The conceptosphere of modern textbooks in the Russian language for fifth grades

The paper deals with the implementation of the educational function of school textbooks of the Russian language for fifth-graders with the help of such conceptual spheres as “family”, “friendship”, “motherland”, “nature”, “culture”, “life”, as well as with using them as the foundation for the formation of the students’ linguocultural competence of students, stipulated by the Federal State Educational Standard. The article discusses the approaches of K. D. Ushinsky and A. A. Potebnya to the study of language, as well as the principle of nationality associated with the main concepts that form the worldview of schoolchildren. The author demonstrates the continuity of these views in the modern methodology of teaching native languages using the example of the linguoconceptocentric approach developed by N. L. Mishatina. The paper analyzes the role of conceptual spheres in educational literature and compares the approaches of different authors and compilers of teaching materials. The author examines three textbooks (edited by E. A. Bystrova, M. M. Razumovskaya, and P. A. Lekant and A. D. Shmelev) included into the federally approved list of textbooks for Russian fifth-graders. The conclusion is that the most extensive range of concepts is presented in the textbook edited by A. D. Shmelev. Therefore, this book exercises its educational and formative function to a greater extent through such categories as good, evil, truth, conscience, love, etc. The paper proposes a number of teaching activities involving the concepts of “family”, “friendship”, “homeland”, “morality”, “culture”, “nature”, and “life”.