TESTING RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN THE EU COUNTRIES: OPTIMIZING THE PROCESS AND RESULT UNDER NEW EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS

The paper deals with the issue of testing Russian as a foreign language (TRFL) in the EU countries. It discusses current issues regarding the development and content of the Standardized Test as well as specific deviations from the Test that are the results of the shared experience of testing students in certain EU countries. The paper analyzes the content of the Standardized Test and possible deviations from it with the aim to make nationally oriented versions of the Test that will take into account national characteristics of tested candidates as well as their social and cultural experience. The results of the research present a list of typical errors. Firstly, the authors highlight the universal errors which are influenced by interference of a native language of a candidate. Secondly, they reveal the errors that are caused by insufficient knowledge of the norms of modern Russian language and the errors which are arisen because of incomplete socio-cultural experience for an adequate understanding of typical communicative situations. Thirdly, the authors develop some proposals to optimize the process of preparation for TRFL.