Location: http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/structure/syllabus.html
Last modified:
2010-03-07
Main course web page: http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/structure/index.html
Name: David J. Birnbaum
Email: djbpitt@pitt.edu
Office phone: 412-624-5712
Office hours: T 1:00–1:50, W
1:30–2:20, and by appointment
This course combines and modifies two earlier courses, a graduate Structure of Russian course (Russian 2210) and an undergraduate Advanced Russian Morphology course (Russian 1400). The graduate course has been reconceptualized as “Structure of Russian for language teachers,” which is to say that it is designed to present Russian grammatical topics in a way that will assist Russian language teachers in their teaching. The undergraduate course is intended to help advanced Russian language students acquire a better understanding of advanced issues in practical Russian grammar.
This semester is the first time we have combined the graduate and undergraduate constituencies in a single course. Both graduate and undergraduate students should feel free to raise questions and introduce topics that they feel would benefit from consideration and discussion.
Note that because this is a combined graduate/undergraduate course, it will hold its last meeting on Wednesday, April 28, which is during examination period and after the end of regular undergraduate classes.
The requirements for graduate and undergraduate students are the same (there is not, for example, any additional reseach paper required of graduate students), but the instructor will take into consideration each participant’s background and preparation. For example, graduate students with experience teaching Russian will be expected to produce work that reflects that experience, undergraduate linguistics majors will be expected to show the appropriate level of general linguistic knowledge, etc.
The principal textbook for the course is Charles E. Gribble, The Forms of Russian (prepublication copy available to members of the course on Courseweb/Blackboard). Handouts and other materials will be posted to http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/structure/.
Discussion boards for the course are available on Courseweb/Blackboard. Please post questions and comments in the appropriate forum there; if you can’t find an appropriate forum, let the instructor know and he’ll create one. Please don’t wait for the instructor to respond to postings; you have expertise in different areas (some of you have strong backgrounds in linguistics, others are experienced language teachers, others have an excellent practical knowledge of Russian), and you should be able to respond to one another without the regular intervention of the instructor.
There are currently boards for Practical Russian Discussion, Russian Linguistic Discussion, Pedagogical Discussion, General Linguistic Discussion, Suggestions and Corrections for the Gribble Textbook, Homework, Lesson Plans for Tutoring (see below), and About the Course.
Course grades will be based on the midterm (15%), final (15%), written homework (15%), participation in class and discussion boards (15%), presentations (15%), quizzes (10%), and the tutoring activity (15%), as follows:
There will be two take-home examinations (midterm and final). Both are cumulative.
Homework will involve both reading and writing, including practical exercises (such as those found in the Gribble textbook) and short written assignments (along the lines of “describe the formation of the imperative” or “describe how consonant mutation works in Russian conjugation”). Some assignments, especially of the latter type, may be completed collaboratively, typically in teams of one graduate and one undergraduate student; the instructor will tell you when assignments should be completed individually and when it is appropriate to collaborate with a classmate. All written homework must be typed. Late homework will not be accepted and absence is not an excuse for late homework; if you miss a class, be sure to email your homework to the instructor no later than the due date.
All students are expected to participate meaningfully in class discussion and in the Discussion boards. This means speaking at least two or three times in each class meeting and posting at least two or three things to a Discussion board each week. Contributions may be brief, and they can involve questions, answers, comments, or just about anything else, but they should be reasonably substantial. “I agree with what X just said” isn’t substantial; don’t be shy about saying it because it isn’t meaningless, but it doesn’t get you off the hook for substantial contributions. “I agree with what X said because of the following additional arguments” or “what X said works for his/her examples, but what about these other examples, which seem to contradict what X said?” are more substantial. Please make an effort to respond to one another; if you know the answer to someone else’s question, whether in class or on a Discussion board, or can comment meaningfully on something someone else said, you should chime in, instead of just waiting for the instructor to respond. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, since those can lead in interesting directions, and you get full credit for meaningful contributions that turn out to be wrong as long as you have a sensible (even if ultimately unsuccessful) line of reasoning behind your opinion.
All participants are required to attend all class meetings, and absence will be reflected in the participation component of your grade, as well as in zeroes for quizzes given on those days. Because we have only sixteen meetings, each absence represents 6.25% of the sessions, which seems like a small number, but absences add up quickly.
In addition to regular participation in classroom discussion, all students will be asked to give a presentation (approximately 10–20 minutes; the time should be dictated by the topic) on grammatical topics and then lead discussions on those topics. Some presentations may take the form of mock teaching (e.g., teaching a topic to us while we pretend to be first- or second-year students); others may take the form of teacher training (e.g., explaining to teacher trainees how to teach a topic). Start thinking now about the topic you’d like, since it’s first come, first served. Participants who wish to do so may give a second presentation for extra credit. Students should consult with the instructor as soon as they’ve identified a potential topic, both because the topic has to be approved and because you’ll want the instructor’s advice and guidance as you prepare.
There will be brief unannounced quizzes.
All participants will engage, typically in teams of two (one graduate student and one undergraduate), in a tutoring practicum consisting of two brief preliminary meetings followed by two one-hour tutoring sessions with actual first- and second-year Russian-language stduents. A tutee will be assigned to you by the instructor, and it will be your responsibility to arrange meeting times and places.
The preliminary meetings will be first with the student’s regular language teacher and then with the student; the goal of those meetings will be to determine the subject matter for the actual tutoring sessions. These meetings should take approximately 15–30 minutes each. The actual sessions will be on two distinct grammatical topics from among those covered in the tutee’s course. You will, in collaboration with your partner from our course, prepare a lesson plan for each tutoring session, which you will post to the appropriate Discussion board forum for feedback from the instructor and from other members of our course at least one week before the actual tutoring session. You will also write (individually) a short (approx. 2 pages) reflection paper after each tutoring session. About a week after each tutoring session, you will need to turn in all the materials from that session, including the lesson plan (possibly revised in response to your experience), any written tutoring materials you may have designed and used, and your reflection paper.
Instructors currently teaching actual Russian-language courses will tutor students in a course other than the one they are teaching (e.g., instructors teaching first-year Russian will tutor second-year students).
The University’s Academic Integrity Code can be found at http://www.as.pitt.edu/faculty/policy/integrity.html. It is the students’ responsibility to familiarize themselves with these regulations and to observe them, and any infraction will be penalized according to these rules.
If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services (DRS), 216 William Pitt Union, 412-648-7890 or 412-383-7355 (TTY) as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course. No accommodations can be made without verification by DRS.
The University of Pittsburgh requires students to monitor their official University email accounts regularly, either directly or by forwarding their mail to an account that they do monitor regularly. The University e-mail Policy is located at http://www.bc.pitt.edu/policies/policy/09/09-10-01.html and instructions on how to forward e-mail messages are at http://www.technology.pitt.edu/email-accounts/email/imap/imap-forward.html.
The pacing here is largely guesswork, since this course has never been taught before. If it proves too slow or too ambitious, we’ll adjust on the fly. We can also add more topics; notify the instructor if you have suggestions.
Homework is listed according to the date it is due. Homework must be typed, and should be submitted on paper at the beginning of class. Where you need to mark stress in written homework, underline the stressed vowel.
All students must give at least one presentation (see above). Potential topics are suggested below under appropriate weeks, but feel free to propose your own topic. You must consult with the instructor before your presentation.
Classes cancelled because of snow