Instructor: Dr. Erin Collopy
FL Bldg. 217; 742-3286
Office hours: MW 9:00-9:50, Th 2:00-3:00, and by appointment
erin.collopy@ttu.edu (this is the best way to contact me)
Course Description
Catalog description: Introduction and development of the four language skills:
listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing.
Material to be covered: Chapters 1-7 in Troika: A Communicative Approach to Russian Language, Life, and Culture, textbook and lab manual/workbook.
Course goals: To achieve basic competence in the Russian language, which will allow the student to continue into second-semester Russian (RUSN 1502).
Class meeting times and location
RUSN 1501-001 MTWRF 10:00-11:50 Foreign Language Building, Room 103
RUSN 1501-002 MTWRF 11:00-11:50 Foreign Language Building, Room 103
RUSN 1501-003 MTWRF 1:00-1:50 Foreign Language Building, Room 103
Texts
Required texts: Troika: A Communicative Approach to Russian Language,
Life, and Culture, textbook and lab manual/workbook. Tapes will be made
available in the Language Learning Laboratory, located in the basement of
the Foreign Language building. A companion website, created by the book’s
author, is available at http://mllc.utsa.edu/troika/. Audio exercises can
be accessed at the website.
Recommended texts and materials: English Grammar for Students of
Russian; The Russian’s World: Life and Language; Audio cassettes to
accompany Troika.
Grading
Grading philosophy: It is my hope that each student masters the material
presented in this class. Every opportunity will be available for a motivated
student to excel. A student’s grade is dependent on his or her own performance.
I will return students’ work as discreetly as possible so that their
grades will not be visible to others.
Grading policy: A student must achieve an overall grade of 60% and
take the final to pass the course. Grading criteria for specific required
assignments are discussed below.
The course grade will be determined as follows:
Homework: 20%
Daily Quizzes: 20%
Chapter Tests: 40%
Final 20%
Monday, December 13, 1:30 – 4:00 p.m. Location TBA
Course Requirements
In this class the students will be evaluated on their ability to read, write, speak, and understand Russian. To develop the latter two skills regular speaking and listening practice is vitally important. For this reason regular attendance is an absolute necessity. If you are ill, or if you have a serious emergency, you must contact the instructor BEFORE class. You may be required to provide evidence to justify an absence. Makeup daily quizzes are never given, but will be excused in the case of a justifiable absence. Makeup chapter tests are given at the instructor’s discretion.
In-class daily grade: A quiz on the material covered in the previous
class MAY be given daily. Whether a quiz will be given on any day is up to
the discretion of the instructor, who will decide if there is enough time
to have the quiz in addition to covering the required daily material.
Grading Criteria: Daily quizzes are by necessity short. Most students, if
prepared, receive an A or B. If the quiz is a dialogue performance, the lowest
grade possible is a B. The lowest grade that a student can receive on a written
daily quiz is a D, even if a student turns in a quiz with only his/her name
on it. This is to encourage daily attendance. Ten percent of the quizzes will
be dropped before the final quiz grade is determined.
Homework/workbook assignments: Homework will be assigned daily and
it must be turned in to the instructor in a timely manner. LATE HOMEWORK WILL
NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Grading Criteria: Homework is only corrected, not graded. If an assignment
is not complete, or if the instructor feels that the student has not understood
the material adequately, the instructor will return the assignment to the
student to complete or rewrite. Otherwise the student receives full credit
for completed homework. Students must complete 90% of the assigned homework
in order to receive the full possible points for the final homework grade.
Oral evaluations: Students will be evaluated on their oral performance
in three ways: 1) A dialogue performance during class time, which counts as
a daily quiz. 2) As part of each chapter quiz. For chapter quizzes the students
will be required to sign up for a five-ten minute meeting with the instructor
outside of class time. 3) As part of the final exam. This will be conducted
during the written portion of the final exam.
Grading Criteria: Communication is the most important component of oral performance,
so in that sense simply speaking is the best way to receive a good grade for
an oral exam. However, if grammatical mistakes or problems with pronunciation
and intonation interfere with comprehension, or if the student’s own
comprehension is weak (doesn’t understand questions or comments), that
will adversely affect her or his grade. The students will have the necessary
material available in plenty of time to prepare for oral exams. The instructor
is well aware of the anxiety that some students feel during oral exams, and
tries to provide as comfortable environment as possible.
Chapter Tests: There will be a written and oral exam given for every
chapter completed. The material in the exam will be based on the homework
assignments.
Grading Criteria: The chapter quizzes are graded on a hundred-point scale.
The oral component counts for twenty-percent of the grade, and the written
eighty-percent. Grammar mistakes will be counted as a full point and spelling
and letter formation mistakes will be a half-point.
Final Exam: The written portion of the final exam will be based
on the materials presented in the chapter quizzes. The oral component will
consist of an interview between the student and an instructor. Traditionally
the interviewer is not the student’s own instructor.
Grading Criteria: The grading criteria are essentially the same as that for
the chapter quizzes except that the oral component counts for 25% of the total
final exam grade.
Special exam procedures: Students will leave the examining room to meet with
the interviewer in another room. The oral interview lasts approximately eight
minutes.
Preparation for class
The Bulletin of Texas Tech states that students are expected to spend
approximately two hours in preparation for each hour of lecture.
Civility in the Classroom
“Students are expected to assist in maintaining a classroom environment
that is conducive to learning. In order to assure that all students have the
opportunity to gain from time spent in class, unless otherwise approved by
the instructor, students are prohibited from engaging in any other form of
distraction. Inappropriate behaviour in the classroom shall result, minimally,
in a request to leave class.”
Examples of inappropriate behavior include cellular phones and beepers, hostile or excessively aggressive behavior towards other students or the instructor, excessive tardiness, leaving class early, making offensive remarks, prolonged chattering, reading newspapers during class, sleeping, talking out of turn, arriving late to class, dominating discussions, overt inattentiveness, etc. (Some of these, such as tardiness or leaving early may be unavoidable because of long distances between classes or to work, etc. If you have such a scheduling problem, please meet with the instructor to discuss how to deal with it in a nondisruptive manner.)
Students with disabilities
The university is committed to the principle that in no aspect of its programs
shall there be differences in the treatment of persons because of race, creed,
national origin, age, sex, or disability, and that equal opportunity and access
to facilities shall be available to all. … Any student who because of
a disability may require special arrangements in order to meet course requirement
should contact the instructor as soon as possible to make any necessary accommodations.
Students should present appropriate verification from AccessTECH in the Student
Counselling Center in West Hall. No requirement exists that accommodations
be made prior to completion of this approved university procedure. (From the
Texas Tech Faculty Handbook)
Disability status is confidential and should be discussed in private with the instructor once you have done the appropriate AccessTECH verification procedures. Rather than come up to me after class and announce that you need to discuss disability access with me, instead please come up and ask to meet with me in private. That way we can ensure your disability privacy is not compromised.
TTU Attendance Statements
Observance of a Religious Holy Day: Texas House Bill 256 requires institutions
of higher education to excuse a student from attending classes or other required
activities, including examinations, for the observance of a religious holy
day. The student shall also be excused for time necessary to travel. An institution
may not penalize the student for the absence and allows for the student to
take an exam or complete an assignment from which the student is excused.
No prior notification of the instructor is required.
Absence due to officially approved trips. The Texas Tech Catalog states that
the person responsible for a student missing class due to a trip should notify
the instructors of the departure and return schedule in advance of the trip.
The student may not be penalized and is responsible for the material missed.