Advertising texts as materials for teaching Russian as a foreign language (using the example of Kazan travel guides)

Abstract

The article examines the didactic potential of advertising texts from guidebooks as authentic materials for teaching Russian as a foreign language at the TRKI-2 (B2) level and aims to assess their effectiveness in developing linguocultural competence. The material consisted of five contemporary illustrated guidebooks to Kazan (2022-2025), with a total volume of about 12 author’s sheets; the methodology combined a theoretical review, content analysis, a pedagogical experiment, and statistical data processing (t-test). The experiment involved 58 international students (B1+), divided into control and experimental groups of 29 each; instruction lasted one semester and included testing, questionnaires, and analysis of written work. Content analysis revealed a high density of culturally marked vocabulary: toponyms – 27,84%, historical realia and anthroponyms – 16,21%, ethnographic and religious realia – 11,37%, gastronomic – 8,55%, as well as a substantial share of evaluative lexis –36,03%, which fosters the development of pragmatic competence. By the end of instruction, the mean score of linguocultural competence increased from 62,88 to 84,72 in the experimental group and from 63,15 to 69,48 in the control group; the gain was 34,73% versus 10,02%, respectively (p 0.01). The proportion of linguocultural errors in final papers decreased in the experimental group to 12,80% compared to 17,21% in the control group, indicating better understanding of cultural context and the use of realia. The questionnaire showed higher motivation and higher ratings of authenticity and usefulness among participants in the experimental group (e.g., 9,58 versus 5,15 on the authenticity criterion). The novelty of the study lies in the substantiation and testing of a model for integrating advertising guidebooks into an advanced RFL course; the practical significance lies in the development of a mini-module and specific tasks. Limitations are related to genre- and sample-specific factors; prospects include scaling the approach to other regions and types of authentic media, as well as creating digital interactive materials. The test battery included recognition and interpretation of realia, commentary on cultural facts, and production of original texts; in the classroom process, stylistic transformations of advertising clichés, work with evaluative lexis, and modeling of tour itineraries were used. The observed effects were accompanied by increased learning initiative and awareness, confirmed by detailed student feedback. Practice confirms the reproducibility of the methodology across different groups and formats.