Note for Instructors

In this note we would like make a few comments about when and how this textbook can be used, and to give an outline of the modules together with explanations of their Russian titles, which are intended as mnemonic reminders of what the topics of the modules are, so that instructors will know when seeing the titles.

The exercises in Russian Aspect in Conversation are all automatically checked and the textbook lends itself to independent use. However, students will undoubtedly benefit from a native-speaker instructor willing to answer questions that come up and create active exercises beyond the aspectual-choice exercises contained here. At the same time, the ideas about Russian aspect underlying this textbook and its pragmatic focus differs from the mainstream RFL approach, and instructors may find its content unfamiliar. It may take a little time for an instructor to get used to the explanations presented here.

Apart from aspectual usage, the grammatical complexity of Russian Aspect in Conversation is fairly low, as the Russian-language material consists almost exclusively of language characteristic of simple verbal exchanges. The vocabulary varies, and the dialogues in modules where the speaker-listener dynamic is more complex to provide the necessary conversational context. Difficult vocabulary items are provided with definitions that can be accessed by clicking on them, except in exercise dialogues where they are glossed under the dialogues. Students should be ready to encounter plenty of vocative forms of address such as Саш, Тань and бабуль (from Саша, Таня and бабуля respectively).

We should point out that due to the varying nature of the issues involved with the content of individual parts and modules, beyond the general procession from more passive exercises to the aspect-choice exercises, the structure of individual modules is not identical; they can vary in the number of exercises and how they proceed to the final aspect-choice exercise.

Lest there be any confusion, Russian Aspect in Conversation is not intended as a standalone Russian textbook for a four-skills curriculum. We believe that it can serve as a useful complement to RFL materials with more communicative bandwidth at the upper-intermediate and advanced levels. Beyond parts 1 and 2, which should be covered before proceeding to the core parts 3, 4 and 5, we hope that the individual core parts can be used independently of one another, and we even consider it possible that individual modules can be used independently.

As regards the time needed to go through the entire textbook on top of other course materials, covering all of Russian Aspect in Conversation in a single semester is probably not realistic. Spreading it out over two semesters, for example over the 4th and 5th semesters, seems like a more doable plan (the 4th semester is the earliest time students could engage with it productively). In this regard, we feel compelled to remind potential instructors that it does contain fairly in-depth commentary on the conversational dynamics involved, especially in part 4 on imperatives, but not only there. Our general feeling is that spreading it out over two or three semesters is optimal, in a more or less piecemeal fashion, to give students time to incrementally digest the pragmatic underpinnings of Russian aspectual usage, which can only be mildly described as counterintuitive by nature to non-Russians. It should be pointed out, however, that the content does not proceed from simplest to most complex—the content of each oft the three core parts has its own idiosyncrasies and challenges.

Overview of Contents with Descriptions of the Modules Titled in Russian