LINGUIST List 33.260
Mon Jan 24 2022
FYI: Research in Russian as a Heritage Language: Lessons for the Classroom
Editor for this issue: Everett Green <everettlinguistlist.org>
Date: 18-Jan-2022
From: Oksana Laleko <lalekoo
newpaltz.edu>
Subject: Research in Russian as a Heritage Language: Lessons for the Classroom
E-mail this message to a friend Editors:
Olesya Kisselev, University of Texas at San Antonio (olesya.kisselev
utsa.edu)
Oksana Laleko, University of New York at New Paltz (lalekoo
newpaltz.edu)
Irina Dubinina, Brandeis University (idubinin
brandeis.edu)
The demographics of Russian language classrooms in North America have changed significantly in the past three decades: they no longer serve only mainstream second language (L2) learners whose primary exposure to the target language takes place in the classroom. Our classrooms teaching Russian as a “foreign” language now often include heritage language (HL) learners, whose initial exposure to the language began at home and whose language developmental trajectories differ significantly both from those of the L2 learners and those documented for the acquisition of a dominant language.
The field of Russian language pedagogy has acknowledged the unique challenge of educating HL learners, who arrive at college-level language programs with varying degrees of general proficiency and variably developed linguistic skills. A number of scholars have devoted energy towards developing coherent proposals for Russian HL instructional approaches (Andrews, 2001; Kagan & Dilon, 2006; Kisselev, Dubinina & Polinsky, 2020). To advance the development of Russian HL pedagogy, Kisselev et al. (2020) argue that the field must further both classroom-based research as well as linguistic profile studies.
The proposed volume will address this call for action, gathering papers describing most up-to-date research including classroom-based, applied, and theoretical studies that investigate different aspects of Russian HL. The goal of the volume is to build explicit connections between applied and theoretical research and the practice of teaching Russian as a heritage language across different countries, contexts, and proficiency levels. The volume will encourage a mutually beneficial conversation between researchers and classroom practitioners.
Contributions may focus on Russian HL acquisition, linguistic knowledge of heritage speakers/ learners of Russian, or instructional approaches to Russian HL. Topics can be investigated through various methodological approaches, including but not limited to survey-based, corpus-based, sociolinguistic, variationist, behavioral, experimental, and interview-based investigations, as well as research based on case studies and classroom intervention.
To support the goal of the volume in highlighting implications of research studies for teaching and learning, each paper in the volume must include a thorough review of previous studies on the topic and a systematic account of pedagogical implications of the study. Proposals and (if accepted) chapters must be written in English. Chapters must be original and should not have been submitted for publication elsewhere.
Submission instructions:
The editors welcome proposal submissions by February 7, 2022. Proposals must be 350-500 words and should contain the following information:
- Proposed chapter title
- Author name(s) and affiliation(s)
- Chapter overview
- 50-100 word biography for each author
Proposals should be saved as a single Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx) file and emailed to the editors at olesya.kisselev
utsa.edu, lalekoo
newpaltz.edu, dubinin
brandeis.edu.
Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by April 1, 2022. We have had detailed discussions about this volume with an internationally reputable publisher, to which a full book proposal will be sent following the selection of proposals. Upon acceptance, chapter authors will be sent detailed guidelines.
Anticipated Project Timeline:
July 1, 2022 - Authors submit full chapters of 6,000 - 8,000 words (after which chapters undergo double-blind peer review; contributors may also be asked to review)
August 31, 2022 – Authors receive feedback
October 31, 2022 – Authors submit revisions
November 31, 2022 – Manuscript submitted to publisher
Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
Subject Language(s):
Russian (rus)
Page Updated: 24-Jan-2022