Term "akademicheskaya zadolzhennost"-A survey of Russian Grading System

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Edward Dumanis wrote:

> Академическая задолженность is Incomplete.

Thanks, that was as I suspected.

> It is not correct that экзамен is usually graded on the 5-point scale.
> This normally takes place in elementary and secondary education only.
> In higher education, the scale is 4-point which is always expressed
> in words: "Отлично/Excellent," "Хорошо/Good," "Удовлетворительно/
> Satisfactory," and "Неудовлетворительно/Unsatisfactory." They are
> often abbreviated as "Отл," "Хор," "Уд," and the last one is
> abbreviated and nicknamed as "Неуд." These grades correspond to A,
> B, C and F. As you can see "D" is missing.

Your detailed explanation of the grading system was fascinating but
unnecessary. However, it did draw my attention to the failure of my
elliptical note to convey my understanding of this aspect of the system.

I have seen enough high school and college transcripts containing
notations such as "5 (отл.)," "4 (хор.)," and "3 (удовл.)" that neither
system (numerical or descriptive) fazes me. Whether the "2" and "1"
exist or not is of no special concern because we do not evaluate the
transcripts. As you advise (and as admissions offices have requested of
us), we do not convert the grades from the Russian system to the
American one, we just report them and let the academics take over from
there.

> In the Russian academic tradition of higher education, there are two
> types of courses:
> lectures only and lectures accompanied by regular practice sessions
> called "seminars" which are very similar to recitations. (The
> difference is that the homework is not given on lecturers

Hunh? Do you mean "на лекциях"?

> but by the faculty that teach practice sessions, and a course is
> actually taught as 2 parallel courses: on theory, and  on practice
> skills.) In the latter type of courses the exam is split into two
> parts: зачёт/test (test of skills learned during practice sessions)
> and экзамен/exam  (test of the material taught on lectures, i.e.,
> the theory of the subject). Зачёт/test is usually graded on Pass/Fail
> scale, and it is mandatory to pass it before being admitted to take
> экзамен/exam. However, sometimes some courses (in which, usually, the
> theory and the skills are closely intertwined) have so called
> "дифференцированный зачёт/differential test" which means that they
> test both skills and theory at the same time, and the grade is given
> using the aforementioned 4-point scale.

OK, this makes good sense, but I struggle to accept the contrast
"exam/test" = "экзамен/зачет" because the English pair does not convey
the contrast you outline here. It seems clear from your description that
the зачет is given at the conclusion of the course and covers practical
skills, whereas the English "test" suggests to me one of several (or
even many) hurdles the student must pass *during* the course; moreover,
there is no theoretical/practical contrast in the English "exam/test." A
test can cover theory, and an exam can cover practice; the contrast for
me is mainly one of greater/lesser drama or importance. At least that
was my experience in 10 years of higher education.

This is why I have tended to favor "theoretical/practical exams" in my
translation practice. How does this strike you?

--
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                  http://home.attbi.com/~lists/seelangs/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------