Authors

The article is devoted to the period of the origin of Russian textbook studies in foreign languages, a significant contribution to the formation of which was made by Professor of Imperial Moscow University Ivan Andreevich Нeim (1759–1821), an encyclopedic scholar, teacher, and public figure. The article provides a brief description of the professional scientific and pedagogical biography of I.A. Нeim, who was at different periods of his academic activity not only a professor, but also the first Dean of the Faculty of Philology and the Rector of the University. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the structural and substantive characteristics of the first edition of the textbook by I.A. Heim “Russian Grammar for Germans” in 1789 (German: “Russische Sprachlehre für Deutsche”). Variant features of the metalanguage of the book in the field of translation of terms, as well as units at the graphical, orthographic, morphological and lexical levels are revealed. The content of the book, on the one hand, includes a theoretical description of the structure of the Russian language (in German), on the other hand, it is practical in nature, which is manifested in the absence of a large number of definitions, the presence of sections on teaching phonetics, a mini-dictionary and bilingual dialogues on everyday topics. The analysis of the textbook provides us with insights into the formation of textbook studies at the end of the 18th century and enables us to discuss the creation and development of prototypes of a modern tutorial book and phrase book of foreign languages.

The article examines the pedagogical grammar of the German language, “German Grammar” (“Nimetskaya Grammatika”), created by Professor I.A. Heym — a scholar, encyclopedist, public figure, and educator who taught at Moscow Imperial University in the late 18th and early 19th centuries — for students of Russian Imperial gymnasiums and the Free Noble Boarding School. Th e study aims to identify the distinctive features of the book’s structure and content, uncover the language teaching principles reflected within, and analyze the usage of grammatical terms and definitions in both Russian and German. It has been established that I.A. Heym’s work applies several general and specific didactic principles typical of grammar textbooks from that period: systematic presentation of grammatical material, clarity, consideration of the learners’ native language, and an intercultural approach to learning. The abundance of grammatical terms and their definitions is recognized as a significant characteristic of pedagogical grammar as an academic textbook. The article provides examples of terminologization and examines terms whose meanings and forms differ from modern grammatical terminology, highlighting its dynamic nature. The author’s emphasis on clear explanations of grammatical phenomena is evident through the use of various types of definitions (generic-specific, enumerative, non-specific, etc.). Examples of unsystematic definitions and variability in the translations of grammatical terms are viewed as natural indicators of the formation and development of the conceptual and terminological framework of Russian and German grammars, as well as the emergence of early 19th century prototypes of academic textbooks.