Language, Individual & Society, Volume 15, 2021

Abstract: The purpose of the study presented here, was to adapt the theoretical material required by the TORFL Standards for textbooks, aimed at Norwegian speaking students. The study was carried out by the author by observing her own teaching practice for this audience, at all TORFL levels. The study consisted of anal ysing obtained TORFL test results and identifying systemic errors as well as considering ways to prevent these errors. A new teaching approach was developed. The method consists in determining and identifying the grammatical topic, which plays the role of the backbone of the entire system of educational materials in each of the textbooks for a given level, not only materials on grammar, but also on reading, speaking practice, writing skills, listening comprehension. In this case, there may be several topics , but they are interconnected by cause and effect relationships. For each topic, a table is developed in which the logic of the material and the ways of mastering the topic are visualized. The material presented in the table in a condensed form is disclose d in the textbook of the corresponding level. The new teaching approach makes it possible for students to discover the logic inherent in the Russian language, linking different elements into a coherent system. For example, the main principle of Russian pro nunciation, reflected in the special rules for combining consonants with vowels, is to be found in combining word stems with flexions or with connecting vowels. Т he concept of a connecting vowel allows minimizing the number of flexions to be studied. Maste ring rules mentioned above makes possible teaching declensions and conjugations in terms of types of stems, flexions and connecting vowels when necessary. The above approach is a new one when it comes to textbooks for foreigners. Division into stems that h ave lexical meanings and flexions that carry purely grammatical information, makes possible to divide parts of speech in a new way: parts of speech with flexions and without them. Within parts of speech with flexions we can find words belonging to differen t parts of speech but having same flexions. Т he flexions of substantives are inherent not only in nouns, but also in cardinal numbers for a soft sign (light sign accoridng to my new terminology), for example. The flexions of long adjectives are common to a ll impersonal pronouns, ordinal numbers and participles. By uniting similarities we can minimize the number flexions that need to be taught. In terms of stems and flexions, it is less costly to learn the forms of the Russian verb.