The Learning and Teaching of Slavic Languages and Cultures.
Edited by Olga Kagan and Benjamin Rifkin
704 p., 2000 (ISBN: 0-89357-292-6), harcover, $39.95

This major collection of essays surveys recent methodological developments in the art and science of teaching Slavic languages and cultures. The volume includes 37 contributions spanning the full range of Slavic and reflecting the rich diversity of approaches in this field. The volume has three principal goals: 1) to illuminate for all Slavists the state of the art for foreign languages in general in the keynote papers: 2) to showcase current research in the Slavic field in the refereed papers; and 3) to raise important questions for consideration for the years to come in the response papers.

The eight papers from section 8 of the volume are also posted to this web site as full-text resources for teachers of Slavic languages. Follow the links in the table of contents below. It is hoped that authors will update them occasionally as new materials are published and existing materials are updated and revised.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments (v)

Introduction (1)

1. The Proficiency Movement and Beyond

Judith E. Liskin-Gasparro
The Proficiency Movement: Current Trends and a View to the Future (9)

Richard Robin
Foreign Language across the Curriculum and the Proficiency Paradox (29)

2. Culture in the Language Classroom

Peter C. Patrikis
Site Under Construction: The Web of Language, Culture, and Literacy (45)

Thomas Garza
Getting from Gorbachev to Grunge: Constructing Ethnographic Portraits to Introduce Contemporary Russian Culture (61)

Sandra Rosengrant
Teaching Literature at the Intermediate Level of Proficiency: An Interactive Approach (81)

Patricia R. Chaput
Shifting Culture Instruction from Custom to Context (91)

3. Affective and Cognitive Issues

Madeline Ehrman
Effect, Cognition, And Learner Self-Regulation in Second Language Learning (109)

Lee B. Croft
Mnemonotactics and Linguistic Iconicity (135)

Artemi Romanov
Student Motivation For Studying Russian: Survey and Analysis (145)

Matthew Tittle
Foreign Language StudentsÕ Irrational Beliefs, Language Anxiety, and Classroom Achievement (167)

Kira Gor
Experimental Research of Vowel Reduction in Russian: Influence of Orthography on Pronunciation (193)

Betty Lou Leaver
Cognitive and Affective Issues on the Learning and Teaching of Slavic Languages: A Response (215)

4. Assessment

Carol A. Klee
Testing in the Foreign Language Classroom (229)

Zena Moore and Nathan Bond
The Use of the Portfolio in a Middle School Russian Classroom: A Case Study in Attracting and Retaining Students (237)

Irene Thompson
Assessing Foreign Language Skills: Data From Russian (255)

Thomas R. Beyer, Jr.
From Testing to Assessment, From Teaching to Learning (285)

5. Technology

Mary Ann Lyman-Hager

Technology-Enhanced Foreign Language Learning for the Millennium (295)

William J. Comer and Leann Keefe
How do Dzhon and Dzhejn Read Russian? On-Line Vocabulary and its Place in the Reading Process (311)

David S. Danaher and Christopher R. Ott
A Pedagogical Approach to the Design and Use of Multimedia Material in Russian Instruction (327)

Petr A. B’lek, Masako Fidler, and David Kanig
Toward an Integrated Approach to Czech Language, Literature, and Culture on the Web (341)

George Mitrevski
The Future of Language Learning in the Digital Age (363)

6. Heritage Learners

Guadalupe Valdˇs
The Teaching of Heritage Languages: An Introduction for Slavic-Teaching Professionals (375)

Neil Bermel and Olga Kagan
The Maintenance of Written Russian in Heritage Speakers (405)

Maria Polinsky
A Composite Linguistic Profile of a Speaker of Russian in the U.S. (437)

Olga T. Yokoyama
Teaching Heritage Speakers in the College Russian Language Classroom (467)

7. Teacher Training and Education

Heidi Byrnes
Educating Teachers of Slavic Languages: Into the Looking Glass Brightly (477)

Mark R. Lauersdorf
Training Teachers of Slavic LCTLs: Student Profiles and Program Design (497)

Benjamin Rifkin
A Model for Teacher Training and Education for the Slavic Languages (519)

William J. Comer
Making Our Way toward Teacher Education Programs in the Slavic Languages (539)

8. Textbooks, References and Resources

Susan C. Kresin
Resources and References for the Teaching of Czech (549)

Leonard A. Polakiewicz
Polish Language Textbooks and Readers Currently Used in the United States (563)

Timothy G. Riley
Resources for Teaching Polish (589)

Margaret H. Beissinger
Teaching South Slavic Languages: A Survey of Textbooks and Reference Works (609)

Robert A. De Lossa
Collegiate Ukrainian Language Teaching and Material Development in the United States in the Late 1990s (627)

Benjamin Rifkin
Materials for Teaching Russian (655)

Karen E. Robblee
Resources for Teachers of Russian (681)

Olga Dedova
Textbooks and Other Materials for Russian as a Foreign Language Published in Russia (695)

About the Contributors (701)