Characteristics, problems, and effective methods of teaching Chinese to Yakut students of North-Eastern Federal University

this article discusses the characteristics, problems, and effective methods of teaching Chinese to students at North-Eastern Federal University, located in Yakutsk. The main group of students are Yakuts, whose native language belongs to the Turkic language family and is distinguished by its analytical structure, lack of a case system, gender and number, as well as a fixed word order of “subject -object-verb”. These features have a dual impact on the acquisition of Chinese: on the one hand, they simplify the understanding of analytical grammar and functional particles, but on the other hand, they cause difficulties in mastering tonal phonetics, hieroglyphic writing, and the syntactic word order “subject-verb-object”. Based on empirical research conducted with 180 students (150 Yakut and 30 Russian-speaking) and two pedagogical experiments, key barriers were identified and adaptive pedagogical strategies were proposed: integrative study of hieroglyphs through a historical and cultural context, use of digital technologies for tone training, project activities for developing communication skills, and integration of intercultural components taking into account traditional Yakut culture. Particular attention is paid to the need to develop regionally adapted curricula and materials for Turkic-speaking groups. The results of the study can be used in teaching Chinese in the Arctic regions of Russia and other multilingual contexts.

the Chinese language, the Yakut language, characters, Chinese language teaching, intercultural communication, Yakut students, North-Eastern Federal University, recommendation