Instructor : Miguel a. Jimenez

bear hall 123

Office hours: m--w-f 11:50 to 12:45 and by appointment

or jimenezm@uncw.edu

REQUIRED MATERIALS FOR RUS 101

1. NACHALA, Book 1, by Ruth Warmer, Shopia Lubensky, Gerard E. Ervin and Larry McLellan.

2.. NACHALA, CDS.Nachala is accompanied by CD. The CD is in all computers at the Foreign Language Resource Centre

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Our instructional goal is to develop your ability to communicate in Russian. Learning how to communicate in Russian (or any other foreign language) can be useful and fun. You can learn how to do it if you devote the necessary time and attention. This course is taught almost entirely in Russian. By the end of the semester you should be at the novice level in the basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening in Russian. You should be able to carry on simple conversations with a “sympathetic” Russian speaker/listener on a limited number of topics centering on yourself, your family and friends. Your Russian will include some errors since that is the nature of language learning. We expect you to dedicate time, attention, and to make progress during the semester. This course is for students with one year or less of High School Russian

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Establish basic vocabulary and grammatical skills needed for simple communication in Russian
Develop basic listening, reading and writing skills in Russian, being able to read and write the cyrillic alphabet
Develop good pronunciation in Russian
Acquire a basic understanding and appreciate Russian culture

PARTICIPATION.

REGULAR ATTENDANCE AND ACTIVE PARTICIPATION ARE NECESSARY IN ORDER TO ACHIVE THE GOAL OF THIS COURSE. You should prepare the lesson on the syllabus BEFORE the class meeting. Most vocabulary and grammar study will be completed outside of class in order to use class time more efficiently for communicative practice .The classroom is the place for practice and putting what you learned at home into action. Please don’t fall behind! If you know you are going to miss class, get the assignment for the next class period from a classmate and study ahead. Remember that a great percentage of your grade will be determined on the basis of your listening comprehension and speaking ability in class. To make sure that you do great in class, attend class regularly, participate everyday, prepare your classes, go to the language lab and complete your homework.

ATTENDANCE

In this class you will be allowed 3 ABSENCES during the term for whatever reason (doctor’s appointment, family emergencies, job interviews, athletic events, etc.). Each absence over 4 will result in the lowering of your final grade by 2 points. ANY STUDENT MISSING 10 OR MORE CLASSES FOR WHATEVER REASONS WILL AUTOMATICALLY FAILS THE COURSE

GRADING SCALE (DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURES)

A = 93 and above       C = 73-76
A- = 90-92                C-= 70-72
B+ = 87-89                 D+ = 67-69
B = 83-86                   D = 63-66
B-= 80-82                   D- = 60-62
C+ = 77-79                 F = 59 and below

WORKBOOK/HOMEWORK/IN-CLASS ASSIGNEMTS 20%

All assignments are due by the time the class starts on the day due. If you can’t make it to class for whatever reasons, make sure you leave it in my box or send it to a classmate that you can trust. All exercises will be done at the date assigned and they all will be turned in before unit quizzes. The instructor may request handing in any exercises at any other time if necessary.

All of our exercises will be at http://www.auburn.edu/forlang/russian/exercises/lesson-index.html. They will be assigned at the homework schedule webpage. Students will be responsible for printing them and indexing them with the day they were assigned on the top corner. The instructor will collect them every week.

QUIZZES 40%

Some quizzes will be announced, always at the end of a chapter, some others will be unannounced. Students should expect one annonounced quiz per week. All chapter quizzes will count double. The quizzes will include all material that has been covered previously, that means that all quizzes are cumulative. The lowest quiz grades will be dropped at the end of the semester (a chapter quiz and an unnannounce quiz).

PARTICIPATION 10%

As explained above, participation is essential to this course and consists of completion of assignments, attendance, use of Russian in class, participation in-group activities, preparation for class and effort. Students should only focus on Russian while in class. Click on the participation link to see how the grade is determined.

PROJECTS 10%

During the course of the semester, students will have to present one projects to the rest of the class, each presentation will be 5 minute long. These projects will be based on Russian culture, literature, music, art, travel. Students will be responsible for choosing their own topics, but the instructor must approve them. The used of technology, such as Powerpoint, webpages, short clips, will be an asset to all presentations.

ORAL PROFICIENCY INTERVIEW (FINAL EXAM) 20%

The final exam will be oral and students will take it in pairs. It is designed to test how well you can use what you have learned. Everything we will do in class will prepare you for this, there fore participation is crucial to preparation.

HOW TO WRITE RUSSIAN IN YOUR COMPUTER.

In order to be able to write in Russian in your computer, you will need to add Russian to your keyboard setting. You will need to install the Russian and Cyrillic patch from the original windows CD. In your computer, go to Control Panel, then Keyboard, and then Language Settings. Click on Add language and add Russian. To toggle between English and Russian in your keyboard you will have to hit Shift+Alt, and you will start writing in Russian. You may want to download Microsoft Virtual Keyboard in order to see the location of the Russian characters. This little program can be downloaded for free from http://office.microsoft.com/Downloads/2000/viskeyboard.aspx

SCHEDULE

Students must study the day’s textbook material and complete the corresponding sections of the e/workbook and lab manual BEFORE coming to class.

This is an estimate calendar for our classes. It might be subject to change if any material or reinforcement needs to be added to our classes. It will be updated regularly. Please check the link for daily Homework assignements and daily materials to cover that need to be prepared.

ACADEMIC HONESTY

Students in this course are expected to abide by the Academic Honor Code. Please read this section in the Student Handbook and Code of Student Life to see what constitutes cheating and what the consequences are. Please cut and paste the following Statement of Responsibility and bring it to class the first week of classes.

STUDENT STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY

Students should read, sign and turn this page in to the instructor no later than 17-1-2008.

I have read and I understand all policies stated in this syllabus. I understand that these policies apply to me and I agree to abide by them. I also understand that I t is my responsibility to be aware of these policies, and I will accept any consequences that result if I do not follow them.

_______________________________ __________________

Student’s signature Date