NATIVE/HERITAGE SPEAKERS OF RUSSIAN IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

[Teresa Polowy]

Hello colleagues,
     I am Head of the Dept. of Russian and Slavic Studies at the University of
Arizona. I would like to raise the issue of Russian heritage/native speakers in
the classroom, a phenomenon with which all of us are grappling, and ask for a
discussion of "best practices" for teaching in a mixed classroom of
heritage/native speakers and American students learning Russian.
     First of all a little about our particular situation at the U of AZ. We
have a regents-mandated minimum enrollment policy. Our undergraduate classes
must have 15 students, although 400 level classes may have 12. This means that
we don't have the luxury of opening up special sections for native/heritage
speakers.
     I have a couple of questions with which we have been grappling and to which
I would really appreciate responses.

1)Placement tests- we are seeing some native/heritage students who simply refuse
to take the placement test and enroll themselves in 100 level classes. If these
students do take the test, some of them "fake" it so that they look like they
know less than they actually do. We do not let any students "test out" of their
2 year or 1 year language requirement, but a native/heritage speaker who took
the test "honestly" would be placed in a 300 or 400 level course where the
expectations in terms of assignments and content are tougher. Any suggestions
as to how to enforce placement testing and also any ideas as to how to make it
harder for students to "fake" a test?

2)The heritage/native speakers will be in mixed classrooms with American
students learning Russian. Do you have any suggestions as to pedagogical
literature or other resources we could look at in order to see some "best
practices" for handling this type of student mix in a classroom? Any ideas from
your own experiences would be most welcome also.

Thanking all of you in advance for your responses.

Regards,
Teresa Polowy


Teresa Polowy,Head
Department of Russian and Slavic Studies
University of Arizona

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