IMAGE OF RUSSIA IN BULGARIAN TEXTBOOKS IN RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. PART 1: BASED ON MIDDLE SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS

The article discusses the question of formation of Russia's image in foreign textbooks in Russian as a foreign language. It is argued that teaching aids play the primary role in the development of the system of knowledge and construction of Russia's image in the minds of learners who are middle school students studying Russian outside the Russian Federation. There are certain tendencies in representation of the Russian reality (reductionist vs. holistic, bicultural vs. multicultural, etc.) in foreign textbooks in Russian as a foreign language. On the basis of the textbook in Russian called “Matryoshka” for Bulgarian middle school (grades 5, 6, 7) we reveal the main strategies, methods and technologies of creation of a good — complete, multidimensional and polyphonic image of Russia as a country focused on preservation of traditions, on the one hand, and on development and innovations on the other hand. Russia is shown as a country that tries to make different aspects of people's lives better, ready for social, scientific and technological progress, and moreover is open for cross-cultural dialogue and intercultural communication. (This article being a summary of Bulgarian textbooks analysis is the first part of research; the second part will reveal the peculiarities of Bulgarian textbooks in Russian as a foreign language for high school and colleges). Besides the abovementioned aspects, the article lists the main requirements to modern textbooks in Russian as a foreign language and gives some methodological recommendations to the authors of textbooks and teaching aids in Russian as a foreign language. Исследование выполнено при поддержке Российского фонда фундаментальных исследований (РФФИ), проект No 19-013-00895 «Учимся понимать Россию: когнитивные стратегии формирования методического материала по русскому языку как иностранному» ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКОЕ ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ В РОССИИ. 2019. No 6 59