The article examines the role of symbolic methods of teaching Russian as a foreign language in the context of modernization and diversification of education from the perspective of the development of universal meta-subject actions. The importance of developing students' cognitive skills through the application of a semiotic approach to the formation of individual training trajectories within the framework of language learning is emphasized. The authors describe the use of sign-symbolic teaching methods and emphasize their effectiveness in understanding the meaning of the studied linguistic phenomena and facts ("basket of ideas", "ladder of associations", infographics) from the perspective of developing the ability to interpret signs in the context of a dialogue of cultures and epochs, which contributes to the development of students' critical text analysis skills. The role of multimodal and cross-cultural (translingual) practices in learning the Russian language in the context of the goals of preserving linguistic diversity and sustainable development is emphasized. The article contains practice-oriented cases for both RCT teachers and teachers of the Russian language and other subjects of the humanities cycle.