RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

The course is a part of the activities that characterize the curriculum on Eastern Europe as part of the master's degree in Comparative International Relations.

It consists of a module of "docente" (30 hours, semestral) and classes of a technical-practical nature (60 hours, yearly). It aims to consolidate skills in the use of Russian at the level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Language Knowledge (CEFR) and to provide students with the necessary tools for the understanding, interpretation and critical analysis of texts of various types on issues related to international relations. Students will learn to select information from various sources on issues concerning their own address and to interact appropriately in Russian, exercising the appropriate use, in written and oral form, of the language of international relations for the re-elaboration of acquired knowledge and the preparation of personal contributions to the discussion.

Students will learn how to:

Acquire theoretical and applied knowledge of the Russian language used in specific contexts, ranging from foreign politics to economics to the sociocultural field. Particular attention will be devoted to morphology, syntax, and speech organizational patterns;

Understand, read through and analyze Russian texts into their background; tell apart their linguistic register and their subject area; write texts in Russian by themselves, employing the communicative strategies which pertain to their own sectoral field;
Develop non-trivial reasoning in Russian about general and specific topics relevant to international and intercultural relations, both in oral and written form;

Pick up texts written in Russian about topics concerning their own course of study; interpret and analyze complex texts, proving with that to be able to verify and evaluate correctly the appropriateness of their own work;

Develop a proper interaction in Russian about international relations, implementing a set of communicative strategies to arrange – by themselves or in small groups – written texts and oral presentations;

Reinforce the linguistic skills in the field of international relations, by reworking independently the information already acquired, arranging their own contributions and taking part in the discussion.

Knowledge of Russian language at the B1 level set up by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

During the course several topics of socioeconomic and political nature will be debated. In particular, the following lines of discussion will be studied and pursued:
-the role of Russian media in broadcasting and screening information, with special regard to the public debate regarding relevant topics of social and political nature;
-international politics of the Russian Federation towards Europe, Asian countries, and the USA;
-the organisation of Russian internal policy, its main organizations and the current political parties;
-the most important productive sectors and their role in Russian economy;
-trade relations with European and extraeuropean countries;
-some social aspects (the demographic issues, migration).

On translation:
Dobrovolskaja Ju., Il russo: l’abc della traduzione, Cafoscarina, Venezia 1997.
Malinin N., Tradurre il russo, Carocci, Roma 2012.
Kovalev V., Il Kovalev, Dizionario russo-italiano/italiano-russo, Bologna, Zanichelli 2014 (quarta edizione).
Dobrovolskaja Ju., Grande dizionario russo-italiano/italiano russo, Hoepli, Milano 2001.
On the specialized language of international relations:
Afanas'eva N.D., Lobanova L.A., Čitaem teksty po special'nosti. Vypusk 6. Ekonomika, Zlatoust, San Pietroburgo 2014.
Basko N.V., Obsuždaem global’nye problemy, povtorjaem russkuju grammatiku, Russkij Jazyk Kursy, Moskva 2013.
Lebedev V., Petuchova E., Delovaja poezdka v Rossiju, Zlatoust, San Pietroburgo 2012.
Moskvitina L., V mire novostej 1, Zlatoust, San Pietroburgo 2009.
On grammar:
Cevese C., Dobrovolskaja Ju., Magnanini E., Grammatica russa. Morfologia: teoria ed esercizi, Hoepli, Milano 2000 (o altra edizione).
Cevese C., Dobrovolskaja Ju., Sintassi russa. Teoria ed esercizi, Milano, Hoepli 2005.
Nikitina N., Eserciziario di russo. Livelli B1-B2, Hoepli, Milano 2016.
Further bibliographical references will be given during the lessons.

The exam consists of a written and an oral part.
The WRITTEN PART (A) includes two tasks:
A1: reading of two short texts in Russian linked to the topics discussed during the class hours (1 hour, with bilingual dictionaries) and answering multiple choice questions regarding the contents of the texts in order to verify the comprehension; constitutes 30% of the mark for the written exam.
A2: written task based on a text that presents different points of view on one of the topics discussed during the class hours (2 hours, with bilingual dictionaries); constitutes 70% of the mark for the written exam.
The formats of both parts of the written exam are based on the corresponding tasks included in ТРКИ-TORFL (Test of Russian as Foreign Language) language certification tests, levels TRKI-1 e TRKI-2.
The ORAL part (B) consists of:
B1: brief conversation in Russian on the topics discussed during the course;
B2: reading, translation into English or Italian and a comment regarding the language and the contents of a random excerpt of the overall 50 pages in Russian that students are asked to prepare on their own. The 50 pages will be assigned at the beginning of the course and during the course. Please note a page is equal to a 2000 characters sheet, spaces included. The oral part lasts approximately 20 minutes.
The final mark will match the exact average of the marks obtained in both the written and the oral part.

Lessons, activities in small groups.

In case of sanitary emergency the classes and the exams will be held online. In this case, the exams will be conducted in "open book" format.

The attendance of seminars with the Russian lectors (CEL) is recommended.
The students that are not able to attend the lectures are asked to contact the teachers immediately at the beginning of the course.

written and oral