SYNTHETIC ARTISTIC CULTURE IN THE CONTENT OF THE SUBJECT ‘RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE’ IN THE SLOVAK SCHOOL EDUCATION SYSTEM

Abstract

The article examines the challenges involved in developing a linguistic and methodological model of Russian synthetic artistic culture as the basis for establishing a core cultural curriculum for Russian language teaching in Slovak schools, with a focus on fostering students’ personal development through intercultural dialogue. The study addresses the conceptual foundations of the term ‘synthetic artistic culture,’ which integrates the verbal, visual, and musical components of national artistic heritage into foreign language education. The research context is defined by the unique position of Slovakia as the only European country where Russian is included in the school curriculum as a second or third foreign language. Using the example of a thematic unit from the curriculum for upper secondary schools in Slovakia, ‘Ancient Rus in Words, Colours and Tones,’ the article demonstrates a methodology for integrating these cultural components into the teaching of Russian phonetics and pronunciation, vocabulary and word usage, grammar and sentence construction. The experimental study, conducted between 2018 and 2025, involved diagnostic surveys, a formative pedagogical experiment, and an associative experiment carried out across different types of educational institutions in Bratislava and other regions of the country, including bilingual gymnasia, general education gymnasia, and technical secondary schools. The results demonstrated that students in experimental groups showed a significant shift from everyday and stereotypical associations (68% and 14% before training) to culturally informed associations (72% after training), compared to control groups where everyday associations remained at 64%. The findings confirm the effectiveness of the proposed culturally oriented methodology for developing students’ cultural studies competence and enhancing their motivation for learning Russian in the context of intercultural dialogue.