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Goals of the UCLA Russian Flagship

Goals and objectives of the program and the expected outcomes after completion of the UCLA Russian Flagship.

The UCLA Flagship's principal goal is to prepare students to function at the 3 (ILR) / Superior (ACTFL) proficiency level in speaking, listening, and reading. Flagship students will also develop an understanding of many socio-linguistic and cultural references as well as a variety of styles and forms pertinent to professional needs. In addition to designated classes, Flagship Students will also study Russian history, culture and literature, and other subjects depending on their areas of specialization.

At the end of the program students will be able to meet demands of professional interactions and carry out professional level tasks in the areas of their specializations.

OBJECTIVES IN LANGUAGE LEARNING SKILLS

  • Vocabulary development and expansion: language-, culture-, and society-specific native words, including onomatopoeic and mimetic words and classifiers; vocabulary on both general intellectual and professional topics; new vocabulary.
  • Grammar: complex sentences
  • Discourse competence: various discourse strategies as indirectness, interruption, topic-raising, turn-taking, and politeness, manifested by both verbal expressions of honorifics and non-verbal behavior, in different settings such as interviews, reports, conversations, discussions, meetings; narrative, informative, argumentative, persuasive discourse patterns in various texts and interactions.

GLOBAL OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

  • Communicate and share ideas, on both general and professional topics, participate in a general or professional discussion, using appropriate discourse strategies with ease, whether it is a one-on-one or group discussion.
  • Deliver extended and elaborate informative monologues, such as briefings, presentations.
  • Understand non-interactive speech such as radio, TV, and lectures.
  • Read a broad scope of general literature as well as material in their field of specialization/interest at the Superior level, i.e., novels, popular magazines, informational and editorial articles in major periodicals on business, economics, fashion, finances, foods, health, politics, science, social issues, technology, etc., scholarly journals and books, personal and professional correspondence, and reports.Students will acquire knowledge, appreciation, and sensitivity to Russian culture that will allow them to interact with native speakers living in the former Soviet Union, to read and comprehend aural input at the superior level.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

By the end of the domestic program, expected outcomes are as follows:

Speaking:

  • support opinions;
  • hypothesize;
  • state and defend and/or criticize policy;
  • clarify points and justify decisions;
  • conduct meetings;
  • deliver briefings, or other extended and elaborate informative monologues

Listening:

  • understand hypotheses, supported opinions, argumentation, statements and defense of policy, and other forms of elaboration;
  • get the gist of both explicit and implicit information and to distinguish among various stylistic levels, recognizing humor, irony, emotional overtones and subtleties.

Reading:

  • understand various forms of elaboration, such as hypothesis, supported opinion, argumentation, and clarification;
  • relate ideas;
  • understand implicit information;
  • distinguish between stylistic levels and recognize humor, irony, emotional overtones, and subtleties.

Writing:

  • write on a variety of topics with precision and detail;
  • handle formal and informal correspondence;
  • write summaries, reports, précis, research papers

 

Date Posted: 9/18/2009