advanced writing

[Benjamin Rifkin]

In response to Betty Lou Leaver's comment about advanced level writing:

Most students in undergraduate Russian programs do not come near superior
level writing (level 3 in the ILR scale) in a mere 4 years of language
training.  This excludes from consideration those students who are heritage
learners; their background varies considerably.

For more information about realistic expectations of the achievement of
learners of Russian in the United States, see the following works:

Brecht, R., Davidson, D., and Ginsberg, R.  1993.  Predictors of Foreign
Language Gain During Study Abroad.  Washington, DC:  National Foreign
Language Center.

Carroll, J. B.  1967.  "Foreign Language Proficiency Levels Attained by
Language Majors Near Graduation from College."  Foreign Language Annals 1:
131-151. [NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED!]

Thompson, I.  1996.  "Assessing Foreign Language Skills: Data from Russian."
Modern Language Journal 80:  47-65.

In this context, **most** 3rd or 4th year Russian language classes in the US
should probably be focused on addressing the learning goals of students
whose speaking and writing proficiency is in the intermediate range (aiming
for production at the advanced level according to the ACTFL Proficiency
Guidelines.)  Again, this excludes the case of heritage learners and
learners with atypical learning backgrounds, e.g. returning missionaries.

Ben Rifkin





At 01:36 PM 1/4/00 EST, Betty Lou Leaver wrote:
>This is in response to Melissa Frazier's question about teaching writing to
>advanced students.
>
>3. Depending on how you are defining "advanced" (Level 2 proficiency, as per
>ACTFL), or truly advanced (Level 3 and higher), a textbook, no matter how
>good, may not be the answer.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Benjamin Rifkin, Assoc. Prof., Slavic Dept., UW-Madison
1432 Van Hise Hall, 1220 Linden Dr., Madison, WI  53706 USA
voice:  (608) 262-1623; fax:  (608) 265-2814

Director of the Russian School, Middlebury College
Freeman International Center, Middlebury, VT  05753 USA
voice:  (802) 443-5533
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           **** ATTENTION ****

The SEELANGS list is moving servers on January 5, 2000.  Please visit the
following URL for a complete description of the changes and how you will
be affected:

                 http://members.home.net/lists/seelangs/

                       (Apologies for the delay)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------