A short outline is provided of former Soviet language policy and how linguistic structures of the Russian language should be imposed on other languages of the empire. The development is illustrated by tendencies in the structure of present-day Estonian. (five references) (JL)

Two articles originally published in the 1970s are reprinted. The first argues that the American writer no longer knows what is expected of him and has difficulty engaging in conversation with the reader. The second examines the work and teaching of Joseph Brodsky, a Russian poet, while in the United States. (MSE)

Calls for new textbooks to teach Russian literature. Complains of inappropriate wording for young people, officious and boring content, and a lack of humanistic themes in existing textbooks. Suggests that a text be compiled from among the best literary and critical articles to develop in students a love and understanding of literature. (DK)

Compares young and older adults' production of complex syntactic structures in Russian. Finds that content and fluency in Russian were associated with Russian vocabulary knowledge and influenced by educational level and knowledge of English and other languages and that working-memory limitations affect the use of clause and word order variations…

Discusses the influence of interference of English on heritage Russian speakers who are trying to refine their Russian language skills. Urges sensitivity to linguistic differences in the classroom. (Author/VWL)

Analyzed the argument linking of the commercial transaction frame in English, Russian, and Japanese. The commercial transaction frame is semantically complex, because there are two transfers in opposite directions (money goes from buyer to seller and goods from seller to buyer). English and Russian construe the commercial frame in essentially the…

Explores the effects of the relationship between exposure to two languages in childhood and metalinguistic abilities. Arabic-speaking children who had been exposed to both spoken and literary Arabic were compared to Russian-Hebrew bilinguals and Hebrew monolinguals. Subjects were kindergarten students; they were tested on language arbitrariness,…

Discusses Latvia's decision to make Latvian the sole official language of Latvia in the post-Soviet era. Argues that the Latvians found themselves in the position of a majority whose language had been minoritized by the Soviet form of colonization. (Author/VWL)

Honors Dan Davidson, winner of the ADFL Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession, by discussing his contributions over the past three decades in shaping the course of Russian language learning, Russian studies, and international education in the United States. Davidson has shown exemplary leadership and vision and has given new meaning to…

This article introduces a new analytical approach to the study of identity options offered in foreign and second language textbooks. This approach, grounded in poststructuralist theory and critical discourse analysis, is applied to 2 popular beginning Russian textbooks. Two sets of identity options are examined in the study: imagined learners…

This resource book provides 50 learning activities with background materials for teaching about tsarist Russia and the emergence of the Soviet Union. Use of literature, history, geography, primary sources, various learning strategies are all included. The lessons provide study of 19th and 20th century events to Mikhail Gorbachev and perestroika.…

This paper defines the regularities which obtain in the orthographic representation of Russian morphemes and comments on their pedagogical value. (CHK)

An intensive Russian language program emphasized listening comprehension before developing reading and speaking skills. Task performance verified comprehension in early stages. Program results included minimizing task overloading, increased student motivation. (CHK)

The fact that impersonal verbs in Russian do not form active participles or gerunds is discussed and explained. (RM)

Critizes pure audiolingual methodology in the teaching of Russian, offering alternatives of a more traditional nature. It is felt, in particular, that there is a place for limited use of the students' native language for explanatory purposes and linguistic analysis. (Text is in Russian.) (DH)