The University of Pittsburgh

Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

1. Martin, Cynthia and Andrei Zaitsev. Russian Stage Two: Welcome Back! Textbook. Washington DC: American Council of Teachers of Russian, 1993.
2. -. Russian Stage Two: Welcome Back! Workbook. 2 vol. Washington DC: American Council of Teachers of Russian, 1993.
3. Russian Stage Two: Welcome Back! Videotape. Washington DC: American Council of Teachers of Russian, 1993.
4. -. 2 audiotapes. Washington DC: American Council of Teachers of Russian, 1993.

Students are strongly urged to use the services, facilities, and programs of the Language Media Center (G-17 CL). Whether in the Language Media Center or at home, however, all students must listen to and study the information presented on the audiotape assigned for the Fall 2001 (02-1) semester (Units 1-5). The audiotape will serve as the basis for some of the written homework assignments, in-class activities, grammar drills, etc.
The videotape is central to the organization of information in the course textbook Many of the in-class examples (grammatical and narrative) will be based on the video. Relevant sections of the video will be screened in class. However, students are expected to view each assigned video section several times during the twelve in-class sessions devoted to each unit. The video should be re-viewed at different stages of the 12-day cycle.

III. Attendance:
Students are expected to attend all classes (72 plus a final) and attendance will be taken at every meeting (lecture and recitation). Students will receive a grade for each meeting of the semester for their participation in the grammar drills and exercises, as well as discussions.
Excused absences due to illness-personal or in the family-must be documented. Absent students are responsible for acquiring relevant class notes and for completing (and submitting) all of the homework for the day of their absence.
Students are permitted five unexcused absences ("mental health days") during the semester without penalty. There is a full grade penalty for each day of unexcused absence starting with the sixth missed class. Ten unexcused absences (that is, two full weeks of classes) will result in an automatic "F" for the course.

IV. Procedures and Methodology:
All instruction in the course will be conducted in Russian and students must express their questions/responses in Russian as well. Each class meeting will begin with a call for questions: the instructor will inquire whether students have encountered any problems with the homework or whether problems have arisen retrospectively with the previous lessons.
Video and/or audio clips will be used in virtually every meeting of the course (lectures and recitations). Grammatical exercises, rapid-answer drills, and narrative games will be based on these materials. Students must bring the Textbook with them to every meeting of the class
The Fall 2001 (02-1) semester will cover the first five units of Russian Stage Two: Welcome Back! Each unit will be covered over a twelve-day period. There will be a Unit Quiz at the end of each unit. Unit Quizzes will be returned at the next meeting of the class, which will be devoted to a comprehensive review of the material presented in the unit. No make-up Unit Quizzes will be given and absent students will receive an "F" on the Unit Quiz.

V. Participation:
Students are expected to participate actively in all classroom exercises, rapid-answer drills, and role-play activities. While the instructor may occasionally ask for volunteers, the pace and rhythm of the session will often necessitate a random calling out of names. All students will be presented several opportunities during each session to participate. Each student receives a daily grade for participation. The grade is determined by each student's use of correct grammar, expansiveness of the responses, and degree of creativity brought to play.

VI. Homework:
Students will be assigned homework for each meeting of the course. All homework must be submitted on the date it is due; no late homework assignments will be accepted after the Thursday meeting of the class. Each homework assignment will receive a grade and all homework assignments will be returned at the beginning of the next class.
All homework assignments must be written in cursive. Printing in not acceptable in Russian. Incorrectly or illegibly written assignments will be returned corrected but without a grade and students will be responsible for resubmitting the assignment on the following day.

VII. Quizzes:
There will be five announced quizzes in the course, one at the completion of each of the units for first semester of Intermediate Russian. Each Unit Quiz will cover all of the material in the assigned unit, as well as material introduced in class (lecture or recitation). Each of the Unit Quizzes is 10% of the final grade.
There will also be several (at least ten) short, unannounced quizzes during the semester. These quizzes will highlight specific sections of the homework students had prepared the night before or will focus on material introduced in class during the previous meeting. Together the unannounced quizzes comprise 5% of the final grade.
No absences (other than documented and medical) will be accepted on the days of the Unit Quizzes. Absent students will receive an "F" grade for the Quiz. Students absent on the day of an unannounced quiz will not be penalized in their final grade.

VIII. Final Examination:
The date of the final examination has been established by the Registrar's Office. No make-up final examinations will be offered. The final examination will be comprehensive, covering all five units and in-class information. The examination date and time is listed at the end of the Semester Plan. The final examination will be in

IX. Evaluation:
Students will be evaluated on the basis of their participation in the classroom exercises, drills, and discussions; daily homework; quizzes (announced and unannounced); and final examination. Students are encouraged to meet with the instructor during scheduled office hours (or by appointment) to discuss their work and grades in the course. Grades will be calculated using the following formula: participation (15%), homework (15%), Unit (announced) Quizzes (50%), unannounced quizzes (5%), and final examination (15%).

IX. Semester Plan:

week 1 Mon, 27 Aug: Day 0 Tues, 28: Unit 1, Day 1 Wed, 29: Unit 1, Day 2 Thurs, 30: Unit 1, Day 3 Fri, 31: Unit 1, Day 4	week 6 Mon, 1 Oct: Unit 2, Day 10 Tues, 2: Unit 2, Day 11 Wed, 3: Unit 2, Day 12 Thurs, 4: UNIT QUIZ # 2 Fri, 5: RETURN/REVIEW	week 11 Mon, 5 Nov: Unit 4, Day 7 Tues, 6: Unit 4, Day 8 Wed, 7: Unit 4, Day 9 Thurs, 8: Unit 4, Day 10 Fri, 9: Unit 4, Day 11
week 2 Mon, 3 Sept: NO CLASSES Tues, 4: Unit 1, Day 5 Wed, 5: Unit 1, Day 6 Thurs, 6: Unit 1, Day 7 Fri, 7: Unit 1, Day 8	week 7 Mon, 8 Oct: Unit 3, Day 1 Tues, 9: Unit 3, Day 2 Wed, 10: Unit 3, Day 3 Thurs, 11: Unit 3, Day 4 Fri, 12: Unit 3, Day 5	week 12 Mon, 12 Nov: Unit 4, Day 12 Tues, 13: UNIT QUIZ #4 Wed, 14: RETURN/REVIEW Thurs, 15: Unit 5, Day 1 Fri, 16: Unit 5, Day 2
week 3 Mon, 10 Sept: Unit 1, Day 9 Tues, 11: Unit 1, Day 10 Wed, 12: Unit 1, Day 11 Thurs, 13: Unit 1, Day 12 Fri, 14: UNIT QUIZ # 1	week 8 Mon, 15 Oct: Unit 3, Day 6 Tues, 16: Unit 3, Day 7 Wed, 17: Unit 3, Day 8 Thurs, 18: Unit 3, Day 9 Fri, 19: Unit 3, Day 10	week 13 Mon, 19 Nov: Unit 5, Day 3 Tues, 20: Unit 5, Day 4 Wed, 21: Unit 5, Day 5 Thurs, 22: NO CLASSES Fri, 23: NO CLASSES
week 4 Mon, 17 Sept: RETURN/REVIEW Tues, 18: Unit 2, Day 1 Wed, 19: Unit 2, Day 2 Thurs, 20: Unit 2, Day 3 Fri, 21: Unit 2, Day 4	week 9 Mon, 22 Oct: Unit 3, Day 11 Tues, 23: Unit 3, Day 12 Wed, 24: UNIT QUIZ #3 Thurs, 18: Unit 3, Day 9 Fri, 26: Unit 4, Day 1	week 14 Mon, 26 Nov: Unit 5, Day 6 Tues, 27: Unit 5, Day 7 Wed, 28: Unit 5, Day 8 Thurs, 29: Unit 5, Day 9 Fri, 30: Unit 5, Day 10
week 5 Mon, 24 Sept: Unit 2, Day 5 Tues, 25: Unit 2, Day 6 Wed, 26: Unit 2, Day 7 Thurs, 27: Unit 2, Day 8 Fri, 28: Unit 2, Day 9	week 10 Mon, 29 Oct: Unit 4, Day 2 Tues, 30: Unit 4, Day 3 Wed, 31: Unit 4, Day 4 Thurs, 1 Nov: Unit 4, Day 5 Fri, 2: Unit 4, Day 6	week 15 Mon, 1 Dec: Unit 5, Day 11 Tues, 2: Unit 5, Day 12 Wed, 3: UNIT QUIZ #5 Thurs, 4: RETURN/REVIEW Fri, 5: PRE-FINAL REVIEW