Development of the Russian as a foreign language teachers’ methodological competence in the artificial intelligence era

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the process of teaching Russian as a foreign language (RFL) created new additional functions for teachers. These are associated with the need to competently structure the educational process within the new paradigm, “teacher - artificial intelligence - student” triad. In this regard, methodological AI competence of RFL teachers is becoming particularly relevant. The aim of the study is to develop a course program for building AI competence among RFL teachers and to test its effectiveness through experimental training. The research employed the following methods: analysis of scientific literature, experimental training, modeling of the educational process using AI tools, generalization of experience, and observation. The materials for the analysis included scientific articles, lesson fragments and assignments developed with AI technologies by the participants of the experimental online course. As a result, the following key aspects of the methodological AI competence for RFL teachers were identified: a) prompt engineering, b) teaching and assessment, and c) organization of the educational process. The results of the empirical study revealed varying levels of mastery and relevance of various course topics among students. The modules on prompt engineering and the development and assessment of pronunciation skills using AI posed the greatest challenges. At the same time, students successfully and easily mastered topics related to planning and developing AI-based teaching materials for Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL), developing and assessing lexical and grammatical skills, developing oral and written communication skills (both dialogic and monologue) using AI, conducting AI-based research, and constructing the educational process within the “teacher - artificial intelligence - student” triad. A promising direction for this study is the creation of models for the systematic implementation of AI tools in the teaching of Russian as a foreign language.