“Consequences of the Application of the Law of Open Syllables” as the Topic of the Course History of the Russian Language – from the Experiences of a Lecturer

Dorota Muszyńska-Wolny

Uniwersytet Warszawski

Abstract

Many students experience problems with learning difficult and extensive Russian textbook material because of the small number of Russian language history classes in the study program, as well as a lack of prior knowledge of the language. It is more of a linguistic problem than one related to the content itself. Thus it becomes necessary for the lecturer to develop their own teaching aids which convey information in a compact manner and are also helpful in completing exercises on a given topic. The article presents an example of such teaching assistance material, with exercises that students of Russian philology at the University of Warsaw receive for use during classes on issues related to the law of open syllables. The material is used during the History of the Russian languagecourse taught in Russian to third year bachelor’s degree students. The results of year -end student surveys are also presented here.

Keywords:

academic didactics, history of the Russian language, the law of open syllables, linguistic processes, Slavic languages