Analysing Learning Difficulties in Russian Schoolchildren Studying Chinese from the Perspective of Davydov's Theory of Developmental Teaching

The paper analyses learning difficulties in Russian schoolchildren studying Chinese. These difficulties are connected to the following tasks: understanding the inner structural relations of Chinese character, understanding its outer structural relations (i. e. structural relations of other Chinese language units), and understanding the core system of the Chinese language on the basis of universal relations. Also, these difficulties reveal themselves when one attempts to practise Chinese characters and universal relations or the core system of the Chinese language. Such difficulties are of theoretical origin and stem from the differences in Russian and Chinese orthography. The paper substantiates that effective teaching activity on Chinese lessons should be aimed at forming a holistic fundamental system of the language in a child's mind. From then on, practice becomes a period of rapid development both of theoretical thinking in Chinese and of communicative skills of the child.