“Bringing Language Alive: Advancement of Foreign Language Instruction through Literature & Culture”
Wed, March 21, 2012 • 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM • SAC 1.106
Wed, March 21, 2012 • 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM • Student Activity Center (SAC) 1.106
Dr. Marina Potoplyak
Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies
The presentation explores a range of concrete strategies of bringing language to life when opportunities for students’ self-guided exploration of authentic resources are limited or not readily available, which is often the case with Russian language in the United States. Primarily designed for first- and second-year Russian courses, these approaches fall into three major categories: real-life contacts with local Russian-speaking community members, virtual interactions with Russians through social networks and the blogosphere, and interactions with Russian culture through specially created groups on social networks. It appears that involving students in these modes of interaction with Russian culture help to overcome some psychological barriers associated with the complexity of Russian language and stereotypical notions of Russia’s cultural impenetrability to an outsider (“a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”).