Overcoming lexical interference in Chinese students learning Russian

Abstract

Background. The article addresses the issue of lexical interference among Chinese students learning Russian as a foreign language. This phenomenon is due to significant differences between the structural and semantic systems of the two languages. Lexical interference errors are manifested in calquing, violations of lexical collocations, semantic substitutions, and the use of words in inappropriate contexts, all of which hinder the development of stable lexical competence. Purpose. The aim of the study is to identify the typical manifestations of lexical interference among Chinese-speaking students and to substantiate effective methodological approaches for overcoming it in the process of teaching Russian. Materials and methods. The methodological basis includes the analysis of students’ written and oral works, questionnaire surveys, and a pedagogical experiment involving a set of adapted exercises aimed at developing conscious and contextually appropriate lexical usage. Results. The experimental part was conducted among 50 second-year students at one of the universities in the People's Republic of China. The participants were divided into control and experimental groups. The results of the comparative analysis showed that the use of contrastive tasks, lexico-semantic exercises, and digital learning tools contributed to a 37.3% reduction in lexical errors in written speech and a 43.3% reduction in oral speech in the experimental group. In addition, the students demonstrated increased confidence in their ability to use Russian vocabulary in real communication situations. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the comprehensive examination of lexical interference from both linguistic and cognitive psychological perspectives, as well as in the practical testing of the proposed methodology in a Chinese-language learning environment. The findings confirm the significance of systematic corrective work and can be implemented in Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL) programs at both beginner and intermediate levels. The results of the study lead to the conclusion that targeted work on lexical interference contributes not only to a decrease in error frequency but also to the development of confident lexical usage skills. The methodology developed within the framework of the research can be effectively applied in the practice of teaching RFL to students with a Chinese mother tongue.