lesson plans, developed advanced topics of presentations and testing of the material, attended classes, looked for more effective ways of organizing the learning process. Thus the methods of teaching the Russian as a foreign language was created. And when we saw the results of our labor – it was just a great happiness.
Of course, not all was kept, some were leaving. Those are here who cannot imagine without this new exciting work. Many teachers work at the faculty now. they aren’t just experienced teachers, who stood at the origins of the new directions of Kazakhstani theoretical and practical linguistics «Theory of assimilation of non-native language by foreigners», but also mentors of novice teachers. «School of Teaching Excellence», a monthly scientific-methodical seminar «Traditions and innovations in methods of teaching of disciplines in a foreign audience» are at the Chair.
In 30 years a lot has happened. Assistants have become doctors, candidates of sciences. We have trained more than 5000 foreigners from 83 countries of the world and not only Russian, but also the Kazakh language, interest in which has appeared in the 90s.
Now our Chair is called the language and general educational preparation of foreigners and it is safe to say that at the Chair a scientific and methodological school for the study of the problems of acquisition of non-native language has developed, which theoretical positions have been used fully in classroom work with students. We are writing textbooks, manuals, programs, used by many teachers of HEIs of Kazakhstan, and are preparing tests for current and final control, writing guidelines for the teaching of disciplines, developing computer programs.
Life does not stand still. Our work requires a constant creative search from us. With pride we can say that now at the Chair new methods of teaching Kazakh and Russian languages as foreign developed by our teachers, based on the scientific researches, proven by long-term experiments, are widely implemented in the educational process.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to list all that has been developed at the Chair, and is reflected in the educational process.
In addition to students who are studying on a contract basis, at the Chair are studied foreigners, arriving on different contracts, on exchange, representatives of diplomatic missions, foreign teachers, working at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University on the main faculties.
Number of students, enrolled for the exchange, is increasing every year. They come from China, Japan, Poland, Hungary, Mongolia, S.Korea.
But the highest reward for us, educators – is the students’ progress, their warm, thankful letters, written in Russian, which come from different countries. Students are grateful to the faculty not only for a good language training, but also for the sincere support and heartfelt concern for teachers and university leaders.
Sadenova A.E., Koishybayeva G.C.
Doctor of Philological Sciences, a docent of the Chair of a language and general educational preparation of foreigners, Al-Farabi Kazakh national university
Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty
