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Striking  a  Balance:    Input,  Vocabulary  and  

Grammar  in  Teaching  Russian  

William  J.  Comer,  Portland  State  University  

Lynne  deBenedeFe,  Brown  University  

Input  

Language  that  learners  encounter  and  whose  

meaning  (i.e.,  communicaIve  content  and  

intent)  they  try  to  comprehend  

Input  •  authen'c  text  

– wri.en  – audio,  video,  graphic  

• semi-­‐authenIc  texts  

– authored  textbook  dialogs  – illustrated  presentaIon  of  vocabulary  

AuthenIc  wriFen  input  

hFp://www.teaspoon.ru/menu  

AuthenIc  audio  input  

from:  hFps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdPeWxo8EA4  

AestheIc  texts  as  authenIc  input  

hFp://miniskazka.ru/russkie_razn/kak_ivan_durak_dver_stereg.html  

AuthenIc  wriFen  input  -­‐  Discourse  level  

addad

Input  •  authen'c  text  

– wri.en  – audio,  video,  graphic  

• semi-­‐authen'c  texts  

– authored  textbook  dialogs  – illustrated  presenta'on  of  vocabulary  

Semi-­‐authenIc  input  

Semi-­‐authenIc  dialogs  as  Input  

Golosa,  Book  1,  Unit  3  Beginner’s  Russian,  Unit  5  

ConsideraIons  in  choosing  semi-­‐authenIc  input  

• Comprehensibility:  “i  +  1”  

• Presence  of  targeted  grammaIcal  form    

• Alignment  of  input  with  output  goals  

Goals  and  Outcomes  

“What  can  the  learner  do  with  the  language  

learned  from  this  input?”  

– “What  can  learners  comprehend?”  

– “What  can  learners  produce?”  

QuesIons  thus  far?  

We  pause  here  to  allow  you  to  ask  any  

quesIons  you  have  about  the  presentaIon  to  

this  point.  

Goals  and  Outcomes  -­‐  Resumed  

•  “What  can  the  learner  do  with  the  language  

learned  from  this  input?”  

– “What  can  learners  comprehend?”  

– “What  can  learners  produce?”  

● Learners  will  

be  able  to  do:  

•  ask and tell about activities

(work, relax, stroll, read, listen,

think, write, play) that you and

others are doing or do regularly

know  these  things:    

•  verbs conjugate in the present tense

and match endings for different

persons

•  making questions and positive and

negative sentences

● Learners  will  

be  able  to  do:  

ask and tell about what you and

others read and listen to, and

compare that to Russian reading and

listening habits

know  these  things:    

verb have different complements: direct

objects, adverbs, prepositional phrases

noun and adjectives endings change for

direct objects (accusative case)

OpIons  for  input  for  verbs?  

•  capIoned  pictures  

•  micro-­‐dialogues    

•  monologic  text:  leFer  or  email  

http://www.mezhdunami.org/unit03/3_1/index.shtml

http://www.mezhdunami.org/unit03/3_1/index.shtml

Learners  and  the  Input  

•  Process  input  for  meaning,  then  form  

•  “meaning”  =  learners  work    parIcularly  

on    verbs  as  lexical  items  

•   global  comprehension  of  sentences  

•  understanding  vocabulary  

Comprehension  work:  in  class  

Comprehension  work:  at  home  1  

Comprehension  work:  at  home  2    

Comprehension  work:  at  home  3  

Full set of characters and their actions

Comprehension  work:  in  class  2  

From  Meaning  to  work  on  Form  

✓  Learners  understand  the  global  content    

✓  They  know  the  vocabulary  well    

•  Forms:    help  learners    

– focus  on  new  forms  

– understand  them  

– begin  to  use  them  

Structured  input  

Structured  Input  2  

Structured  Input  3  

Grammar  Work:  NoIcing  

Grammar  ExplanaIon  1  

Grammar  ExplanaIon  2  

Checking  Comprehension  

Pause  for  quesIons  

Before  we  move  on  to  producIon-­‐oriented  

acIviIes,  we’ll  pause  here  to  allow    you  to  ask  

some  quesIons.  

Oral  Classroom  Output  acIvity  1  

Oral  Classroom  Output  acIvity  2  

Output:  WriFen  Homework  

Output:  WriFen  Homework  

Features  of  Structured  Input    

• One  form-­‐meaning  mapping  at  a  Ime  

• Both  referenIal  and  affecIve  acIviIes  

• Learners  do  something  with  the  structured  input  

• Keep  meaning  in  mind  

• Both  wriFen  and  oral  formats  

From:  Lee  and  VanPaFen  (2003)  

Output  acIviIes  

•  Meaning  is  important  

•  Personalized  content  

•  CommunicaIon  moIvated  by  a  gap  in  

informaIon,  reasoning  or  opinion  

Striking  balance?  

•  classroom  Ime  spent  in  communicaIve  acIviIes  

•  acIviIes  engage  in  acIve  comprehension  

•  communicaIve  use  of  the  input    

•  first  supported,  gradually  decreasing  support  

•  reading  about  the  language  largely  outside  class  

Thank  you  for  your  aFenIon!  

QuesIons???  

Comments    

Contact  us  at:  wcomer@pdx.edu  

Ldeben@brown.edu