RUSSIAN LANGUAGE 3

The course Russian language 3 (LT009X) is addressed to the students enrolled in the literary-cultural and linguistic-philological-glottodidactic and international politics curricula. The course consists of a semestral whole class teaching, reinforced by yearly language classes of technical-pratical character, which aim at supporting students’ language learning.

Students are expected to develop their metalinguistic skills and achieve an overall linguistic background, both written and oral, that could be compared to the B2 level (according to the CEFR parameters). The expected goals will be verified through an exam composed of multiple parts (aimed at testing both written and oral skills).

The teaching programme aims at providing students with a theoretical and applied understanding of contemporary Russian syntactic structures. At the end of the course, students are expected to properly analyze a clause, differentiate various kinds of simple and complex sentences, grasp the main ideas underlying texts about concrete and abstract topics, understand technical debates pertaining to their own sectoral field. They are also expected to carry on a conversation in Russian with such fluency that they be able to get spontaneously in contact with native speakers in everyday life contexts reflecting the B2 level set up by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Thanks to their high developed skills, students will be able to recognize and describe the syntactic structures of Russian language, interact with native speakers in various communicative situations, understand and create texts and oral messages at the B2 level, react adequately whatever the communicative situation and the linguistic register, understand the main points of a broadcast and/or an audiovisual record in standard Russian.

Students are supposed to make solid judgments about the well-formedness of a linguistic utterance, trace and find all the bibliographical sources requested by the tenured professor, use with ease both a medium-sized bilingual and an explanatory monolingual dictionary. They are also supposed to adopt adequate communicative strategies, testifying their ability to argue a stance (at the B2 level), as well as implement translational choices over complex texts.

Students are expected to explain the differences in Italian and Russian syntactic structures, adopting the linguistic nomenclature in describing morphosyntactic phenomena. They are also expected to express themselves in in/formal communicative situations (at the B2 level), while showing a knack for mediating through their Italian-Russian translations.

Students will learn to read and translate, with the only help of a dictionary, texts of medium difficulty pertaining to their own sectoral field.

Knowledge of the Russian language at the B1 level (according to the CEFR parameters).

During the whole class teaching the following grammar topics will be addressed: introduction to Russian syntax (simple and complex sentences); impersonal sentences; the formation of participial and gerundive forms; long and short forms of the adjectives; negative pronouns and adverbs.

During the language class hours the following conversational topics will be addressed:
First semester: 1. Russia; basic notions of geography, the climate, natural resources, the population and their languages, the state (the president, the parliament, the government); the republics of Russian Federation, its most important regions and cities; 2. Moscow and St. Petersburg: the history of the country as reflected in the history of the capital and of the former capital of Russia; historical notes, their position, the administration, the main monuments; 3. the Russian universities and Russian national higher education system.
Second semester: health (the body, diseases, their cures, prevention); the Russian national health system; the man and nature, ecology and the environment; the man and society; the social networks.

Moreover, part of the language classes will be devoted to the strenghtening of some grammatical notions and to the development of communicative skills.
During the language class hours some other aspects of Italian-Russian translation will be addressed, such as: the use of dictionaries, linguistic and extralinguistic factors, how to translate motion and temporal expressions, some particular pronominal phrases in simple and complex sentences, in passive constructions and impersonal sentences.

Grammar exercises:
C. Cevese, Ju. Dobrovolskaja, E. Magnanini, Grammatica russa. Morfologia: teoria ed esercizi, Milano, Hoepli, 2000.
C. Cevese, Ju. Dobrovolskaja, Sintassi russa. Teoria ed esercizi, Milano, Hoepli, 2005.
N. Nikitina, Corso di russo. Livelli B1-B2 del Quadro Comune Europeo di Riferimento per le Lingue, Hoepli, Milano 2016.
N. Nikitina, Eserciziario di russo con soluzioni. Livelli B1-B2 del Quadro Comune Europeo di Riferimento per le Lingue, Hoepli, Milano 2016.
N. Nikitina, Esercizi di lingua russa. Morfologia: livello avanzato (con soluzioni), Hoepli, 2013.
И. Некрашевич, Н. Фридлянд, Н. Любич, I Love Russian. Coursebook. B1.1, Liden & Denz Gmbh, 2019. ISBN – 9783907154021

Dictionaries:
V. Kovalev, il Kovalev. Dizionario Russo-Italiano / Italiano-Russo. Quarta edizione, Zanichelli, Bologna 2014 (o altra edizione).
J. Dobrovolskaja, Grande dizionario Russo-Italiano / Italiano Russo, Hoepli, Milano 2001 (o altra edizione).
S.I. Ožegov, Tolkovyj slovar’ russkogo jazyka, Moskva, 1997 (o altra edizione).

Linguistics textbooks:
G. Graffi, S. Scalise, Le lingue e il linguaggio. Introduzione alla linguistica, Bologna, il Mulino, 2002 (o altra edizione).

Assessment of learning outcomes is carried out through an exam structured in two parts (1 and 2), one written and the other oral, each of which is in turn divided into several components. Under no circumstances are grammars, textbooks, notes, mobile phones, internet, or electronic devices permitted. During the exam, the use of bilingual dictionaries is allowed.

The written part (1), which aims to assess grammatical knowledge, operational skills in translation, and competencies in linguistic mediation, is divided into:
1.1: lexical-grammar test (duration: 1 hour, with a bilingual dictionary)
1.2: translation from Italian into Russian of a series of simple and complex sentences (coordinate and subordinate), corresponding to the types covered during the year (duration: 1 hour 30 minutes, with a bilingual dictionary)
1.3: translation from Russian into Italian of a text concerning topics related to the student’s curriculum (duration: 1 hour 30 minutes, with a bilingual dictionary)

The oral part (2), with an approximate duration of 30 minutes, is divided into:
2.1: a brief presentation and conversation in Russian on topics such as geography, ecology, political systems, history, culture, society, and current affairs, based on readings covered במהלך the year; students must demonstrate their ability to employ appropriate communicative strategies and interact effectively
2.2: reading aloud (without stress marks), translation from Russian into Italian, and an in-depth linguistic commentary on the 50 pages assigned at the beginning of the year (one page equals 2,000 characters including spaces). In commenting on the text read and translated, students must demonstrate their ability to describe morphological and syntactic phenomena of the Russian language, applying appropriate linguistic terminology

Students must present themselves at the exam session with a valid ID and university card. The written tests take place consecutively on the same day, with a short break between them. During the written exam, leaving and re-entering the classroom is not permitted; students are required to behave with the utmost fairness and to respect the principle of authenticity of their work. Students who wish to withdraw after the exam has begun may do so during the break or at the end of the second test by submitting their work and answer sheets to the instructor, including a signed statement of withdrawal with their name, surname, and student ID number.

Passing parts 1.1–1.3 is a prerequisite for admission to the oral exam, which must be taken in full during the same exam session as the written tests.

A necessary condition for passing the Russian Language 3 exam is a minimum score of 15 in each component, both written and oral. The final grade will correspond to the average of the marks obtained in the written and oral parts of the exam.

written and oral

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

Part 1.1, which consists of a lexical-grammatical test, accounts for one-third of the written exam grade; the percentage of correct answers out of a total of 30 questions is evaluated.
Part 1.2, which involves translating sentences from Italian into Russian, accounts for one-third of the written exam grade; the accuracy of the translation of 15 sentences into Russian is assessed, with a maximum of 2 points awarded for each sentence.
Part 1.3, which consists of translating a short text from Russian into Italian, accounts for one-third of the written exam grade; the accuracy of the translation is evaluated, with a penalty of 0.5 to 1 point for each error in conveying the content of the original text.

Part 2.1 accounts for 50% of the oral exam grade; it assesses the ability to express oneself in Russian using linguistic tools appropriate for the B1 level to present basic knowledge of the topics covered during the exercises.
Part 2.2 accounts for 50% of the oral exam grade; it assesses the ability to read and translate adapted texts in Russian, prepared independently, as well as the ability to express oneself in Russian using linguistic tools appropriate for the B1 level to present basic knowledge of the topics covered in the module lessons.

The grading scale for the oral exams will be determined based on the following criteria:
- Clarity and confidence in oral presentation (up to 5 points)
- Mastery of linguistic terminology (up to 5 points)
- Ability to read and translate independently (up to 5 points)

The maximum achievable score is 30/30. Honors ("lode") may be awarded in the case of excellent performance in all the evaluated areas.

Lectures (semestral whole class teaching) and seminars (yearly language classes of technical-pratical character).

The theoretical module will be held during the second semester. Language classes begin at the beginning of the academic year. Students who will not attend lectures and seminars need to contact the professor at the beginning of the course.