Course Catalogue

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This course dovetails with the second semester of the Russian for Social Scientists (Advanced) course and is specifically designed for students who complete the equivalent first semester of RUSSIAN5004 at our partner university (University of Tartu). It builds up on the initial knowledge which students receive in the semester-one module (whether taken at the University of Glasgow or the University of Tartu), focusing on grammar and information retrieval skills, ability to express yourself in Russian, general and subject-related vocabulary and Russian realia

The course consists of 4 contact hours per week

Mandatory Entry Requirements

The students are required to have completed an initial, one-semester (20 credits) course of advanced Russian. Usually this will be from the University of Tartu, our partner institution. However, other students can be considered for entry if they have completed a similar course at another institution. Students should have an advanced grasp of Russian grammar, and have already developed advanced listening, reading, writing and speaking skills in Russian.

Recommended Entry Requirements

Equivalent of 20 credits in advanced Russian at undergraduate or postgraduate level.

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The course is assessed by coursework and a final oral examination. Students are required to submit work on a regular, usually weekly, basis throughout the semester. Assignments are translations of normally 300-500 words in length. The average mark of the best 5 assignments constitutes the final grade.

Oral examination: there will be an oral examination at the end of the year of approximately 30 minutes duration which will test comprehension, aural and speaking skills. Students will be required to give an in-depth presentation in Russian on their research. The oral examination is worth 30% of the overall mark.

This course provides students with intensive Russian language tuition over 1 semester. The course is taught to enable students to enhance the skills they have developed through post-intermediate or Honours level courses. In so doing they will acquire sufficient linguistic knowledge and translating skill to be able to read social sciences' texts of a very advanced standard in the original language and to use these in their study of social sciences' disciplines. They will also develop the requisite oral and aural skills to deal with situations that require an advanced knowledge of Russian. In addition they will have acquired the necessary writing skills to be able to provide an extensive in-depth account of their research. At the end of the course the students will have attained the necessary competence in Russian in order to use original language sources of considerable complexity competently with and without the help of a dictionary, so that they can undertake more advanced research programmes or employment in the field of Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Read and translate complex social sciences' texts with the aid of a dictionary

■ Write a full summary in English of such social sciences' texts in Russian

■ Conduct conversations in Russian and give an extensive in-depth presentation about their research

■ Make effective use of dictionaries and other reference sources

■ Understand oral presentations of considerable complexity in Russian of social sciences' topics

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.