ACTR Russian Essay Contest (2006)

[Patricia L. Zody]

Dear Colleagues,

I invite you and your students to participate in the Seventh Annual ACTR 
National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest.  We had a successful contest 
in 2005 with 506 participants representing 52 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.  This year, we 
have added a new category for heritage learners.  Please see the 
announcement below for more information.

If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact 
me.  The deadline for registering your students is January 27, 2006.

Sincerely,

Patricia Zody
***********************************************************************
7th ANNUAL ACTR NATIONAL POST-SECONDARY RUSSIAN ESSAY CONTEST

Students taking Russian in accredited colleges and universities are invited 
to participate in the seventh 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 January 27, 2006. 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 2006. Students will write 
their essays between Feb. 1 and Feb. 15, 2006 at a time selected by the 
instructor at each institution. Students should not receive the essay topic 
until the time scheduled to write the essay. Judges will review the essays 
in March 2006 and winners will be announced in early April 2006.

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) will be presented for the best essays at each level.

Here are sample essay topics from previous contests:

"An Important or Funny Thing Happened When"
"A Person (Real or Fictional) Who Is Important to Me and Why?"
"My Life Changed When"
"My Favorite Place"
"When I Relax"

All categories and levels of students use the same essay topic.

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. Please take the time to calculate the 
number of hours that your students have studied Russian to place them in 
the proper category.)

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 NOT attended school in Russia or the former Soviet Union and have 
to learn reading and writing skills after emigration.

Heritage Learners (2): 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 (3): 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 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 January 27, 2006.

Official Registration Forms can also be found in the Fall 2005 ACTR 
Newsletter.  If you would like to receive a registration form by mail or 
electronically, please contact me at zodyp at beloit.edu

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