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University of Pittsburgh
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
RUSS 1430: Fourth Year Russian II
Spring 2009
Instructor: Yuliya Basina
e-mail basina@pitt.edu
Office: Cathedral of Learning 1433
Office Hours:
Tu, Th 2:30-4:00 PM
(or by appointment)
Class meets: Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00AM--12:15 PM CL 1432
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The fourth-year Russian II course focuses on sociolinguistic aspect of Russian -- the study of the
effect of cultural norms, expectations, and social context on the way language is used. Lexical
material will be examined in comparison between American and Russian cultural norms and
traditions. Relevant Grammar and Syntax at the advanced level will accompany each lexical
topic. However, the main objective is to practice oral and written communication.
There will be announced and unannounced quizzes and four tests during the semester. In
addition, each student will be responsible for two essays (Midterm and Final) and four Oral
presentations.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Visson, Lynn. Where Russians Go Wrong in Spoken English: Words and Expressions in the
Context of Two Culture. Moscow: R. Valent, 2003. (PDF file is available)
Wade, Terence. A Comprehensive Russian Grammar. 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing,
2005.
Wade, Terence. A Russian Grammar Workbook. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2005
Web materials:
In order to prepare for oral presentations, essay, and class discussions, students might want to use
the following Russian resources sites:
1) A Country Study: Russia: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/rutoc.html
2) Russian Radio Stations: http://audio.rambler.ru/radio.html
3) Russian TV Stations: http://www.webtelek.com/
4) Russian for Everyone: http://gramota.ru/
5) Russian Proverbs: http://www.aphorism.ru/dal/
EVALUATION AND GRADES:
Class participation and homework:
20%
4 Oral presentations (5% each):
20%
Quizzes:
10%
4 tests
30%
Two Essays:
20%
_________________________________________________________________________
TOTAL:
100%
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The following grading standards will be used in assigning grades in this course:
93-100
90-92
88-89
83-87
A
AB+
B
80-82
78-79
73-77
70-72
BC+
C
C-
68-69
65-67
64-54
53 and below
D+
D
E
F
ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCES:
This class meets three times a week. Students are expected to attend all classes and be on time.
Students will receive daily grades for each meeting of the course. Attendance will be recorded
each class.
More than two unexcused absences will affect the final grade. More than five will result in
automatic failure of the course, regardless of the student's prior standing. Excused absences,
such as illness or death in the immediate family, must be documented. Work assigned in a
student's absence will not be given a later deadline without prior agreement with the instructor.
If you miss a class it is your responsibility to find out from your classmates what
important information was announced or passed out during the session you missed.
You are also responsible for obtaining the copy of the article assigned for the next class.
Therefore, you should exchange e-mail addresses or phone numbers with another
student in the class or contact me through e-mail or come to my office hours to review
material.
DISABILITY POLICY:
If a student has a disability that requires special teaching, testing accommodations, or other
classroom modifications, he or she must notify the instructor and the Office of Disabled Student
Services (DDS) as early as possible in the semester. The student may be asked to provide
documentation of the disability to determine the appropriateness of accommodations. To notify
DDS, call 648-7890 (Voice or TDD) to schedule an appointment. The office is located in 216
William Pitt Union.
PLAGIARISM:
As “Student Obligations and Adjudication” (University Policy 02-03-03) states, “students have
an obligation to exhibit honesty, and to respect the ethical standard of his (their) chosen
profession in carrying out (their) academic assignments”. According to the University of
Pittsburgh’s policy, a student “violates this obligation” if he/she: “a) presents as one’s own, for
academic evaluation, the ideas, representations, or works of another person or persons without
customary and proper acknowledgement of sources; b) submits the work of another person in a
manner which represents the work to be one’s own; c) knowingly permits one’s work to be
submitted by another person without the instructor’s authorization”.
The penalties for academic misconduct like plagiarism can be very severe. The immediate
consequence of plagiarism will be receiving a grade zero for the particular assignment and can
lead to an F for the course.
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For the references, please, check the Academic Integrity Code, School of Arts and Sciences on
line: http://www.fcas.pitt.edu/academicintegrity.html
SCHEDULE:
Week 1.
Tuesday, January 6
Topic: Instead of Introduction: some lexical equivalents.
Key Cultural Concepts: American way vs. How it is done in Russia.
Grammar: Word order and intonation.
Thursday, January 8
Topic: Power of Control or Irony of Fate.
Grammar: Word order. Impersonal constructions.
Week 2.
Tuesday, January 13
Topic: Power of Control or Irony of Fate – continues.
Grammar: Impersonal constructions. Passive Constructions.
Thursday, January 15
Topic: Mind or Soul.
Grammar: Passive Constructions. Reflexive verbs.
Week 3.
Tuesday, January 20
Topic: Signs and Superstitions.
Grammar: Reflexive verbs. Colloquial speech: Syntactic structure.
Thursday, January 22
Test and Oral Presentations.
Week 4.
Tuesday, January 27
Topic: American Individualism or Russian "One for All and All for One."
Grammar: The verb "byt'" in present tense.
Thursday, January 29
Topic: What Friends are for.
Grammar: Imperative.
Week 5.
Tuesday, February 3
Topic: About Sympathy and Empathy.
Grammar: Diminutive suffixes.
Thursday, February 5
Topic: Love and Marriage.
Grammar: Short form adjectives.
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Week 6.
Tuesday, February 10
Topic: Positive Thinking or Russian Negativism.
Grammar: Direct object in negative constructions.
Thursday, February 12
Topic: Bans that do and do not ban.
Grammar: Negative particles. Indefinite and negative adverbs.
Week 7.
Tuesday, February 17
Test and Oral Presentations.
Thursday, February 19
Topic: Two counts of Time.
Grammar: Date and Time.
Week 8.
Tuesday, February 24
Topic: On the Relativity of Truth.
Grammar: Concessive relationships.
Thursday, February 26
Topic: I am right, and you are wrong.
Grammar: Comparative and superlative degrees.
Week 9
Tuesday, March 3
Topic: General comments on American and Russian etiquette.
What can we talk about?
Grammar: The Particles.
Thursday, March 5
Topic: Greetings. Saying goodbye.
Grammar: Modal function of particles.
The meaning of individual particles.
Week 10
No classes. Spring Break.
Week 11
Tuesday, March 17
Topic: Asking for a favor and expressing gratitude.
Grammar: Determinative and reflexive pronouns.
Thursday, March 19
Topic: Offering and taking advice.
Grammar: Causal expressions.
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Week 12
Tuesday, March 24
Topic: Apologies.
Grammar: Subordinating clauses.
Thursday, March 26
Test and Oral Presentations.
Week 13
Tuesday, March 31
Topic: Having guests over.
Grammar: Partitive Genitive.
Thursday, April 2
Topic: What we eat.
Grammar: Countable and non-countable nouns.
Week 14
Tuesday, April 7
Topic: What is healthy and what is not.
Grammar: The conjunctions.
Thursday, April 9
Topic: How we talk about health.
Grammar: Verbs of placement and position.
Week 15
Tuesday, April 14
Review session. Oral Presentations.
Thursday, April 16
Test.