Difficulties in teaching the second foreign (English) language to students studying oriental language as their major at NEFU, Yakutia, Russia

Abstract

The Far Eastern Federal District of Russia, including the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is located in close proximity to the Asia-Pacific region, which explains the demand in specialists who know oriental languages. One of the oriental languages (Japanese, Chinese or Korean) is studied at the head university of the republic, and English is the language of business communication. In secondary educational institutions of Yakutia, English is the first foreign language, and students study it as a second foreign language in the university. The goal of this study is to identify the main difficulties of learning English as a second foreign language by bilingual students studying the oriental language (Japanese, Chinese or Korean) as their major. The study analyzed domestic and foreign literature, professional educational programs of the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, characteristics of students from the indigenous population of Yakutia. It was substantiated that the more difficulties in mastering the subject, the stricter the requirements for mastering the educational material.