•  
  •  
 

Russian Language Journal

Keywords

Narrative, media literacy, proficiency, listening, ACTFL Guidelines, World-Readiness Standards

Abstract

Teaching information and media literacy has become more important than ever before. This article will describe how students of Russian at the Intermediate High through Advanced levels acquire information and media literacy through narratives in a course focused on development of listening and speaking skills through the Advanced proficiency spectrum. The course, designed for undergraduate students from a variety of majors in a Russian Flagship program and for graduate students from various disciplines, enables students to develop listening comprehension and speaking skills at the Advanced level through narratives. In addition, the course teaches students how to analyze and formulate arguments, which helps bring students toward the Superior level of proficiency. The course focuses on units in contemporary Russian history (from the late Brezhnev era to the present), domestic politics, foreign policy, economics, healthcare, and culture. Students work primarily with authentic materials, with some semi-authentic materials from a 3-volume media textbook series used in order to develop vocabulary at the beginning of thematic units. In order to enable students to develop Advanced-level speaking and listening skills, the course focuses on narratives told by and about figures in contemporary Russian history, politics, and media through a cross-section of genres, from documentary film to interviews, debates, news broadcasts, and speeches or lectures. Students acquire knowledge to construct narratives about key figures in contemporary Russian history and media, including political leaders (Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Putin, Zelensky), opposition figures (Nemtsov, Navalny, Khakamda, Khodorkovsky, and others), media figures (such as Pozner, Parfyonov, Dud’, Sindeeva), and documentary film directors (Goldovskaya, Kara-Murza, Mansky). The principle of spiraling underlies the course structure, as students gather and synthesize knowledge about figures and events in history, politics, and foreign policy by seeing the same figure in different genres and by seeking out answers to various questions on historical events, politics, economics, and societal issues through various media.

Download

Share

COinS