How can learning discursive and functional words improve Russian fluency

Learning discursive and functional words significantly improves Russian fluency by enhancing oral communication and overall language competence.

Importance of Discursive Words

Discursive words (also called discourse markers or words-markers) play a crucial role in both spoken and written communication. They help organize and structure speech, enabling smooth dialogue and coherent monologues. Their mastery supports natural conversational flow, assists in managing conversational turns, signaling attitudes, and clarifying logical relations between ideas. Learning these words helps learners sound more native-like and improves comprehension of colloquial and formal speech in various contexts. These words are frequent in everyday spoken Russian and different text styles, making them essential for communicative competence. ^{1, 2}

Role of Functional Words

Functional words, which include prepositions, conjunctions, particles, and auxiliary words, are central to the syntax and semantic relations within sentences. Their correct use allows learners to construct grammatically coherent sentences and nuanced meanings. Because these words form the backbone of sentence structure and logical connections, they are critical for both understanding and producing fluent language. ^{2, 1}

Impact on Fluency

By learning discursive and functional words, learners can:

• Improve the fluidity and naturalness of their spoken Russian.
• Better participate in conversations by using appropriate markers for emphasis, contrast, and transition.
• Enhance listening comprehension, especially in real-life spoken interactions.
• Develop advanced oral and written communication skills required at intermediate to advanced proficiency levels (B1-B2). ^{1, 2}

In summary, mastering discursive and functional words is essential for Russian fluency as they enable learners to achieve natural, coherent, and effective communication in both spoken and written forms. This learning focus is particularly important for intermediate and advanced learners of Russian as a foreign language.

References

• Specific training of discursive words in the course of RFL

• THE REALISATION OF THE ORGANISING EDUCATIONAL AUDIOTEXT`S PERCEPTION OF THE FOREIGN STUDENTS AT B 1–B 2 LEVEL IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COMMUNICATIVE-DISCOURSIVE APPROACH

• Lexical acquisition of foreign languages by Russian native speakers

• PRODUCTIVE SKILLS AND LANGUAGE LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

• Perception and learning of Finnish quantity : study in children with reading disabilities and familial risk for dyslexia and Russian second-language learners

• Does Measuring L2 Utterance Fluency Equal Measuring Overall L2 Proficiency? Evidence From Five Languages

• Cognitive functions and professional status in the open population of Russia/Siberia among adults aged 25–44 years

• Media Linguistic Features of Russian and American Presidential Election Debates

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• SOME METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF TEACHING PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS AT THE LESSONS OF ENGLISH

• Sentence comprehension test for Russian: A tool to assess syntactic competence

• Collocations and near-native competence: Lexical strategies of heritage speakers of Russian