Learning Goals and Outcome Assessment
Russian language courses are designated with the RUSSA abbreviation in
Cornell's Catalog of Courses, e.g. RUSSA 1121. The number reflects the level
of language study: RUSSA 1121 is the course for beginners, and
RUSSA 6634 is our most advanced course.
Each of these courses (or course sequences) has a specific set of goals
and an expected learning outcome.
The goal references below use the so-called
ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines
that may also be viewed at the
LTI site.
ACTFL is the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, http://www.actfl.org.
LIT is Language Testing International, http://www.languagetesting.com/.
Although some variation in linguistic achievement is normal,
completing the following courses is expected to result in these proficiency levels:
- 1121 and 1131 in the Fall, 1122 and 1132 in the Spring: writing - Novice; speaking - Novice High
- 2203 in the Fall and 2204 in the Spring: writing - Intermediate; speaking - Intermediate Mid
- 3303 in the Fall and 3304 in the Spring: writing - Advanced; speaking - Advanced Low to Advanced Mid
- 4413 in the Fall and 4414 in the Spring: writing - better than Advanced; speaking - better than Advanced Mid
- 6633 in the Fall and 6634 in the Spring: writing - approaching Superior; speaking - Advanced High
Evaluation of the students' progress is done continuously in each course by weekly tests, written
homework, online and other computer-based assignments, daily performance in class, and in most courses,
a final examination. Please see individual course descriptions under Courses for
detailed information.
Our teaching is adjusted or changed when we decide that a change is in order. To guide us in this process,
we use anonymous online course evaluations that may be submitted at any time during the semester; hand-written
anonymous course evaluations at the end of each course; and detailed surveys every time we make
a significant modification to a course.