Resisting Erasure: Teacher Identities of Non-Russian Instructors of Russian and Ways to Diversify Classroom Practices

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

Following our roundtable at AATSEEL-2024, our team would like to continue the conversation around the experiences of non-Russian instructors of Russian in US-based language programs. In this roundtable, we will discuss the matters of power and ownership of the Russian language, the Native-speakerism, an ideology rooted in colonialism and inherently present in Russian instructional materials, and the continuing marginalization of certain groups of speakers and contexts where Russian is spoken. We will also share our insights into the diversification and decentering of the Russian-language classroom. Reflecting on our own teaching journeys in the United States, we will address the following questions:

(1) How do we position ourselves when teaching the language of the colonizer? How do our identities and experiences inform our approach to teaching Russian?
(2) How do we approach language teaching in the context of Russia-centric materials? Why do we need it? Why is it important to further problematize the established pedagogical practices that continue to disregard and downgrade the existence and knowledge of minoritized speakers?

Sub Unit

• Linguistics/Language Pedagogy/Translation

Chair

• Aselle Almuratova, U of Wisconsin-Madison

Roundtable Members

• Emil Asanov, Florida State U

• Doina Grecu, U of Georgia

• Alla Savelieva, U of Colorado at Boulder