Herzen Chinese Language Olympiad for Schoolchildren in a modern context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33910/2686-830X-2025-7-3-164-174Keywords:
Chinese, foreign language, Herzen School Olympiad, school intellectual competitions, motivation, demotivationAbstract
Under the influence of modern geopolitics, there has been a constant increase in interest in the Chinese language and culture in the Russian Federation, and there is a need for highly qualified specialists who speak Chinese. The Chinese language has become widely taught in secondary schools, and as the Chinese language spread throughout the country, the Olympiad movement also expanded: since 2015, the All-Russian Olympiad for Schoolchildren and various university Olympiads for schoolchildren have been held. Such intellectual competitions, which provide winners and prize-winners with benefits for university admission, allow not only to assess the level of foreign language training of schoolchildren and their readiness for university studies, but also to increase their motivation for self-improvement and self-development. However, there are several factors that hinder the development of the Chinese language Olympiad movement in the Russian Federation: poor awareness among schoolchildren and teachers about the Olympiads, insufficient level of language training among schoolchildren, and low qualifications of Chinese language teachers. In this article, using the example of the Herzen Schoolchildren’s Olympiad in Chinese Language 2024/25 (Level I), a comprehensive analysis of its final stage is presented, and the personality of the student participating in the university Olympiad is characterized (age, gender, region of residence, and level of preparation), which allowed us to understand the reasons for the (de)motivation of schoolchildren to participate in the Olympiad, and to propose ways to increase their motivation. The article uses the materials of the report presented at the international scientific conference “Herzen Readings. Foreign Languages” (April 17–18, 2025, St. Petersburg, Herzen State Pedagogical University).
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