Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x5gtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-20T18:41:50.863Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Pedagogical, Linguistic, and Logistical Problems of Teaching Russian to the Local Soviet Central Asians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

M. Mobin Shorish
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This study is an assessment of the theories and practices of teaching Russian to the local (indigenous) Turkic and Iranian speaking peoples of Soviet Central Asia. More specifically, it is a description of the processes by which the programs of teaching Russian as a second language (TRSL) are implemented in the classrooms of Central Asia. An investigation of methodologies in TRSL, qualifications of teachers, and some of the characteristics of the target group— the young Central Asians—sheds light on the factors accelerating or inhibiting the acquisition of Russian as a second language in this part of the USSR.

Type
Symposium
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , September 1976 , pp. 443 - 462
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 1976

References

1. Recent studies by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) have identified about 800 independent variables impacting on the achievement of a single child. Dependent achievement variables have been identified to correlate with “inputs” such as teachers, pupils’ characteristics, the structure of the school, classroom pedagogical practices, and variables associated with background. For a good reference to the related works of IEA and topics relevant to cognitive development of children see the special issue of Comparative Education Review, 18, no. 2 (June 1974), devoted entirely to the discussion of international studies on educational achievement. The USSR, unfortunately, did not participate in this project.

2. TsSU, Itogi vsesoiusnoi perepisi naseleniia 1970 goda, vol. 1: Chislennosf naseleniia SSR, soiusnykh i avtonomnykh respublik, kraev i oblastei (Moscow, 1972), p. 7 (hereafter cited as Itogi, 1970); and p. 11 of each volume of the 19S9 Ail-Union Census devoted to each of the above republics.

3. Gibb, H. A. R., The Arab Conquests in Central Asia (London, 1928)Google Scholar; Baskakov, N. A., “0 sovremennom sostoianii i dal'neishem sovershenstvovanii alfavita dlia tiurkskikh iazykov narodov SSSR,” Voprosy iazykoznaniia, 1967, no. 5, pp. 33–46.Google Scholar

4. Shukurov, M. R., Revolyutsiyai Madam dar Tojikiston (Stalinabad, 1957), p. 76.Google Scholar

5. Ibid., p. 76ff. It should be noted that teachers produced in the Central Asian republics at this time were, in general, poorly trained in teaching Russian as a second language (TRSL).

6. Glyn Lewis, E., Linguistics and Second Language Pedagogy: A Theoretical Study (The Hague: Mouton, 1974, p. 58.Google Scholar

7. A Tadzhik rationale for this influx of Russian words is offered by V. Asrori, a faculty member of the Philology Department of Tadzhik State University in his “Zabondoni fazilati odamist,” in Tojikistoni Soveti (hereafter cited as TS), March 6, 1966, p. 4.

8. Rahbari Donish (August-September 1930), Arabic script, p. 13; King, Beatrice, Changing Man: The Education System of the USSR (London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1936), pp. 312–14Google Scholar; Uzbek SSR, Narodnyi Kommissariat Prosveshcheniia, Instruktsiia o provedenii soveshcheniia uchitelei v avgustc 1939 (Tashkent: Narkompros, 1939, pp. 13–16 Google Scholar; “Organization of Education,” Central Asian Review, 9, no. 1 (1961): 27; “Planii ta” limi,” Maorif va Madaniyat (hereafter cited as MvM), May 19, 1970, p. 4; MvM, June 7, 1975, p. 4; “Ozbekiston bashlanghich sakkiz yillik va orta umumii ta” lim maktablarining 1974/75 ugur yili uchun, ‘oquvplani, ’ ozbek tilida uqitiladigan maktablar uchun,” MvM, September 10, 1974, p. 4.

9. “Mashvarati muallitnoni zaboni rusi,” MvM, March 30, 1968, p. 3.

10. Iu. Askarov, “Zaboni duiumi modarii mo,” MvM, December 20, 1969, p. 2.

11. Quoted in Kolasky, John, Language Policy: Education in Soviet Ukraine (Toronto: Peter Martin, 1968, p. 26.Google Scholar

12. A. F. Zhuravleya, “Roli zabon va adabiyoti rus dar tarbiiai kommunistii khonandagon,” MvM, June 4, 1968, p. 4.

13. “Zaboni rusi—zaboni man, zaboni mo,” TS, November 10, 1972, p. 4.

14. Editorial, “Vyshe uroven1 vospitatel'noi raboty,” in Russkii iazyk i literatura v aserbaidzhanskoi shkole, 1973, no. 8, p. 5.

15. V. Asrori, “Zabondoni fazilati odamist,” p. 4.

16. R. Yusofbekov (former Tadzhik minister of education and present deputy prime minister of Tadzhikistan), speech on the occasion of the Conference of the Teachers of Tadzhik Language and Literature, “Talaboti zamon va tadbirhoi minba” d behtar namudani ta “limi zabon va adabiyoti Tojik,” MvM, January 10, 1974, pp. 2-3.

17. L. V. Uspenskaia, “Roli zaboni modari dar omuzishi zaboni rusi,” MvM, April 5, 1975, p. 2. For an example of the local decision-makers’ attitudes, see Sh. R. Rashidov (candidate member, Politburo of the CC of the CPSU and first secretary of the Uzbek SSR Communist Party), “Zaboni rusi—zaboni robita va hamkorii millatho va khelqhoi ittifoqqi soveti,” MvM, November 27, 1975, pp. 1-3.

18. Pierce, Richard, Russian Central Asia, 1867-1917 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1960)Google Scholar, passim.

19. Glyn Lewis, E., Multilingualism in the Soviet Union (The Hague: Mouton, 1972, p. 54.Google Scholar

20. Lewis, Multilingualism, p. 181.

21. V. I. Lenin, “Is it necessary to have an official government language?,” Osorho, Tadzhik edition, vol. 20, pp. 61-62, quoted by O. Sh. Shukurov, “Zaboni Lenini,” MvM, March 5, 1968, p. 2.

22. Sh. R. Rashidov, “Zaboni rusi—zaboni robita va hamkorii millatho va khalqhoi ittifoqqi soveti,” MvM, November 27, 1975, pp. 1-3; see Brian Silver's contribution to this symposium, “Bilingualism and Maintenance of the Mother Tongue in Soviet Central Asia,” for a thorough statistical analysis of the language situation in Central Asia.

23. MvM, February 16, 197S, p. 4; MvM, August 2, 1975, p. 4; TS, November 7, 1975, p. 4. See also Katz, Zev, Rogers, R., and Harned, F., eds., Handbook of Major Soviet Nationalities (New York: The Free Press, 1975 Google Scholar, “Media” section, for a discussion of Central Asian nationalities; M. Mobin Shorish, “Soviet Central Asia: A Brief Personal Report,” Cahiers du Monde Russe et Sovietique, Spring 1976.

24. See Komsomoli Tojikiston, February 7, 1973, p. 4; January 20, 1974, p. 4; TS, August 3, 1975, p. 4; August 5, 1975, p. 4; November 18, 1975, p. 4.

25. Besemeres, J. F., “Population Politics in the USSR,” Soviet Union, 2, nos. 1-2 (1975).Google ScholarPubMed

26. Valitov, A. M., “Nasushchnye zadachi pervonachal'nogo obucheniia russkomu iazyku v natsional'noi shkole,” Russkii iasyk v shkole, 1952, no. 2, p. 67.Google Scholar

27. Kliueva, V. N., “Ustnyi kurs v programmakh po russkomu iazyku dlia nerusskikh shkol,” Russkii iasyk v shkole. 1952, no. 2, p. 77.Google Scholar

28. Mokhov, A, “O razgovornykh urokakh,” Russkii iazyk v shkole, 1952, no. 3, pp. 63–64Google Scholar; see also in the same issue, I. A. Kissen, “O razgovornykh urokakh bez chteniia i pis'ma,” pp. 61-62; F. V. Tarzimanov, “O razgovornykh urokakh v pervom klasse v nerusskoi shkole,” pp. 65-66; and A. F. Boitsova and L. A. Varkovitskaia, “Pochemu neobkhodim predvaritel'nyi ustnyi kurs russkogo iazyka,” pp. 66-69.

29. “Tadzhikistan,” Central Asian Review, 1, no. 1 (1953): 43-44. The same criticism is made for Kazakhstan in Central Asian Review (hereafter cited as CAR), 2, no. 2 (1954): 187-89.

30. CAR, 5, no. 1 (1957): 38; also Kommunist Tadzhikistana, April 5, 1956; Sovetskaia Kirgiziia, April 18, 1956; Medlin, W. K., Cave, William M., and Carpenter, Finley, Education and Development in Central Asia: A Case Study on Social Change in Uzbekistan (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1971, p. 105.Google Scholar

31. Piantina, N. A., “Rabota nad oshibkami na urokakh russkogo iazyka v II-IV klassakh uzbekskoi shkoly,” in Dmitrieva, I. M., ed., Voprosy metodiki prepodavaniia russkogo iazyka v uzbekskoi shkole: Sbornik statei (Tashkent: “Uchitel',” 1974), pp. 33–39.Google Scholar

32. fishonjonov, A., Shukurov, M., and Rahmonov, M., Metodikai ta “limi zaboni tojiki dar maktabi ibtedoi , (kitobi darsi baroi omyzishgohhoi pedagogi) (Dushanbe: Nashriyoti Irfon, 1964, pp. 42–47.Google Scholar

33. E. V. Zakharova, “Tvorcheskii diktant v shkole s tadzhikskim iazykom obucheniia” in I. M. Dmitrieva, ed., Voprosy metodiki prepodavaniia russkogo iazyka v uzbekskoi shkole, pp. 47-48.

34. Ibid.

35. Popova, G. I., “Rabota nad orfografiei v protsesse usvoeniia obshchei leksiki dlia russkogo i azerbaidzhanskogo iazykov,” Russkii iazyk i literatura v azerbaidzhanskoi shkole , 1973, no. 2, p. 26.Google Scholar

36. Babaev, S. B., “O prichinakh nedochetov russkoi rechi uchashchikhsia karakalpakskoi shkoly,” Russkii iazyk v natsional'noi shkole , no. 1 (January-February 1973), pp. 70–72.Google Scholar

37. Sharikova, L. Z., “K voprosu izucheniia kategorii vida v tiurkoiazychnoi shkole,” Voprosy teorii i metodiki izucheniia russkogo iazyka (glagol) (Kazan': Ministerstvo prosveshcheniia RSFSR, Kazanskii Gosudarstvennyi i pedagogicheskii Institut, 1971), pp. 3–26 Google Scholar. See also, Editorial, “Sifati ta'Mimro dar guruhhoi makhsus baland bardorem,” MvM, March 5, 1968, p. 1.

38. Makhmudov, A. R., “Tverdye i miagkie soglasnye russkogo iazyka,” Russkii iazyk i literatura v azerbaidshanskoi shkole , 1973, no. 11, pp. 49–56.Google Scholar

39. Niyozmuhammadov, B., Zabonshinosii tojik (Dushanbe: Donish, 1970) especially pp. 365–83Google Scholar. See also issues of the specialized journals cited in this paper.

40. S. M. Makhmudova, “Iz opyta ispol'zovaniia pri izuchenii russkogo glagola v uzbekskoi shkole,” in Voprosy metodiki prepodavaniia russkogo iazyka v uzbekskoi shkole, pp. 6-20.

41. Kasakhstanskaia pravda, March 27, 1956, quoted in CAR, 5, no. 1 (1957): 39.

42. Dzhafarzoda, A. M., “Kratkaia lingvisticheskaia kharakteristika azerbaidzhanskogo- russkogo dvuiazychiia,” Russkii iazyk i literatura v azerbaidzhanskoi shkole , 1973, no. 4, pp. 82–87 Google Scholar. For a detailed study of Soviet efforts in bilingualism see Bartley, Diana E., Soviet Approaches to Bilingual Education (Philadelphia, 1971)Google Scholar. See also Abilov, K. S., “Interferentsiia navykov pis'ma v protsesse obucheniia russkoi gramote v uchashchikhsia azerbaidzhanskikh shkol,” Russkii iazyk i literatura v azerbaidshanskoi shkole , 1973, no. 6, pp. 81–87 Google Scholar; and A. R. Makhmudov, “Tverdye i miagkie soglasnye russkogo iazyka,” ibid., 1973, no. 11, pp. 49-56.

43. Radzhabova, T. M., “Nekotorye voprosy prepodavaniia russkogo iazyka v nachal'nykh klassakh azerbaidzhanskikh shkol,” Russkii iazyk i literatura v aserbaidzhanskoi shkole , 1973, no. 2, pp. 3–11.Google Scholar

44. L. V. Uspenskaia, “Roli zaboni modari dar omuzishi zaboni rusi,” p. 2.

45. Apparently, in the Soviet Union, the linguists and second language teachers do not often communicate with each other. See E. Glyn Lewis, Linguistics and Second Language Pedagogy: A Theoretical Study, especially pp. 19-30, for a Westerner's complaint; see also the editorial “Sifati Ta” limro dar guruhhoi makhsus bland bardorem,” MvM, March 5, 1968, p. 1, for a Soviet complaint.

46. “The Use of Vernacular Languages in Education: The Report of the UNESCO Meeting of Specialists, 1951,” in J. Fishman, ed., Readings in the Sociology of Language (The Hague: Mouton, 1968), pp. 688-715.

47. S. M. Makhmudova, “Iz opyta ispol'zovaniia sopostavlenii pri izuchenii russkogo glagola v uzbekskoi shkole,” pp. 6-20.

48. Ibid., p. 10; see also M. Abdulloeva, “Zaboni rusiro boz behtar omuzem,” Zanoni tojikiston, June 1971, p. 18.

49. V. Asrori, “Zabondoni fazilati odamist,” p. 4.

50. S. Ma “rufova,” Rohhoi takmili ta'Mim,” MvM, August 20, 1968, p. 21.

51. Gh. Ghaniev (docent, Department of Languages, Institute of Agriculture, Tadzhik SSR), “Ba” zi mas “alahoi ta” limi zaboni rusi,” TS, January 26, 1971, p. 4; see also Gh. Ghaniev, “Ba” zi mas “alahoi omukhtani zaboni rusi,” MvM, June 25, 1970, p. 2. Numerous works prepared by the local writers stress the virtues of not only teaching the mother tongue to the local children but also of teaching local languages to the Russian students. See the entire issue of MvM of January 10, 1974.

52. R. Dodoboev (minister of education, Tadzhik SSR), “Vaz” iyati ta “limi zaboni rusi va tadbirhoi behtar kardani on,” MvM, April 5, 1975, pp. 1-2.

53. B. Tojieva, “Ta” limi zaboni rusi dor tojikiston,” MvM, January 16, 1968, p. 1.

54. Dodoboev, “Vaz” iyati ta “limi…,” pp. 1-2.

55. Editorial, “Ta” limi zaboni khalgi buzurg,” MvM, November 23, 1971, p. 1.

56. Editorial, “Bol'she vnimaniia v sel'skoi shkole,” Russkii iasyk i literatura vaserbaidshanskoi shkole, 1973, no. 12, p. 3; B. Khudoidodov, “Ba” ze mas “alahoi ta” limii zabon va adabiyoti rus dar maktabhoi tojiki,” MvM, March 20, 197S, p. 2.

57. Editorial, “Ta'Mimi zaboni rusi dar maktabho,” TS, April 2, 1968, p. 1.

58. “The Second Mother Tongue,” CAR, 13, no. 4 (1965): 310-22.

59. Cozden, Courtney B., “Problems for Education: Language as a Curriculum Content and Learning Environment,” Daedalus , 102, no. 3 (Summer 1973): 135.Google Scholar

60. T. E. Sevost'ianova, “Khonishi ifodanok-kalidi kom'yobiho,” MvM, March 5, 1968, p. 2. See also V. V. Karakulakov, “Darborai tayyori kardani muallim,” ibid., p. 3.

61. B. M. Rusakova, “Grammatikai ta” rikhii zaboni rusi,” MvM, March 5, 1968, p. 31.

62. B. S. Liubana, “Mashghuliyoti amali,” MvM, March 5, 1968, p. 4.

63. Editorial, “Ta” limi zaboni khalgi buzurg,” MvM, November 23, 1971, p. 1. “Teachers who work in the rural areas in addition to two months paid vacation are also given free housing, and are excused from the payment of some of the taxes” (Ahmad Birashk, “Dĩdāri az shuravi va sukhani chand dar bara'I amuzish va parvarish-i shũravl,” part 2 of Paydmi Navin [Tehran, 1975]).

64. B. Khudoidodov, “Ba” ze mas “alahoi ta'Mimi zabon va adabiyoti rus dar maktabhoi tojiki,” p. 2.

65. Ibid., p. 1; see also F. L. Rubenshtein, “Iz opyta primeneniia diafil'mov na urokakh russkogo iazyka i literatury v VI klasse uzbekskoi shkoly,” in I. M. Dmitrieva, ed., Voprosy metodiki prepodavaniia russkogo iazyka v uzbekskoi shkole: Sbornik statci, pp. 107-14.

66. Ibid.; CAR, 5, no. 1 (1957): 39-40; and relevant materials from the Central Asian press and personal talks with many students and teachers in Tadzhikistan and Uzbekistan in 1973.

67. Editorial, “Mukofot muborak, omuzgoroni arjmand,” MvM, April 6, 1968, p. 1.

68. Editorial, “Ta'Mimi zaboni khalgi buzurg,” MvM, November 23, 1971, p. 1.

69. Ibid.

70. See, for example, Merelman, Richard M., “The Adolescence of Political Socialization,” Sociology of Education, 45 (Spring 1972): 134–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Prewitt, Kenneth, “Some Doubts About Political Socialization Research,” Comparative Education Review, 19, no. 1 (February 1975): 105—14CrossRefGoogle Scholar; see also Richard Merelman's article “Social Stratification and Political Socialization in Mature Industrial Societies,” Comparative Education Reviezv, 19, no. 1 (February 1975).

71. Nazarova, M. A., Razvitie rechi uchashchikhsia v sviazi s izucheniem russkogo sintaksisa v 7-8 klassakh turkmenskoi shkoly (Ashkhabad: Turkmenskoe Gosudarstvennoe uchebno-pedagogicheskoe izdatel'stvo, 1962), pp. 3–4.Google Scholar

72. News item, MvM, March 10, 1968, p. 4.

73. Chandirli, S. M., “Nasha pochta,” Russkii iazyk i literatim v azerbaidzhanskoi shkole , 1972, no. 1, pp. 83–88.Google Scholar

74. “Vsesoiuznoe soveshchenie po nauchno-pedagogicheskim problemam obucheniia russkomu iazyku v podgotovitel'nykh klassakh,” Russkii iazyk v natsional'noi shkole, 1972, no. 1, pp. 77-79.

75. A. K. Kanimetrov, “Zaboni rusi—zaboni man, zaboni mo,” TS, November 10, 1972, p. 4.

76. K. V. Mal'tseva, “Problemhoi muhimmi ta'Mimi adabiyoti rus,” MvM, April 5, 1975, p. 2.

77 See Shneidman, N. N., Literature and Ideology in Soviet Education (Toronto and London: D.C. Heath, 1973)Google Scholar.

78. See UNESCO, , Report of the Mission to Afghanistan (Paris, 1952)Google Scholar; Cozden, “Problems for Education: Language as a Curriculum Content and Learning Environment”; Cohen, A. D., A SocioUnguistic Approach to Bilingual Education: Experiment in American Southivest (Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House, 1975)Google Scholar; Gonzalez, Josué, “Coming of Age in Bilingual/Bicultural Education: A Historical Perspective,” Inequality in Education , no. 19 (February 1975), pp. 5–17 Google Scholar; Goodman, Frank M. and Stern, Carolyn, Bilingual Program Evaluation Report, ESEA Title VIII, 1970-1971 (Compton, Calif.: Compton City Schools, 1971 [ED 054672])Google Scholar.