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APPROACHES TO TEACHING THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AT RUSSIAN AND TANZANIAN UNIVERSITIES // Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2018. Issue 4 (193). P. 183-192

The article presents a comparative study of approaches to teaching the French language at Russian and Tanzanian universities. The analysis is held within curricula for Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees of smaller universities in both countries, such as Kemerovo State University (South Western Siberia) and Dodoma University (Tanzania). This illustrates general principles of foreign language teaching in the systems of higher education of these countries. A brief historical reference is given for the overall comprehension of the status of the French language in the systems of foreign language teaching at universities of these countries. The methods of research chosen for the study are: interviews with university and school students and teachers, reviews of official educational documents and standards, comparative analysis, analysis of the authors’ own teaching experience. The new results and conclusions of the analyzed problem can be formulated as follows: the lack of didactic materials and text books for students learning French is the typical problem for Russian and Tanzanian universities; various special forms of extracurricular work promoting the French language and culture studies by students as well as a balanced language policy on the part of the state (both in the Russian Federation and in the United Republic of Tanzania) improve the status of the French language in the system of university education.

Keywords: foreign languages, the French language and culture, higher educational system, language teaching methods, extracurricular activities