RUSSIAN 200B
INTERMEDIATE RUSSIAN II
DEPARTMENT OF EUROPEAN STUDIES SDSU
SPRING 2015
Instructor: Dr. Daria Shembel
Office hours: 12.30 – 2, and by appt.
E-mail: dshembel@yahoo.com
COURSE OVERVIEW
Description from the Official Course Catalog
RUSSN 200B. Intermediate Russian 2 (5) [GE] Continuation of
200A
Course Description
The fourth semester Russian course is designed to provide
students with the tools to communicate meaningfully and effectively in
Russian. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to more
advanced grammar topics, to develop analytic speaking abilities
enabling students to feel more comfortable in a Russian language
environment.
Supplementary readings will be assigned from various sources
including Russian classics, contemporary Russian literature,
magazines, newspapers, journals, internet etc.
While reading and translation are important, the main emphasis of
this course will be placed on conversation practice. Internet projects
will be assigned to explore the cultural and political landscape of
contemporary Russian life.
This course will be conducted almost entirely in Russian, and you
are especially encouraged to speak with your instructor and heritage
speakers in Russian outside the class as well.
Students’ Learning Outcomes
- to learn how to communicate in a variety of models
- to read for a variety of purposes gathering and interpreting
information
- to listen to recorded conversations, understand your instructor,
native speakers of Russian, audio, video and film
- to learn how to write topical essays, letters and fill in forms, as well
as to go over the essentials of Russian grammar
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- to develop cultural awareness, to deepen interest in Russian
language and the culture of Russian-speaking world and compare it
with your culture(s)
This semester students of Russian 200B will be active
participants in the compilation of an online course Russian
Trough Film that I am currently developing for the Language
Acquisition Center (LARC) at SDSU. The course is planned as an
independent communicative course targeting intermediate and
advanced students in their 3/4/5 semesters of studying Russian,
including ROTC cadets.
The primary goal of the course is to improve students Russianlanguage skills and engage students directly and meaningfully with the
Russian language and culture through accessing authentic Russian
materials: cinema and web. The course content will be divided into
lessons, each presenting a certain theme, such as introduction, family,
shopping, education, etc. Each lesson will include multiple film clips
(about 15-20) on the given topic representing various genres of
Russian cinema, including feature films, documentaries, and
animation. Each video segment will be supplemented by transcripts
and glossary lists, as well as additional materials on the subject
derived from authentic social media sources (wikipedia articles on the
films, directors, actors, places, cultural information, youtube
interviews with the creators/ actors, Facebook discussions, LiveJournal
entries, etc). In the introduction to every lesson, basic vocabulary and
structure needed for the discussion, will be provided.
How will students contribute to the course development:
Some of our classes will be held in LARC labs. Students will be working
individually and sometimes in small groups and will be developing and
designing all sorts of course materials. Typically, they will be
responsible for finding clips on the given theme, translating and
transcribing them (providing subtitles), describing the video in both
languages, and then working on the development of various
assignments for that particular video segment. Assignments usually
include vocabulary activities, comprehension activities, multiple choice
questions, audio and writing activities, grammar power point
presentations and questions. Assignments and video segments are
going to be of varying difficulty to accommodate speakers of different
levels.
How will students benefit from enrolling in this experimental
course?
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Students will be exposed to an unprecedented amount of authentic
materials in the Russian language. You will watch and select multiple
video clips, you will be thoroughly working with them, providing
translation and transcription. This means that you will drastically
improve your language comprehension skills. You will also review a
number of major grammatical topics of the Russian language in order
to create Power Point Presentations for the course. It will not only be
an exciting linguistic journey for you in terms of language
comprehension and production, but also a creative new media
experience since you will be responsible for the course design.
Prerequisites
The prerequisite for Russian 200B is the completion of three semesters
of Russian at San Diego State University or an equivalent high school,
foreign or university experience.
Required readings
Olga Kagan, Frank Miller, Ganna Kudyma: В пути. Russian Grammar in
Context. (Pearson Education, 2006, second edition) with Student
Activities Manual.
Optional readings
Any commercially available package with audio or video component
A good-size Russian-English, English Russian dictionary
COURSE FORMAT AND REQUIREMENTS
Attendance
Class attendance is mandatory. Written excuses include medical
reasons and religious holidays. More than four unexcused absences will
result in a lowering of your final grade.
Homework
Homework will be assigned on regular basis, will be posted on
Blackboard after every class, and is designed as preparation for the
next class. You may be given reading, written, internet, research or
grammar activities for homework. All homework assignments must be
completed in full prior to class and will contribute to your overall
grade. It is your responsibility to keep up with all homework
assignments.
Blackboard
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Consult the Blackboard website for this course before every class. You
are responsible for accessing all homework assignments and course
resources available there.
Grading
Class attendance and oral performance: 20%
Homework and multimedia assignments: 25%
Quizzes (at the end of each chapter there will be a short quiz testing
the core vocabulary):
20%
Tests (there will be a test after each lesson) and midterm
examination: 25%
Final examination: 10%
Grades as defined at SDSU as:
A: Outstanding achievement, available for the highest
accomplishment.
B: Praiseworthy performance, definitely above average.
C: Average awarded for satisfactory performance; the most common
undergraduate grade.
D: Minimally passing, less than typical undergraduate achievement
F: Failing
C/NC: Some students may, subject to their major requirement and the
conditions set out in the General Catalog, choose to take the course
credit/no credit. Work equivalent to C or above will result in a grade of
Credit; work equivalent to C- or below will result in NO Credit.
WU: Indicates that an enrolled student did not withdraw from the
course but did not fulfill the course requirements. For purposes of
grade point average computation, this grade is equivalent to an F.
Students who are failing when they stop attending class will receive an
F, not a U.
Fun links for you to play with:
Russian-English / English-Russian Dictionary
www.multitran.ru
Reasons to study Russian
http://www.russnet.org/why/index.html
Popular Russian Web Portals (similar to Yahoo):
www.yandex.ru
www.rambler.ru
Google in Russian:
www.google.ru
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Contemporary Moscow and Saint-Petersburg artistic life
www.afisha.ru
BBC News in Russian
http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/
Russian News:
www.gazeta.ru
www.chaskor.ru
Please let your instructor know of any special interests you may have
concerning Russia or Russian. If you have any problems during the
semester, please consult me or Professor Shapovalov
(veronica.shapovalov@sdsu.edu), the director of Russian Program.
Special section for heritage speakers
Since Russian 100B/200B are not specifically designed for heritage
speakers, the program for such students will be organized around
students’ individual needs and abilities. This program will be intended
to address the specific needs of students who speak Russian at home
and who did not receive a native Russian’s full educational and cultural
background. The individualized program will aim at building a
sophisticated vocabulary, developing advanced reading ability and
writing competency. Students should be aware of the specific
requirements and grading policy that differ from the general
requirements for Russian 100B/200B. Quizzes and examinations for
heritage speakers will be prepared individually. Each student’s
commitment and progress level in the class will determine his/her
grade, not the level of previous knowledge in Russian.
Heritage students of 200B might need to buy an additional textbook:
O. Kagan, T. Akishina, R. Robin, Russian for Russians, Bloomington:
Indiana, 2002 ISBN 0-89357-301-9
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