CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS
The ACTR Board of Directors is pleased to announce our 50th Anniversary Virtual Conference on the study and teaching of Russian language and culture:
Teaching and Learning Russian as a Second and Heritage Language
in a Diverse and Changing World
April 25–26, 2025 (Virtual)
Proposals are due: December 15, 2024
This milestone conference event will take place April 25-26, 2025, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR). We will reflect on significant achievements in the field of teaching Russian language and culture while exploring innovative approaches to meet the challenges of the future. All sessions will be recorded and posted on the ACTR Youtube channel.
ACTR welcomes submissions from both early-career and established scholars, teachers and researchers from all countries and regions where Russian is taught as a second, third, or heritage language. We especially encourage submissions from colleagues from under-represented groups and/or who teach at institutions serving minority, inner-city, or rural populations.
Conference languages: English, Russian
Keynote Speakers:
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Judith Kroll (University of California, Irvine)
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Eleonora Suleimenova (KazNU, Almaty)
Types of Submissions:
Individual Papers: 20-minute presentations, followed by Q&A. Submissions should include a title and a 350-word abstract outlining the paper’s objective, methodology, and key findings.
Organized Panels: 90 minutes, with three papers (20 minutes each) addressing a shared topic, followed by a 30 minute discussion. Proposals must include a panel title, individual abstracts, and information about the chair.
Roundtables: 90 minutes, featuring five 10-15 minute presentations on a single topic, encouraging participant interaction. Provide a summary of the session’s focus and short descriptions for each presentation.
5-Minute Share-Outs: A series of 5 brief, practical teaching demonstrations, each lasting five minutes, followed by discussion. These sessions are ideal for sharing strategies, tools, or activities. Provide a title and a 100–150 word description of your teaching demonstration, tool, or activity. Focus on practical, actionable strategies relevant to Russian language education that participants can implement immediately.
Conference Areas:
Applicants should indicate which of the following 6 general areas (направления) they wish to have their submissions considered:
I. Teaching Russian at Pre-K, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and Adult Levels
● Integrating language and culture in the language classroom
● Transformative language teaching and learning
● Incorporating the principles of Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Inclusion, and Belonging in Russian language teaching
● Differentiation in Russian language classrooms
● Content-based courses and language-across-curriculum courses
● Teaching media literacy
II. Acquiring Russian as a Second or Heritage Language
● Understanding the potential of language and cultural immersion: Dual Language Immersion, Domestic Intensive Immersion, Overseas Immersion (Early, Mid-Level, Advanced-Level).
● Supporting heritage learners throughout their learning careers
● Developing socio-pragmatic skills at all levels
● Assuring that learners’ structural control of the language meets their communicative needs: grammar in context
● Linking proficiency gains and intercultural development
III. Assessing Student Progress in Learning Russian
● Traditional and alternative forms of assessment / grading in a Russian language classroom
● Implicit and explicit forms of corrective feedback for learners of different ages and levels of proficiency.
● School-to-College articulation for advanced placement or credit by exam
● Maximizing the value of standardized testing for student learning and program support: TORFL, OPI, TRKI, CERF, ACTFL, Flagship, DLPT5.
IV. Technology and the Study of Russian
● Instructional technology for Russian language teaching and learning
● Artificial Intelligence in the Russian language classroom
● Online and hybrid Russian language teaching
● Maximizing target-language use outside the classroom: the student as digital consumer
V. The Study of Russian in a Changing World
● The changing norms of modern Russian
● Russian as a lingua franca
● The functioning of Russian in bi-lingual/ multi-lingual societies
● Trends in the study and teaching of Russian in different countries and world regions
VI. Strengthening Russian Language Education: Advocacy, Partnerships, Policy and Research
● Professional development and training for teachers
● Advocating for Russian language programs
● Recruiting underserved learners to Russian learning
● Program development and assessment
● Bridging secondary and post-secondary Russian language education
● Russian language program partnerships
Submission Guidelines:
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Abstracts of presentations not exceeding 350 words should be submitted on the ACTR Anniversary Conference web page here by December 15, 2024. We encourage proposals that reflect on past experiences, present innovative ideas, and propose future directions for the teaching and learning of Russian language and culture.
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Proposal Format: Clearly indicate the presentation type (Individual Paper, Organized Panel, Roundtable, or Share-Out) and align your submission with one or more conference themes.
- Indicate the language (English, Russian) of your presentation.
- Following a peer double blind review process, authors will receive notification of acceptance by January 31, 2025.
There is no registration fee for this conference. We invite proposals from both members and non-members of the ACTR. Sessions will be recorded and shared on the ACTR YouTube channel.
We look forward to your participation in this special event as we celebrate the rich history and dynamic future of Russian language education.
