The article explores the guiding role of the instructor in assisting students when they work with textbooks (with an additional focus on a non-native audience). The novelty of this research is conditioned by the nature of the analyzed textbooks (History of the Russian literature) of the end of the XX and the beginning of the XXI centuries and the specific situation of teaching Russian in Armenia. The problem is relevant due to the transitionary aspect of the contemporary age characterized by ideology changes. The article discusses the orienting function of lectures that aim to develop students’ critical thinking.