Approaches to working with heritage learners: learning outcomes and ways to achieve them

When
02 Mar 2017
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Location
Online

Registration

members of ACTR
non-members of ACTR – $15.00

Registration is closed

In this webinar (conducted in Russian), participants will learn about two somewhat different approaches that are being used at Columbia and Brandeis Universities in teaching heritage Russian language classes. Presenters will share their experiences, including establishing learning outcomes, designing curriculum, and creating teaching and learning materials that specifically target lexical and grammatical lacunae of heritage learners.

Alla A. Smyslova is a Senior Lecturer of Russian, Director of the Russian Language Program at the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Columbia University. She has received her M.A. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Indiana University, Bloomington, and Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition from Bryn Mawr College, PA. Her research and teaching are focused on foreign and heritage language acquisition by adult learners, skill development and effects of instructional intervention. She regularly presents at National and International conferences and conventions as well as at university workshops. She co-authored with William Comer and Lynne deBenedette Introductory Text for First-Year Russian: Web-Based, Input Driven. Dr. Smyslova serves on the Board of Directors for American Council of Teachers of Russian.

Irina Dubinina is an assistant professor of Russian and the Director of the Russian language program at Brandeis University. She has 19 years of experience teaching Russian as a second language, including 10 years of teaching specialized courses for heritage learners. Her research focuses on pragmatic competence of Russian heritage speakers. Dr. Dubinina has participated in the 2nd revision of “Live from Russia” and is currently working on a textbook for heritage learners with a co-author Olesya Kisselev, and on a collection of articles on teaching Russian with co-authors Evgeny Dengub and Jason Merrill. Dr. Dubinina also serves on the Board of Directros for American Council of Teachers of Russian.