Beliefs about Language Learning

Larysa believes that, particularly for domestic students, knowing the basic structure of individual words is beneficial for second language learning.

A::nd here students, um, are explain how to make adjectives, how to put up adjectives and nouns for those people who go in for, uh, naming those people who go in for the, in for different kinds of sports. And uh, for this activity I kept asking only Americ—uh, only domestic students because it’s a very simple, I mean, for, for Russian heritage students, it’s a very simple activity because they already know, know those nouns. But for u:h, domestic students, eh, it’s um, I, I, I’ve, I think that it, it’s beneficial for them to figure out how this adjectives and nouns, um, but, uh, for them to be able to recognize a word in the text, even if they don’t know what the word means, but if they know the structure of the word, and if they’re able to figure out the root of the word, they will be able to translate that word, even if they, for example, are unfamiliar with that adjective, so that’s why.

Reflections - Do you think making students aware of the basic structure of the language fosters second language learning? How do you help your students become aware of such basic structures? How much instructional time do you devote to these sorts of activities in your teaching?

Larysa explains how in Russian different adjectives have different endings depending on whether the noun is feminine or masculine.

T: Have a look at the second example, посмотрите на второй пример футбол, заканчивается на л. In this case you need to add the soft sign and suffix n and the ending. The ending will be changed according to the gender of the noun which this adjective modifies. Футбольный футбольный болельщик., What else can be футбольный? (3) Field. Футболь. [[Have a look at the second example, soccer, it ends in l. In this case you need to add the soft sign and suffix n and the ending. The ending will be changed according to the gender of the noun which this adjective modifies. Soccer, soccer fan, what else can be soccer? Field, soccer.]]

S: ()

T: ное поле. Uh-hm, отлично. Let's make up adjectives of the kinds of sports which are given in this exercise. Пожалуйста. Ты без книжки как всегда. Баскетбол баскет – an adjective. [[soccer field, uh-hm, excellent. Let’s make up adjectives of the kinds of sports which are given in this exercise. Please. You are without the book as always. basketball, basket – an adjective]]

S: Баскетбольный [[basketball]]

T: Баскетбольный отлично. Дальше Kсюша [[basketball, excellent. go on, Ksyusha]]

S: Волейбол, Волейбольный. [[Volleyball, volleyball]]

T: Отлично.[[great]]

S: Хоккей-xоккейный. [[hockey, hockey.]]

T: Uh-hm.

S: Бейсбол, бейсбольный [[baseball, baseball]]

T: Отлично. [[great]]

Эрик? [[Eric?]]

S: ( )

T: Отлично. Ребекка. Oh, ok ok these are the nouns which go together with. Make up ummm, word combinations. Соревнование. You know that you have the translation in exercise 12.2. . [[Excellent, Rebecca. Oh, ok ok these are the nouns which go together with. Make up ummm, word combinations. Competition. You know that you have the translation to the exercise 12.2.]]

S: umm

T: соревнование it's neuter. [[competition it’s neuter]]

S: umm

T: баскет. Баскетбол [[basket, basketball]]

S: бильярд [[billiard]]

T: бильярд adjective you need the adjective. Eric made up the adjective. [[billiard adjective you need the adjective. Eric made up the adjective.]]

S: Бильярд [[billiard.]]

T: ное. No idea? No idea? It's neuter. Uh-huh Бильярдное [[billiard. No idea? No idea? It’s neuter. Uh-huh, billiard]]

S: соревнование. [[competition]]

T: соревнование. отлично. Турнир, пожалуйста make up a word combination. Энди, пожалуйста быстрее. [[competition, great. Tournament, please make up a word combination. Andy, please be quick.]]

S: Футбольный турнир.[[Soccer tournament.]]

T: Что? [[What?]]

S: Футбольный турнир [[Soccer tournament.]]

T: Xорошо, Сэм. Матч. Make up a word combination. Adjective and Матч [[Ok, Sam. Match. Make up a word combination. Adjective and match]]

S: Футбольный матч. [[soccer match.]]

T: Отлично, Лариса. [[Excellent, Larisa]]

S: Бильярдый бильярдый umm турнир. [[billiard, billiard tournament.]]

T: Бильярдый турнир. Женечка? [[Billiard tournament. Zhenechka?]]

S: Um, um, Баскетбольная игра. [[Umm, um, basketball game.]]

T: Баскетбольная что? [[Basketball what?]]

S: Игра. [[Game]]

T: Игра? Игра ты сказала? [[basketball what? Game? You said game?]]

Да. [[Yes.]]

T: Игра, ok. Дальше [[Game, ok. Next]]

S: Хоккейный матч. [[Hockey game]]

T: Отлично [[Excellent]]

Reflections - Watch how Larysa engages in the activity. How successful do you feel it is in getting students to recognize how to form adjectives?

Larysa believes students need to memorize particular features of the language in order to be successful second language learners.

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Reflections - Do you believe it is important for students, both heritage language and domestic, to memorize particular features of the language? If so, how do your encourage your students to do this in your teaching? Like Larysa, do you find that your domestic students do more memorization than your heritage language students.

Larysa summarizes the rules for how to decline nouns in Russian and then answers questions from the students.

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Reflections - Notice how Larysa uses an example of how to decline the name Dostoevskiy. Do you believe using these sorts of examples help students understand some of the more complex grammatical rules of the language you teach? If so, how do you do this in your teaching? If not, how else might you help students understand some of the more complex grammatical rules of the language you teach?

Larysa notes that one difficulty for all students learning Russian is that the pronunciation often does not match the written form, and thus both domestic and heritage language students must memorize many grammatical rules.

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Reflections - What distinctions does Larysa draw between domestic and heritage language learners? Do you feel that similar distinctions exist between domestic and heritage learners in your classroom? If yes, how do you deal with the differences?

Larysa is asking the students to practice declining names in Russian.

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Reflections - Do you feel this is a successful instructional activity for teaching this particular grammatical feature? Can you think of alternative ways of helping students practice using particular grammatical features of the language you teach?

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