The dynamics of the spelling standards of the modern Russian language and the educational process

Abstract

This article studies two aspects of the changing orthographical norms of the contemporary Russian language: the linguistic one, which shows how the dynamics of the usual and codified orthographical norms are manifested, and the methodical one — how teaching methods should reflect the living language processes. The author proposes four directions for improving the content of the school course of the Russian language, conditioned by the changes in the codified norms: 1) expanding the studied language material with new words with a settled spelling norm and already fixed in the Russian language; 2) clarifying the rules’ formulations and updating the list of exceptions following the academic rules; 3) calculating the recodification, inevitable for the living language; 4) improving the lexicographical literacy, in particular, the knowledge of academic orthographical dictionaries. The author concludes that the method of teaching spelling in schools should rely on recognizing the school education as a factor in the functioning of the writing system. Teaching writing, if it follows the contemporary codification policy, supports the traditional system of Russian writing; it also contributes both to strengthening the system properties of orthography and to stabilizing the unstable sections of the orthographical system.