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Russian 201

RUSS 201
Intermediate Russian I

1. Catalog Entry

RUSS 201
Intermediate Russian I

Credit hours (4)
Prerequisites: RUSS 102 or placement by examination.

RUSS 201 is a continuation of RUSS 102 and represents the third semester of a four-semester sequence. Conducted primarily in the target language, the course is designed to develop the speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in addition to instruction in basic information about Russian world countries. Independent laboratory practice required. This class is not for native or heritage speakers of Russian. Approved for Core Curriculum credit in College Core B in Foreign Languages.

2. Detailed Description of Course

RUSS201 is conducted primarily in Russian and represents the third semester of a four-semester sequence of Russian, an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, unofficial but widely-spoken language in Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia among other territories such as the other countries that were once constituent republics of the Soviet Union.

The course is designed to develop the speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in addition to instruction about Russian world cultures. Task functions focus on intermediate level include writing brief compositions; reading authentic materials (i.e. produced for native speakers) for information and pleasure; listening to and following directions. Grammatical structures cover: Instrumental case with the preposition C, the subjunctive and imperative mood, the future tense, verbal aspect – introduction, question words and pronouns, and a review of past tense and use of learned cases such as nominative, genitive, dative and accusative.

3. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

Class instruction focuses on communication practice utilizing the situations, communication tasks, vocabulary, culture, and grammar introduced in a given chapter. Other activities include: grammar and vocabulary explanations, pronunciation practice,
listening comprehension exercises, and grammatical drills. Class is conducted primarily in the target language.

4. Goals and Objectives of the Course

Students will develop language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing necessary for everyday life in a Russian speaking country. As regards speaking, students will be able to communicate on a basic level with a greater variety of learned material and will begin to recombine learned elements. Students' listening skills will enable them to recognize a wide variety of learned material consisting of words and phrases and also some sentence length utterances, particularly where context strongly supports understanding and speech is clearly audible. As regards reading, students will be able to identify an increasing amount of learned material without assistance and to understand a limited amount of new material when supported by context or dictionary assistance. In writing, students will .be able to reproduce a variety of learned phrases and some basic sentences by recombining learned material. Students will be able to pronounce nearly all Russian sounds accurately when uttered in isolation and a growing number even in rapid speech. As regards morphology and syntax, students will be able to analyze most basic grammar in graded sentences. Second semester students will be able to identify and briefly discuss a number of basic cultural differences.

Students will be able to analyze similarities and differences between their own and the target cultures.

Students will be able to explain contemporary international issues from the perspectives of their own and the target cultures.

5. Assessment Measures

Speaking progress will be evaluated in oral presentations. Written homework assignments and test exercises provide a basis for the evaluation of writing progress. Listening and reading comprehension, grammatical accuracy, and familiarity with the new culture are tested in quizzes, chapter tests, and on the final exam.

In most of these testing situations, RUSS 201 students will also either demonstrate or further expand their familiarity with cultural topics and current global issues. Students’ success in using Russian will therefore reveal not only their linguistic abilities but also their cultural competence to anticipate and to simulate the use of different cultural perceptions and behaviors through the new language.

6. Other Course Information

This course is designed for intermediate students in Russian language and can help students fulfill the B.A. foreign language requirement. Russian 201 targets intermediate language learners with the equivalent of two semester of college Russian, but can accommodate learners with two or three years in high school. If students have taken RUSS 200, they are not eligible to take RUSS 201.

Review and Approval