Russian at Drake

Studying Russian at Drake University is rewarding and productive from the very first day of class. Regardless of the level of study, students work with a native speaker of Russian and no more than three classmates and use Russian exclusively as to communicate things that are truly meaningful, i.e., not the mindless filler materials found in many current textbooks.

Through the standard sequence of courses (001, 002, 051, 052, 140, 150), students expand their competencies beyond the initial emphasis on speaking in order to develop skills in listening, writing, and reading. Although Russian has not been offered as long as some of the other languages in the Language Acquisition Program, it is undoubtedly the language with the fastest growing enrollment.

In each Russian course, as in every language course in the program, students produce an individual electronic portfolio that normally consists of recordings students make of their own voices following a provided model, samples of videos students make of themselves, writing samples, clips from examinations, etc. This record allows coordinators and the students themselves to track progress both within a given semester and over several semesters. Students can also use the ePortfolios after graduation to demonstrate to potential employers or graduate schools their ability to function in Russian. Examples are representative student work is available by clicking here:

Culture is not, of course, neglected in these courses. The faculty of the Drake University Language Acquisition Program is well aware that culture is embedded in every language. The study of culture is additionally enhanced through the use of weblogs that focus the studentsÕ attention on many important topical, historical, and useful themes. The blogs are written in both English and Russian, depending on the studentsÕ level of proficiency with the language. The pioneering approach has been a wonderful success primarily due to the efforts of Dr. Pete Smith of the University of Texas-Arlington. Dr. Smith serves not only as the moderator or ÒtelementorÓ of the blogs, but he is also the language examiner who meets with students twice each semester to evaluate progress.

Students are able to take advantage of this program somewhat to tailor courses to suit their own professional and/or personal goals. The language coordinator, who designs the courses, gets to know all the students in the program and is able to take into consideration who will be in upcoming courses. The size and flexibility of individual sections allow the coordinator to consider the needs and wishes of those students.

Coordinator Contact Information

Dr. Marc Cadd
515-271-3923
marc.cadd@drake.edu

First Semester Offered
Fall 2005

Russian 001

Russian 002

Russian 051

Russian 052