Dynamic Teaching of Russian: Games and Gamification of Learning explores the theory and practice of gamification in language education, with a special focus on Russian, offering an in-depth theoretical account of the psychology of games and their practical application to language teaching. This edited collection brings together diverse perspectives from an international pool of contributors. Topics covered include hands-on game-like activities, play, and games to enrich the Russian-language classroom that can be used with both adult and young Russian-language learners worldwide. The chapters use case studies to showcase innovative approaches that can be used in the language classroom to both motivate learners and improve the outcomes of teaching Russian. This book will appeal to lecturers, tutors, teachers, and all other educators of Russian in subject areas of Russian studies, Slavonic studies, language learning, and foreign language acquisition.

This book honours the contribution of Marjolijn Verspoor to the development and implementation of dynamic usage-based (DUB) approaches in second language (L2) research and pedagogy. With chapters written by renowned experts in the field, the book addresses the dynamics of language, language learning and language teaching from a usage-based perspective. The book contains both theory and empirical work: the initial theoretical chapters present cutting-edge thinking in relation to both the scope of DUB theory and its applications, providing conceptual perspectives from cognitive grammar and linguistics, thinking-for-speaking (TFS), and Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) approaches, united by their shared underpinnings of language as a dynamic system of conventionalized routines. The second half of the volume showcases state-of-the-art methodologies to study dynamic trajectories of language learning, empirical investigations into the above-mentioned theoretical concepts, and innovative classroom implementations of DUB language pedagogy.

Task-Based Instruction for Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language presents the most recent developments in the field of task-based language teaching (TBLT) and highlights impactful research-based instructional practices of applying TBLT for the teaching of Russian. This comprehensive volume extends the current understanding of the nature and role of tasks in course development, authenticity in task design, the role of the instructor in TBLT, teaching culture through TBLT, the intersection of complex morphology and explicit grammar instruction with task-based approaches, collaborative interaction within TBLT, and technology-mediated tasks. This resource focuses on the unique set of factors and challenges that arise when applying TBLT in the instruction of Russian and other morphologically rich languages. This edited volume will be of interest to teachers of Russian as well as researchers in Russian language acquisition, language pedagogy, and Slavic applied linguistics.

Adolescents and young adults are the main users of social media. This has sparked interest among researchers regarding the effects of social media on normative development. There exists a need for an edited collection that will provide readers with both breadth and depth on the impacts of social media on normative development and social media as an amplifier of positive and negative behaviors. The Psychology and Dynamics Behind Social Media Interactions is an essential reference book that focuses on current social media research and provides insight into the benefits and detriments of social media through the lens of psychological theories. It enhances the understanding of current research regarding the antecedents to social media use and problematic use, effects of use for identity formation, mental and physical health, and relationships (friendships and romantic and family relationships) in addition to implications for education and support groups. Intended to aid in collaborative research opportunities, this book is ideal for clinicians, educators, researchers, councilors, psychologists, and social workers.

At the turn of the twentieth century, many Russians clung to the traditional belief that "poverty is not a vice" and that personal acts of generosity toward the poor, including beggars, earn spiritual salvation. Here Adele Lindenmeyr explores how this thinking--and opposition to it--shaped the development of private charity and public welfare in Russia from the eighteenth century to World War I. In recovering a long-forgotten aspect of Russian history, Lindenmeyr offers new insights into major issues debated by historians today: the development of a viable civil society in an autocratic state, the efficacy of central and local government, and Russians' complex reaction to Western ideas. Her book also provides fascinating background to the new flourishing of private charity in post-communist Russia. The first challenges to the ethos of personal charity came from Peter the Great. Influenced by the Western notion that poverty was a vice, he attempted a systematic approach to its eradication. Lindenmeyr traces the course of poor relief from the establishment of the first state welfare institutions to the post-emancipation devolution of responsibility for the needy to local authorities. At the same time, however, almsgiving still thrived, especially among the peasant estate, where personal acts of charity were preferred to a poor tax. Finally, the author shows how hundreds of privately founded charitable societies and institutions also emerged, reflecting educated society's increasing awareness of poverty as a social problem and contributing significantly to the public sphere.

Student-Centered Approaches to Russian Language Teaching looks at how the field of Russian language pedagogy has evolved in recent years due to advances in technology along with shifts in attitudes to language pedagogy, and how the pandemic has compounded and accelerated these changes. This edited collection brings together different perspectives from the field of Russian language pedagogy. With pedagogical conversations now centered around students and their needs, as well as the evolving role of the teacher in the 21st century, this volume highlights the diverse ways in which instructional practices have evolved, making curriculum and assessment more student-centered and Russian language learning more engaging. The collection will be of interest to current and future instructors of Russian as a foreign or additional language who wish to diversify their instruction, as well as students of Russian language pedagogy and second language learning and teaching.

Teaching Russian Creatively With and Beyond the Textbook is a collection of pedagogical narratives that promotes impactful approaches to teaching Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL) when supplementing or going beyond a specific textbook. With the lightning pace of modern news, social media, and technology, textbooks quickly become outdated and as a response to these rapid changes, this edited volume showcases a wide range of approaches to teaching RFL with and beyond traditional textbooks. The reader will find many creative ideas and solid practical advice from colleagues who have experimented with task- based language teaching, corpus-based learning, drama-based pedagogy, community-engaged pedagogy, and technology-mediated language learning, while incorporating authentic materials and turning them into living textbooks. The book will be a useful resource for Russian instructors and language departments interested in engaging their students with creative and unique courses.

New Russian Drama took shape at the turn of the new millennium—a time of turbulent social change in Russia and the former Soviet republics. Emerging from small playwriting festivals, provincial theaters, and converted basements, it evolved into a major artistic movement that startled audiences with hypernaturalistic portrayals of sex and violence, daring use of non-normative language, and thrilling experiments with genre and form. The movement’s commitment to investigating contemporary reality helped revitalize Russian theater. It also provoked confrontations with traditionalists in society and places of power, making theater once again Russia’s most politicized art form. This anthology offers an introduction to New Russian Drama through plays that illustrate the versatility and global relevance of this exciting movement. Many of them address pressing social issues, such as ethnic tensions and political disillusionment; others engage with Russia’s rich cultural legacy by reimagining traditional genres and canons. Among them are a family drama about Anton Chekhov, a modern production play in which factory workers compose haiku, and a satirical verse play about the treatment of migrant workers, as well a documentary play about a terrorist school siege and a postdramatic “text” that is only two sentences long. Both politically and aesthetically uncompromising, they chart new paths for performance in the twenty-first century. Acquainting English-language readers with these vital works, New Russian Drama challenges us to reflect on the status and mission of the theater.