In the real-time process of teaching foreign languages, the types of speech activity must
not be separated as they are constantly interacting with one another.
It has been proven that listening significantly affects the ability to produce written
speech, as indicated by T.V. Rozanova in a comparative analysis of the development of written
language in non-impaired and deaf children (ROZANOVA, 1985). The works of I.A. Zimniaia
(1988), I.M. Popov, and M.A. Akopova (1999) also explore the issue of the combination of
speech activity types most efficient in achieving the maximum effect in the learning process.
Let us consider in more detail the features of reading as a type of speech activity.
The main goal of reading is deriving and understanding the information contained in
written text (SHCHUKIN, 2011). In the process of reading, the reader not only perceives
information but also carries out its semantic processing. As indicated by S.K. Folomkina, this
process results in “a certain level of understanding of the text characterized by completeness,
accuracy, and depth” (FOLOMKINA, 2005). Thus, reading is a difficult and complex type of
speech activity. The meaning created by the reader is not accidental as it is determined by the
norms adopted in the language. Knowing these norms gains special importance when it comes
to reading in a foreign language, since the reader’s success in recreating the meaning intended
in the written text is directly contingent on numerous factors: the level of proficiency in the
foreign language, knowledge of the peculiarities of the construction of texts in the given foreign
language, the ability to recognize the genre features of specific texts. Many researchers
(GRABE; STOLLER, 2011; XI CHEN; DRONJIK, 2015; SARIG, 1987; SALATACI, 2002;
FOLOMKINA, 2005, etc.) consider reading in a foreign language a much more difficult process
compared to reading in the native language, because it involves constant interaction of the two
languages. K. Koda believes that teaching reading in a foreign language has to account for three
major factors: 1) reading is a complex and multifaceted process implying the presence of a wide
range of skills; 2) the formation of each of these skills calls for certain linguistic knowledge;
and 3) in the process of reading in a foreign language, reading skills develop in the process of
interaction of two languages — the native and the foreign (KODA, 2007).
The changing learning conditions and the shift of accent towards students’ independent
work calls methodologists to revisit the previously developed methods and technologies for
teaching reading in Russian as a foreign language and create new effective techniques aimed at
developing skills that will allow the reader to isolate, analyze, and critically rethink information
received from different sources.