Entry requirements

10 credits from the course Approaches to the Social Sciences.

Learning outcomes

Having completed the course, the student is expected to:

• demonstrate knowledge of Russian vocabulary clusters related to debates in the social sciences
• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Russian in complex written and spoken outputs; 

With regards to competence and skills, the student is expected to

• demonstrate the capacity to understand and participate in structured debates in spoken Russian and comprehend and apply the Russian language texts set in accordance with the debates;
• demonstrate the ability to speak in a structured way and make an argument with the help of language registers specific to the social sciences;
• demonstrate the ability to respond to an evolving debate and manage discussion using advanced communication skills 
• show the ability to plan and formulate short written reports in Russian 

With regards to judgement and approach, the student is expected to

• demonstrate the ability to work collectively with fellow students to develop a debate strategy on a given topic in line with roles the students are assigned;
• analyse complex debate materials and find ways to break down these complex linguistic structures for use in debates;
• take on problem-solving tasks in grammar, vocabulary and speech and solve assignments related to these;

Content

The course develops existing student linguistic competencies in the specific domain of the social science discussions. Students will actively participate in seminar debates and interactive lectures. Assigned in teams, students will make use of social science texts and video or podcast clips, usually selected from Russian digital media to prepare group and individual presentations. Students will develop their skills in articulating their thoughts and arguments through participation in the debates, through oral presentations and written assignments. Students will also be trained in writing skills through the composition of brief reports.

Instruction

Instruction is in the form of seminars, interactive lectures and self-study.

The language of instruction is Russian.

Assessment

The course is assessed by active participation in seminars, oral presentations and written assignments.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University´s disability coordinator or a decision by the department's working group for study matters.