Slavic Languages and Societies Commons^™

Thoughts On High Level Proficiency In Arabic, Russian And English With A Platitudinous Postlude, James Bernhardt

Russian Language Journal

In the present paper, I look at the top of the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Skill Level Descriptions and critique several of their assumptions. As I do this, I speak for myself and not for the Government in general or the U.S. Department of State in particular. I also do not pretend that my conclusions are not uncontroversial. I also discuss the 2012 ACTFL proficiency standards, but note that we do not train to those standards at the Foreign Service Institute.

Developing Information Literacy Skills In The Beginning Language Classroom: A Case For Webquests, Ekaterina Nemtchinova

Russian Language Journal

To say that the Internet has had an enormous impact on the world of education is to state the obvious, and the world of foreign language education is no exception. The advancement of Internet technologies necessitates the development of a new set of abilities in conjunction with more traditional language competencies: in addition to being able to write compositions and read newspaper articles, foreign language students need to know how to compose e-mail messages, perform searches on the Internet, and use online information. In other words, students have to be information literate to adapt to today’s increasingly complex multimedia environment.

Accuracy In Predicting Cross-Lingual Differential Item Functioning (Dif): A Study Of Russian To Kyrgyz Language Test Item Adaptation In The Kyrgyz Republic, Todd Drummond

Russian Language Journal

Russian-speaking teachers, assessment specialists, and other educators in Eurasia are frequently tasked with effectively translating and adapting sophisticated educational materials from Russian into non- Slavic languages. While standards, textbooks, and other teaching materials have been adapted from Russian to other Eurasian languages for over a century, a contemporary challenge is the adaptation of highly complex, standardized tests and assessments produced in the Russian language (Drummond and Gabrscek 2012). Because the results of educational assessments are often employed in high stakes decision making, the room for error in the adaptation of cross-lingual tests is small: Capturing exact meaning in all language …

Review: Fundamentals Of The Structure And History Of Russian: A Usage-Based Approach, David J. Birnbaum

Russian Language Journal

Fundamentals distinguishes itself from other English-language textbooks about the structure of Russian by being usage-based, which means that the authors eschew underlying abstract forms and ordered rules and instead anchor their synchronic description of Russian phonetics, phonology, and morphology in correspondences and choices among surface forms. (ix, 56ff.) The assertion that “a usage based description […] renders a better picture of [phonetic and orthographic] reality than the generative-based description” (56; bracketed text added) is self-evidently true, and it is hard not to appreciate the difference the authors draw between generative production and what they archly call degeneration in the case …

Review: Russian Case Morphology And The Syntactic Categories, John Frederick Bailyn

Russian Language Journal

David Pesetsky’s Russian Case Morphology and the Syntactic Categories (MIT Press, 2013) is one of the most thought-provoking works of theoretical linguistics to appear in many years. It provides a startlingly original analysis of a well-known thorny problem of Russian morpho-syntax, embedding the analysis of that puzzle within a radical rethinking of the role of case in syntactic theory, and taking us on a journey of consequences and extensions that challenge one’s views of many aspects of minimalist theory, including key components of case theory, phrase structure, locality and others. If a monograph is to be judged by its creativity, …

Review: “The Other” In Translation: A Case For Comparative Translation Studies, Sibelan Forrester

Russian Language Journal

Alexander Burak’s book “The Other” in Translation does two things: it draws attention to the field of Comparative Translation Discourse Analysis, with reference to numerous concrete examples, and it offers thought provoking and informative discussion of a number of translation situations drawn from the interactions of Russian and Anglophone literature and culture. The book will be especially interesting to students and teachers of Russian at all levels, but it also has a great deal to offer readers from other languages and literatures, especially those with a background in translation studies.

Review: Pervyi Krug: Russian Full Circle, Snezhana Zheltoukhova

Russian Language Journal

Первый круг: Russian Full Circle is the first edition of a beginning Russian textbook that represents a contemporary communicative approach with an emphasis on grammatical and pragmatic competences. Additionally, it offers an open-source ancillary web site. The goals and objectives of the course are clear, challenging and feasible. The materials can be used in a traditional year-long language course or in an intensive summer language program.

Connecting Classrooms: Russian Language Teaching Project At Ucf, Alla Kourova

Russian Language Journal

Change happens all the time and in all places. It is a characteristic of our modern world. A current trend in the world is globalization, which occurred by rapid developments in transportation and information technology. Today, people from diverse backgrounds come into more and more contact with each other with a regularity that is unique to this period of human history. As a result, intercultural communication has become increasingly important.

Individualized Project-Based Reading And Its Effect On Students’ Reading Habits And Beliefs, Filip Zachoval

Russian Language Journal

In recent years, a number of empirical and conceptual studies about Project-Based Learning (PBL) have presented consistent arguments rationalizing this approach to language learning and teaching. However, there are no known studies available on PBL in the Russian language classroom. This article presents the results of a qualitative research study that investigates incorporating an individualized reading project into a third-semester Russian classroom. Within the movement of studentcentered pedagogies, the overall purpose of this study was: (a) to implement a reading project into a third-semester university Russian language class and (b) to provide an analysis of some of the educational gains …

Key Indicators Of Language Impact On Identity Formation In Belarus, Tony Brown

Russian Language Journal

In 1986, a group of 28 intellectuals from Belarus wrote the following brief letter to then-General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev: “Language is the soul of a nation, the supreme manifestation of its cultural identity, the foundation of its true spiritual life. A nation lives and flourishes in history while its language lives. With the decline of the language, culture withers and atrophies, the nation ceases to exist as a historical organism” (Letters to Gorbachev, 1987).

Review Essay: Popularizing Russian Language, Michael S. Gorham

Russian Language Journal

In an era rife with complaints over the degradation of language in the face of a host of commonly cited bugaboos (inferior schools, lazy pupils, declining morals, insidious new media technologies), one can only be heartened by the fact that language and language usage continue to be a source of popular discussion and debate. Even in American culture, where reverence for the national tongue has historically paled compared to the likes of France and Russia, one can find regular language-related rubrics in both print and broadcast media (e.g. “Word on the Street” and “Week in Words” [Wall St. Journal], “On …

“Languages Of The Peoples Of Kazakhstan And Their Interaction” By Bakhytzhan Khassanov, And “Languages Of The Peoples Of Kazakhstan” By Eleonora Suleimenova, Nursulu Shaimerdenova, Dana Akanova, Aidyn Aldaberdikyzy

Russian Language Journal

A rich vein of articles and books has recently addressed some critical issues in the field of sociolinguistics in Kazakhstan, both in terms of theoretical perspectives and of their implications in the context of education and policy. A wide range of theoretical and practical questions of Kazakhstani sociolinguistics are addressed, including:

• Defining de jure and de facto status of languages;

• Content and stages of status and corpus language planning;

• Ethnic and linguistic identification of individuals, ethnic groups and the population altogether;

• Ethnic and linguistic consciousness and self-consciousness;

• Possibility and prevention of language conflicts;

• Defining …

Keeping It Real: Intensive Instruction And The Future Of Russian Language And Culture In U.S. Universities, Thomas J. Garza

Russian Language Journal

Since the global economic downturn in 2008, few programs in languages other than English in the U.S. have managed to escape the chilling effect of shrinking budgets on academic institutions. With fewer financial resources available to support the educational missions of language departments, many programs nationally have either devolved into smaller, leaner academic units at best, or at worst, have been cancelled entirely. These dire economic times, coupled with a new incarnation of culture wars aimed at the very heart of the relevance and value of a liberal arts education, have compelled some university administrators and program directors to seek …

Thinking Through Teacher Talk: Increasing Target Language Use In The Beginning Russian Classroom, William J. Comer

Russian Language Journal

In July 2012, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) adopted a position statement calling for instructors and learners to use the target language (TL) for 90% plus of instructional time. ACTFL’s recommendation applies to all levels of instruction (K-16) and makes no distinctions for the degree of difference of the TL from the learners’ first language (L1). Implementing this recommendation means that no more than five minutes of a 50-minute class hour should take place in the L1 of the learners, whether that class is the first day of high school Russian or a college class …

Introduction

Russian Language Journal

On behalf of the editorial team of the Russian Language Journal, it is with great pleasure that we present Volume 63. The current issue of RLJ sees a number of changes to the editorial team as well as an expansion of the kinds of materials we publish; we hope that these changes serve both the profession and our readers. Starting with this issue, we will include review articles, as well as a section of shorter book reviews. Michael Gorham, our Associate Editor, leads this effort for the RLJ. As well, there are two new appointments to the Editorial Team: Dr. …

A Cognitive Grammar Approach To Teaching The Russian Case System, Carlee Arnett, Diana Lysinger

Russian Language Journal

This study examines modern Russian cases within a Cognitive Grammar framework. Grammatical case, as one of the fundamental language categories, has always interested linguistic researchers. In languages that possess case systems, virtually no utterance is possible without taking into account grammatical case. This grammatical category is very complex and its acquisition is an enormously arduous task for learners whose native language does not possess a case system or a case system that is not as pronounced as it is in the target language. According to Janda (2002), “the meanings of grammatical cases are probably the biggest obstacle faced by students …

Местоименные Игры: Конструкции «Не Ты Ли» И «Не Я Ли» В Русском Языке, Елена Маркасова, Павел Клюшин

Russian Language Journal

Общеизвестно, что местоименные игры в коммуникации способны как объединять, так и разъединять адресата и адресанта1. Элементарными примерами такого воздействия в повседневном общении являются внезапные переходы от официального «Вы» к фамильярному «ты», от дружеского «ты» к отстраненно- официальному «Вы», или от «ты» дружеского к «ты» фамильярному. Местоимения часто позволяют понять, насколько характерны (или не характерны) для коммуникантов эмпатия, склонность к манипуляциям или агрессивность.

Язык Текущего Момента: Понятие Нормы, Виталий Костомаров

Russian Language Journal

Н.В.Гоголь уподоблял язык океану, беспредельному и подвижному. Корни этого в требованиях социума, многообразных как с амоё ж изнь н а р азных о трезках и стории, и в постоянной идентификации, самоутверждении его членов. Не меньшую роль играет также динамика самого языка, вечно развивающегося, как и любая сложная, иерархически организованная система, по присущим ему внутренним законам, которые различны в открытых уровнях лексики и стилистики, в разной степени закрытых, исчислимых уровнях фонетики, морфологии, синтаксиса, в юридически утверждаемой орфографии.

Hits And Misses In Teaching Russian In The Us: The Perspectives Of Instructors, Students, And Enrollment, Ludmila Isurin

Russian Language Journal

In U.S. universities, interest in learning Russian as a foreign language has been relatively steady over the last 50 years. The so-called “Sputnik effect”―a surge of interest in the Russian language due to the launch of the first Soviet sputnik in 1957 and, as a result, the shocking revelation that the USSR might become a serious rival―is considered the beginning of a new era, during which Russian language programs were established at major American universities. The interest in learning Russian did not subside during Gorbachev’s Perestroika in the mid-1980s; neither did it weaken right after the collapse of the USSR …

Traditions And Transitions: Russian Language Teaching In The United States. In Celebration Of The Career Of Dr. Victorina Lefebvre, Jason Merrill, Lora Mjolsness

Russian Language Journal

In May 2012, the University of California, Irvine’s Humanities Language Learning Program hosted a symposium entitled Traditions and Transitions: Russian Language Teaching in the United States. The primary impetus for the meeting was to celebrate the distinguished career of our colleague, Dr. Victorina Lefebvre, who taught Russian language courses at University of California, Irvine since 1984. Her retirement in June 2012 meant the symposium was an opportunity to recognize and thank her for her unflagging decades of hard work for UC Irvine’s students. Victorina Lefebvre, who trained in the USSR in mathematics and physics education (M.A.) and in psychology (Ph.D.), …

Toward A Theory Of Interdisciplinarity: An Example Of Conceptual Integration/Blending In Teaching And Learning In Russian And East European Language-Based Area Studies, Anna Pleshakova, Kathleen M. Quinlan

Russian Language Journal

Most of problems in everyday and professional life are interdisciplinary, though most of our academic scholarship is contained within disciplines. To understand and solve such interdisciplinary problems, we must cross disciplinary boundaries. Yet, “the need to identify a method or/and logic of interdisciplinarity has, however, proven to be much easier to proclaim than to meet.”

Review: Сетевые Разговоры: Культурные Коммуникации В Рунете, Thomas J. Garza

Russian Language Journal

For any reader interested in the linguistic and cultural shifts that have occurred in the Russian language as a result of the explosion of Internet use in the russophone world, Zvereva’s work, Сетевые разговоры, is especially apt. In this timely and insightful work, Zvereva employs both discourse analysis as well as rigorous commentary from the corpus of work in media and cultural studies to fashion a critical review of current trends and innovations in the use of Internet-based media―predominately via RuNet (.ru)― as a means of initiating and developing communication. Emphasizing its broad appeal, Zvereva points to the relevance of …

Using A Corpus-Based Approach To Russian As A Foreign Language Materials Development, Edie Furniss

Russian Language Journal

The increase in availability and sophistication of corpora in recent years has facilitated the application of usage-based approaches to language pedagogy. Although the use of corpus data is certainly not without its difficulties, it offers great pedagogical promise. Corpora, consisting of natural language culled from a multitude of sources and genres, provide valuable information about language in use. While a corpus can provide us with contextualized linguistic data and statistics on the behavior of lexicon (with respect to frequency and collocation), a connection needs to be forged between the data and their practical use. Two main areas ripe for the …

Our Russian Classrooms And Students: Who Is Choosing Russian, Why, And What Cultural Content Should We Offer Them?, Jason Merrill

Russian Language Journal

Language instructors are well aware of the many challenges facing our profession. Financial pressures and fluctuating enrollments have caused many institutions to look critically at their language programs and curricula. Adding to these concerns is the lingering sentiment in some areas that foreign languages are not something that “you (really) need to know,” as Lawrence Summers stated in 2012 (Summers). Colleagues have produced impassioned defenses of the many benefits of language study (e.g. Geisler 2012), but ultimately we, as a profession, need to combine such efforts with the most effective and relevant language instruction we can provide. Geisler is not …

Full Issue

Russian Language Journal

No abstract provided.

Introduction

Russian Language Journal

No abstract provided.

Results 2012: Using Flagship Data To Develop A Russian Learner Corpus Of Academic Writing, Anna A. Alsufieva, Olesya V. Kisselev, Sandra G. Freels

Russian Language Journal

This paper presents a project developed at the Russian Flagship Center at Portland State University, the pilot Russian Learner Corpus of Academic Writing (piRULEC). PiRULEC is the first of its kind Russian learner corpus that contains academic texts written on a variety of topics produced by advanced learners of Russian from a variety of linguistic backgrounds (heritage speakers of Russian and mainstream American students).

Болото В Молчании, Или Пути Развития Тезауруса Учащихся При Обучении Русскому Языку На Продвинутом Уровне, Дарья Колесова

Russian Language Journal

Как понять эту фразу человеку, давно и эффективно изучающему русский язык? Да, он знает, что такое болото - это то, о чем можно сказать swamp, marsh, bog, muskeg. Но почему это название может показаться русскому человеку обидным? Из какого именно болота хочет вырваться автор и та группа людей, с которыми он себя объединяет?

Использование Актуальных Жанров Интернет-Общения (Форума И Блога) На Занятиях По Развитию Навыков Устной И Письменной Речи, Дарья Колесова, Ирина Вознесенская

Russian Language Journal

Прагматика общения, как известно, в значительной мере опреде-ляется спецификой жанра: существуют жанровые каноны, допуска-ющие ту или иную степень вариативности, но выход за рамки таких канонов приводит к коммуникативным неудачам. Попадая в стан-дартные условия общения, люди вырабатывают оптимальные для этих условий способы общения. Новые же коммуниканты, осваивая жанровый канон, стараются ему следовать, и в этом смысле оказы-ваются полностью зависимыми от жанра. Каким же образом можно обучить иностранца русским речевым жанрам? Какие именно речевые жанры стоит рассматривать как объект и предмет обучения на уроках РКИ?

Использование Киноцитаты На Уроке Рки, Джамиля Садуллаева

Russian Language Journal

Достаточно долгий опыт преподавания с одной стороны РКИ и истории и поэтики кино, с другой, привел меня к выводу, что изучение цитат из отечественных кинофильмов не только возможно, но и просто необходимо на продвинутом этапе обучения. Повседневная речь носителей языка переполнена цитатами разного уровня сложности и из разных источников. В речи молодежи, а именно молодежь – основной контингент изучающих русский язык в университете, постоянны мимолетные цитаты из видеотекстов, предназначенных для ежедневного, но не долгосрочного использования. Телевизионные сериалы, реклама на улице, в газетах и на телевидении, ошибки и оговорки в прямом эфире, забавные ролики в youtub’e, маргинальные тексты небольших сообществ вроде …