Theoretical and empirical prerequisites for university foreign language classrooms (based on the opinions of Russian and Chinese university teachers)

Abstract

Introduction. In the course of time and due to the development of science and technology, the understanding of the effective university foreign language classroom has changed. The most significant change took place during the pandemic when all the students had to attend online classes. Nevertheless, our assumption is that in view of the nature of the subject itself, teaching and learning languages either online or offline to science or humanitarian majors has common characteristics relevant to any type of the classroom. It has specific characteristics related to different educational traditions, ethnic cultures, learning environments, and primarily to the agents (both teachers and students) involved in the process. The purpose of this article is to explore what ideas are frequently proposed by researchers worldwide and their implementation in university foreign language classrooms in Russia and China both in online and offline types of teaching and learning. Materials and methods. The study involved 61 university teachers of foreign languages from Russia and China who answered the questions of the questionnaire. A combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods of action research was used in the study. The methods included a literature review, the development of teacher questionnaires, a comparative study, data analysis and data visualization. Results. The study has revealed the major trends that are apparent in university foreign language teaching and learning both online and offline. They are related to learner-centered (60% of Chinese teachers / 23% of Russian teachers), interactive (15% of Chinese teachers / 30% of Russian teachers) and fostering learners’ engagement (55% of Chinese teachers / 25% of Russian teachers) with an emphasis on the development of overall students` communication, social and thinking abilities (100% of Chinese teachers / 95% of Russian teachers). Among the didactic tools used by foreign language teachers in both countries interactive tasks are prevalent with 95% и 100% of the Chinese and Russian teachers choosing them respectively. Conclusion. The differences revealed during the study need further research due to a limited number of the teacher participants. The conclusions obtained in this study will help to understand the main trends in modern foreign language teaching and learning, and assist foreign language teachers in choosing appropriate classroom techniques for their practices in line with more specific aims and content.