Testing Communicative Competencies of Russian Language Proficiency

Abstract

The article discusses the problem of methodology and methods for assessing the communicative competencies of adult native speakers of Russian. Communication skill is one of the major soft skills within university education. To assess the development of this skill, a valid and convenient tool is needed. The aim is to to create a set of tasks to assess the communication skills of adult native speakers of Russian, to test it on a focus group of students, as well as to study sociolinguistic factors affecting test results (age, major, etc.). This article describes the principle of creating a methodological complex, which includes: an algorithm for assessing communicative competencies, sets of test tasks to assess the level of spoken and written speech proficiency, a scale for assessing test results. General scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, and the modeling method were used. The algorithm for assessing communicative competencies includes: assessment component (linguistic, discursive and stylistic, rhetorical and pragmatic, ethical); assessment criteria; rating scale; rating levels; types of tasks (editing defective text according to the norms of the Russian language and its stylistics; programmed control, tests, writing, public speaking – monologue, debate, etc.). As the result, the developed methodological complex could be used for assessing the communicative competencies of university students. With this complex it is possible to monitor and assess the quality of educational programs in terms of the communication skills development among students. For educational purposes, it is planned to involve students in the implementation of the project, which will give them the opportunity to develop professional skills using the presented parameters for assessing communication competencies.