Language proficiency testing tool

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A TOEFL-like language proficiency testing tool for Russian is being planned in India to aid students seeking higher education in Russia.At present, foreign students spend their first year in Russia studying the language before they embark upon their respective subjects. The new system, planned on the lines of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), will enable Indian students to take the proficiency test at home and avoid the preparatory course abroad, which will save upto a year on their total course period, said Yelena S Shtapkina, deputy director (culture and Information), Russian Centre of Science and Culture, New Delhi.In Thiruvananthapuram for the Festival of Russian Language, Literature and Science organised by the Russkiy Mir Foundation, Moscow, and the Russian Cultural Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, Shtapkina said a State Test for Russian as a Foreign Language was in vogue in Russia but was not implemented in India as language teaching tools here have not been standardised since the fall of the USSR.It is estimated that between 800 and 1,000 Indian students join various Russian universities every year for higher education in a variety of courses including medicine, Russian language, tourism and engineering. Majority go on a self-financing basis, but Russia now plans to increase the number of scholarships offered to Indians.In 2009, only five students went on scholarships and in 2010, 12. But this year, 40 students have gone on scholarships, of whom 90 percent want to study the Russian language. The number could go up beyond 100 soon, Shtapkina said.Even though Russian universities now offer English medium, Russian becomes inevitable in the latter semesters. In a bid to standardise the teaching of Russian in India, a Russian Language Centre for Teachers Training was opened at the Russian Cultural Centre in New Delhi in August. The centre aims at helping upgrade the skills of Indian teachers of Russian and systematically develop the TOEFL-like stsyem, Shtapkina said.