The article addresses to the problem of the improvement of teaching Russian as a foreign language. The author justifies the benefits of the exercises designed on the basis of multicode texts. As an example, it is presented a complex of grammar exercises (analytical-synthetic, stereotyping and controlling exercises). They are differentiated in accordance with their purpose. The use of multicode texts significantly increases the level of foreign students’ motivation and contributes to the development of both grammatical and sociocultural competences.