In honour of Vygotsky’s mother tongue, we wanted to look at some ways in which the Russian language is being taught. Literacy acquisition is a central concern of sociocultural theory. Vygotsky asserted that all dimensions of cognitive change are dependent on literacy, and that to create an effective learning environment for literacy acquisition:

Teaching should be organized in such a way that reading and writing are necessary for something… That writing should be meaningful… that writing be taught naturally…

Sociocultural theory recognizes the need for cultural, cognitive and attitudinal bridges between language students and their new environment. Consider these factors in the following videos.

1. “How to read Russian in two hours”

Please watch the first four minutes of this popular tutorial, designed for absolute beginners. How does the teacher’s instruction and assistance help expand the learner’s (and your) knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet? Note the teacher’s suggestions for constructing knowledge such as recommending a journal. Do you feel the alphabet was taught naturally? Was it meaningful? Can you remember the first three letters introduced in the first four minutes? Was your ZPD expanded just outside your current understanding? That is, +1 and not +2 above your current level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzChuuvZcag

2. “Russian Alphabet – Russian Lessons”

Compare the first video with the following teaching of the alphabet. In these videos, designed for a strong beginner, a native speaker recites the alphabet. The scaffolding aids used in addition to the speaker’s voice are pictures and English translations, which is only helpful for readers of English. In response to feedback on the publisher’s YouTube channel, the instructors prepared a slowed down version of the same video, with two native speakers. Does this make the materials more accessible to you?

3. “Learn the Top 25 Must-Know Russian Adjectives!”

This video is not geared towards absolute beginners and would probably be out of reach of learning outcomes for many, at +2 – not +1 – above absolute beginner level. It activates prior knowledge of the learner, with some reading of Russian involved in the lesson. As one commenter posted, “I gotta’ start getting into more of these lists once I perfect my understanding of the Cyrillic Alphabet.”

The lesson is conducted primarily in English, but like the other two videos, lies outside a real-world communicative context bearing meaningful interaction. However, the teacher provides contextual examples where the taught adjectives and phrases might be used. If you are new to Russian, did you find this video too difficult, beyond your ZPD, or just right, within your ZPD? Which elements helped or hindered your experience?