Teaching Russian Cultural Competence and Listening Comprehension through Video Interviews

Driven by the goal of helping students at all levels appreciate the complex, multiple perspectives that exist among speakers of Russian, and to supplement existing video materials for Russian instruction, I spent the summer of 2015 videotaping interviews of native Russian speakers responding to various questions about their lives and values. These interviews allow students access to a wider range of Russian voices and perspectives that any one teacher can provide, while targeting the development of cultural competence and listening comprehension. In my presentation I will describe these interviews and outline some video-centered lessons I piloted this semester in the intermediate/advanced level, and discuss plans for the use of these videos in a heritage Russian class.

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