The Art of Teaching Russian

A comprehensive guide to Russian-language instruction combining the latest research, pedagogy, and practice.


The Art of Teaching Russian offers practitioners current research, pedagogical thinking, and specific methodologies for teaching the Russian language and culture in the twenty-first century. With contributions from the leading professionals in the field, this collection covers the most important aspects of teaching the Russian language.

The book begins with an overview of the past and current trends in foreign language education and in Russian instruction in the United States. Other topics include the effects of ACTFL's World-Readiness Standards on the field; different pedagogical approaches to teaching at various levels of proficiency; curriculum and materials development; and teaching Russian culture to develop students' intercultural competence. The collection concludes with a discussion on how to use technology in the Russian-language classroom to enhance students' learning.

The Art of Teaching Russian includes practical approaches for successful teaching, supported by original research. Teachers and graduate students will rely upon this collection to enhance their instruction.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I. The State of the Profession

1. Language Education in the United States: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Aline Germain-Rutherford

2. Looking Back, Moving Forward: Teaching and Learning Russian in the United States in the Post-Soviet Era
Cynthia L. Martin

3. Russian Programs in the 21st-Century University: Preparing for the Future
Angelika Kraemer, Jason Merrill, and David Prestel

4. Russian Language Readiness in Graduate Teaching Assistants: Implications for Teaching and Learning
Cori Anderson, Julia Mikhailova, and Anna Tumarkin


Part II. The Teaching of Russian and the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages

5. Making the Standards the Standard: World-Readiness Standards and the Teaching of Russian Language and Culture
Thomas J. Garza

6. The Goals of Collegiate Learners of Russian and the US Standards for Learning Languages
Dianna Murphy, Narek Sahakyan, and Sally Sieloff Magnan


Part III. Approaches to Teaching Russian

7. The Shifting Paradigm in Russian Language Pedagogy: From Communicative Language Teaching to Transformative Language Learning and Teaching
Betty Lou Leaver and Christine Campbell

8. Reconceptualizing Grammar Instruction: Making It Meaningful and Communicative
William J. Comer

9. Content, Language, and Task in Advanced Russian
Lynne deBenedette

10. Oral History in the Russian Language Curriculum: A Transformative Learning Experience
Benjamin Jens, Colleen Lucey, and Benjamin Rifkin

11. Language and Cultural Learning through Song: Three Complementary Contexts
Karen Evans-Romaine, Stuart Goldberg, Susan Kresin, and Vicki Galloway


Part IV. Curriculum and Materials Development

12. Developing a Textbook: A Framework and Reflections
Olga E. Kagan and Anna S. Kudyma

13. Addressing the Representation of Diversity in Russian Language Textbooks
Rachel Stauffer

14. Corpus Linguistics and Russian Language Pedagogy
Olesya Kisselev and Edie Furniss


Part V. Teaching Culture

15. Developing Intercultural Competence in a Russian Language Class
Ekaterina Nemtchinova

16. The Literary Canon and Precedent Texts in Teaching Russian Language and Culture at the Intermediate Level
Tatiana Smorodinska

17. Extracurricular Activities in Russian Language and Culture Programs: Challenges and Perspectives
Alla Epsteyn and Maia Solovieva


Part VI. Teaching and Learning Russian with Technology

18. Mixing it Up with Blended Learning
Shannon Spasova and Kristen Welsh


19. Research-Based Internet Writing Projects in the Russian Curriculum
Cori Anderson and Irina Walsh


Editors
List of Contributors
Index

Reviews

"The Art of Teaching Russian provides strong evidence of the growing research base and practitioner expertise ready to meet today’s demands for the study of Russian."—Dan E. Davidson, emeritus professor of Russian, Bryn Mawr College; director, American Councils Research Center (ARC); president emeritus, American Councils for International Education

"This well-organized and coherent volume will undoubtedly push the field forward with its many and varied approaches to language teaching."—Susan Gass, University Distinguished Professor and director of the English Language Center, Michigan State University

"The Art of Teaching Russian: Research, Pedagogy, and Practice will clearly be filling the existing gap and hopefully creating a bridge to more data and research in the field as well as a development of more innovative teaching materials, including textbooks for different levels of proficiency and online programs with new technologically mediated teaching methods. The book should also facilitate the conversation about teaching and learning Russian among Russian instructors and promote further research in the field."—Rocky Mountain Review

Contributors

Cori AndersonChristine CampbellWilliam J. ComerLynne deBenedetteAlla EpsteynKaren Evans-RomaineEdie FurnissVicki GallowayThomas GarzaAline Germain-RutherfordStuart H. GoldbergBenjamin JensOlga KaganOlesya KisselevAngelika KraemerSusan KresinAnna KudymaBetty Lou LeaverColleen LuceySally Sieloff MagnanCynthia L. MartinJason MerrillJulia MikhailovaDianna MurphyEkaterina NemtchinovaDavid PrestelBenjamin RifkinNarek SahakyanTatiana SmorodinskaMaia SolovievaShannon SpasovaRachel StaufferAnna TumarkinIrina WalshKristen Welsh

Supplemental Materials

Awards

2023 American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages Best Book in Pedagogy

About the Author

Evgeny Dengub is a teaching professor of Russian and director of the Russian Basic Language Program at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He is coauthor of Panorama: Intermediate Russian Language and Culture (Georgetown University Press, 2017).

Irina Dubinina is an associate professor of Russian at Brandeis University, where she directs the Russian-language program. She is coauthor of Rodnaya rech': An Introductory Course for Heritage Learners of Russian (Georgetown University Press, 2019).

Jason Merrill is a professor of Russian at Michigan State University and is the director of the Kathryn Wasserman Davis School of Russian at Middlebury College. He is the coauthor of the textbooks Russian Folktales: A Reader for Students of Russian and Animation for Russian Conversation.