ACTR's National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest

[Carol Ueland]

Dear Pat,
   I do want my students to participate again this year but I have the
same problem as last year--our term only begins on Mon. Jan. 28th and
I'm not sure I can get the info to you by that Wed.  Can I have a few
more days?  If you would send me an on-line form that would probably
speed things up.  Hope this is possible and thanks for your help.  Best,
Carol

>>> Patricia Zody <zodyp at BELOIT.EDU> 01/09/08 9:54 PM >>>
Dear Colleagues, 

I invite you and your students to participate in the Ninth Annual ACTR
National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest.  We had a fabulous
contest in
2007 with 702 participants representing 51 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 students 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. 
The
deadline for registering your students is January 30, 2008.

Sincerely,

Patricia Zody
NPSREC Chairperson
***********************************************************************
9th ANNUAL ACTR NATIONAL POST-SECONDARY RUSSIAN ESSAY CONTEST

Students taking Russian in accredited colleges and universities are
invited
to participate in the ninth 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 - $5.00 per registration
Students whose teacher is not an ACTR member - $7.50 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 30, 2008. 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 2008. Students will write
their essays between Feb. 1 and Feb. 16, 2008 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 2008 and winners will be announced by April 15, 2008.


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 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, bronze and honorable mention ribbon awards (certificates)
will
be presented for the best essays at each level.

Here are sample essay topics from previous contests:

³What Is Your Dream?²
³An Important or Funny Thing Happened When²
³A Person (Real or Fictional) Who Is Important to Me and Why?²
³My Life Changed When²
³My Favorite Place²
³When I Relax²
³Write a letter to a figure from Russian history or a hero (heroine)
from
Russian literature./ Napishite pis'mo istoricheskomu litsu ili geroiu
russkoi literatury.²

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

Teachers may not substitute stNo 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). (Please note that heritage learners of
any
Slavic language, including Russian, are not allowed to participate in
this
level and category of the contest.)

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 Web site, and the
AATSEEL
Web site. 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:
List of Participants: 1) Name, 2) Category, and 3) Level


Send to Patricia Zody, Center for Language Studies, Beloit College 700
College Street, Beloit, WI 53511 before January 30, 2008.

Official registration forms can also be found in the Winter 2007 ACTR
Letter.  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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