Russian: Intermediate Russian II

Continued practical work in all language skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing), with more analysis of the structure of Russian. Continuation of cultural components. Prerequisite: RUSS 2100.

Prereq: RUSS 2100 or equivalent; Hybrid Course: Fourth meeting Tuesday online asynchronous; Open to Degree and PACE students

This course was designed for second-year Russian language students on principles of communicative and task-based language teaching to emphasize and continue working on the further development and improving students’ linguistic proficiency and intercultural competence. This goal will be achieved through active engagement with authentic Russian materials (audio recordings, videos, songs, podcasts, news clips, charts, websites, etc.), listen-and-respond assignments, creating audio and video\ Flipgrid blogs, delivering oral presentations, and dynamic classroom interactions (work with a partner and\or in small groups). Therefore, most of the course’s work will be focused on the development of Oral Communication Skills; using the Russian language with the aim to enhance students’ ability to speak and listen effectively and negotiate for meaning across a variety of topics and contexts. The intermediate language course will prioritize the comprehension and production of meaning, which means that at least 50% of the course’s time will be spent actively using the language. Students will listen (instructors’ presentations, audio recordings, podcasts, watch videos, etc.), interpret (comprehension of orally delivered texts), and respond to orally communicated information by expressing their opinions, exchanging, comparing information, and sharing ideas. In this course students will be constantly engaged in learning scenarios that will target and foster the development of oral communication across three major modes: interpersonal (spontaneously exchanging and negotiating meaning); interpretive (understanding utterances within the target cultural perspective), and presentational (planning and delivering in-class presentations and creating audio\video blogs, etc. for others to interpret). Overall, the course will focus on comprehensible input and will prepare students to use the language actively and meaningfully in real-world situations, even at the Novice-high (and Intermediate-low) level of proficiency. Between daily homework, weekly audio\video blog assignments, active participation in-class activities, in-class presentations, and summative communication interview (exit OPI) oral communication will account for 50% of the overall course’s work. The class will engage students with highly relevant (familiar and new) topics and will focus on building/expanding their active and passive vocabulary by reviewing familiar and internalizing new topics, expanding their grammatical reach by adding more advanced grammar concepts, and building conversational (oral/spoken), written, and listening comprehension skills. Overall, students will be reviewing/learning essential aspects of Russian grammar and lexicon with the goal to prepare themselves to enter the advanced level of the language courses. Linguistic forms (grammar, vocabulary, syntax, intonation, etc.) cannot be treated in isolation from their cultural context. Therefore, the course will also help students to increase their overall cultural competence – an ability to demonstrate a complex understanding of cultural differences, and recognize the influence of cultural norms, customs, and traditions in order to interact appropriately with members of targeted (Russian) culture. This goal will be achieved via language instruction which is supplemented with authentic materials to help students continue to encounter new lexical and grammatical forms within culturally meaningful contexts. For example, some homework, as well as in-class activities, will include assignments that require the navigation of Russian websites to find information about language and culture. Such tasks will help foster strategies for understanding a variety of text types, including brief news articles, encyclopedia entries, memes, and videos from a variety of media sources (YouTube, TikTok, Russian TV channels, etc.). Over the course of the semester, students will continue to develop new perspectives on the culturally rich communities of Russia and the former Soviet Republics, engaging in the “5 Cs” of language learning: Communication, Cultures, Comparisons, Communities, and Connections through the comprehension, interpretation, and production of oral communication. In addition, students will become acquainted with Russian oral communication norms such as conversational etiquette, word choice, intonation, and common rules of non-verbal communication. All tasks for the course are designed to elicit meaningful comprehension, analysis, and discussion of authentic materials to develop students’ intercultural proficiency. Throughout the intermediate Russian course, students will acquire linguistic forms within a meaningful communicative and cultural context. By the end of the semester, students are expected to improve their language skills in all modalities (speaking, listening comprehension, writing, reading) to achieve Intermediate Mid proficiency or higher in Russian (ACTFL 2012) which characterized by the ability to hold conversations in Russian in a range of contexts with native speakers of Russian accustomed to speaking with foreigners, to read short texts, and to understand some broadcasts in standard language on predictable topics. Students also will deepen their understanding and acquire a basic knowledge of various aspects of Russian culture: literature, music, poetry, art, geography, history, traditions, customs, and daily life, therefore, will become more culturally competent.

Increase\improve (achieve I.M. proficiency or higher) language skills to understand, speak, write, and read Russian language. Acquire (build/expand) the greater active and passive vocabulary. Expand and deepen knowledge of Russian grammar and accurately use grammar rules. Improve oral communicative skill and become comfortable with spontaneous, spoken Russian. Increase overall language proficiency level. Increase overall cultural competence.

Attendance and Active Participation 15% Daily Homework (reading, writing, grammar exercises) 25% Daily vocabulary/grammar quizzes 10% Weekly Video and Audio assignments 20% Three (3) Exam (10% each) 30%