ACTR Russian Essay Contest (2004)

[Patricia L. Zody]

Dear Colleagues,

I invite you and your students to participate in the Fifth Annual ACTR
National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest.  We had a successful contest
in 2003 with 267 participants representing 32 universities and colleges.

Participation in the Russian Essay Contest is an excellent way

-to have your students compete nationwide with their peers
-to raise the visibility of your Russian program
-to compete in a fun, field-wide event.

The contest is for undergraduates at all levels of Russian (1st through
4th-year), and there are categories for heritage learners.

If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me off
list.

Sincerely,

Patricia Zody

*************************************************************************************
5th ANNUAL ACTR NATIONAL POST-SECONDARY RUSSIAN ESSAY CONTEST

Students taking Russian in accredited colleges and universities are invited
to participate in the fifth annual National Post-Secondary Russian Essay
Contest sponsored by the American Council of Teachers of Russian.

All students must pay a registration fee according to the following schedule:
Students whose teacher is an ACTR member - $3.00 per registration
Students whose teacher is not an ACTR member - $4.50 per registration
Students may not register themselves, but can only be registered by a teacher.
To register your students, please send a registration form (below) and one
check made out to "ACTR" to Patricia Zody, Center for Language Studies,
Beloit College, 700 College Street, Beloit, WI 53511. All registrations
must be received by December 15, 2003. Registrations received after the
deadline will not be accepted.

When registering your students, please consult the criteria below to select
the appropriate level.

Teachers whose students are participating in the contest will receive
directions and the essay topic in late January 2004. Students will write
their essays between Feb. 1 and Feb. 15, 2004 at a time selected by the
instructor at each institution. Judges will review the essays in March 2004
and winners will be announced in early April 2004.

Please note that students cannot use any books or notes and may not work
together. Essays must be written legibly in blue or black ink. The time
limit for writing the essays will be one hour. The essays must be written
in blue or black ink on lined or bluebook paper provided by teachers.
Pencil is not acceptable (as it won't photocopy). After the students write
the essay, teachers will make four photocopies of each essay as per the
directions and then send the originals and three photocopies to Patricia
Zody within 48 hours of the test date. All essays will be evaluated
anonymously: no essay will be identifiable by the name or institution of
the student who wrote it. Gold, silver, and bronze ribbon awards
(certificates), as well as honorable mention, will be presented for the
best essays at each level.

Teachers may not substitute students for those registered by the deadline.
No refunds are available for students who don't show up for the essay contest.

Essays will be ranked according to levels as follows:
Category 1: Non-Heritage Learners (those learners who do not and did not
ever speak Russian in the home)
Level One: students who at the time of the essay contest will have had
fewer than 100 contact hours of instruction in Russian (whether in college
alone or in college and high school). (This is mostly students in
first-year Russian.)

Level Two: students who at the time of the essay contest will have had more
than 100 contact hours, but fewer than 250 contact hours of instruction.
(This is mostly students in second-year Russian.)

Level Three: students who will have had more than 250 contact hours, but
fewer than 400 contact hours of instruction. (This is mostly students in
third or fourth-year Russian.)

Level Four: students who will have had more than 400 contact hours of
instruction. (This is mostly students in fourth-year or fifth-year Russian.)

Category 2: Heritage Learners

Heritage Learners (1): students who speak Russian with their families and
who have attended school for fewer than 5 years in Russia or the former
Soviet Union and may have had to relearn reading and writing skills after
emigration.

Heritage Learners (2): students who speak Russian with their families and
who have attended school for 5 or more years in Russia or the former Soviet
Union and have not had to relearn reading and writing skills after emigration.

Judges will evaluate essays according to content (the ability to express
ideas in Russian and communicate information about the topic) and length,
lexicon, syntax, structure (grammatical and orthographic accuracy), and
originality or creativity.

Awards will be announced in the ACTR Letter and the AATSEEL Newsletter. The
best gold ribbon essays will be published again this year in the ACTR Letter.

Teachers with questions about the essay contest should contact:
Patricia L. Zody
Director, Center for Language Studies
Beloit College
700 College Street
Beloit, WI 53511
(608)363-2277
cls at beloit.edu

REGISTRATION FORM FOR NATIONAL POST-SECONDARY RUSSIAN ESSAY CONTEST
Name of Institution:
Name of Instructor:
Address:
E-Mail Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
Name of Each Student Participating in Test, Category 1 or 2, and
Level (according to guidelines listed above).

Send to Patricia Zody, Center for Language Studies, Beloit College 700
College Street, Beloit, WI 53511 before December 15, 2003.

Official Registration Forms can also be found in the Fall 2003 ACTR Newsletter.

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