LanguageNow! Plus Edition
RussianNow!
(Continued from Page One)

Reviewed by Christopher K. Cosner
Modern Languages Department
DePauw University

Other information can be made available to the student according to settings determined by the instructor. Grammar explanations and translations are available for every word in the text with a single click, and there are several in-depth explanations of basic grammar concepts in Russian. If the instructor would rather students did not have so many crutches available to them, he/she can limit their access to these added features.

How does Russian Now! compare to using a textbook and tapes? Although the format itself is far and away superior to using tapes and a printed text, the organization of the material leaves something to be desired, and Russian Now!  is not linked to any textbook. I get the impression that the dialogues were created with vague ideas about the level of the students intended to view them, and that the levels (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) indicated by Transparent Language are rather arbitrary. Of all the titles provided with my examination copy, none of the "Beginner" titles seemed to be at the beginner level, not even "Survival Phrases for Russian." Indeed, this particular title is packed with extremely advanced phrases. Apparently the student is supposed to decipher the advanced portions by reading the automatic translations into English. However, if the instructor has disabled translations, the student will be at a loss, confronted first with what amounts to advanced gibberish.  

Methodology

Instructors may encounter methodological conflicts with the software, especially at the beginner and early intermediate levels, due to the advanced nature of most of the texts. On the one hand, if the instructor believes students should be carefully exposed to Russian in a piecemeal fashion, so that they can integrate everything they see, without having to constantly guess or resort to English translations, Russian Now! is probably not the right package. If the instructor disables the translation and explanation functions, most of the texts become incomprehensible to beginning students or overly difficult for early-intermediate students, because there are too many words and expressions they will not learn until third year and beyond. On the other hand, if the instructor is of the school that believes students should be exposed to natural language at all levels, learning to pick out meaning with the vocabulary they know, RussianNow! is entirely appropriate. The humorous video will draw the students in (for example, at one point the customs agent pulls lingerie from the male protagonist's suitcase and asks the embarrassed traveler "Are these your things?"), and the ready translations of the Russian will allay most students' anxieties about comprehension.

Customization

There are three main areas of possible customization. 

1. Limitation of features. If the instructor so desires, he/she may limit student's exposure to English translations or other features deemed inappropriate for a given situation (such as a test or homework assignments).  
   
   
2. Annotation of texts. All of the texts may be annotated by the instructor. This is useful for adding explanations or discussion questions to specific points in the text, or even homework questions that the students must turn in.
   
   
3. Creation of vocabulary lists.  All vocabulary is fully integrated into the program, so it can be used in games, including crosswords and contextual vocabulary quizzes. The words come with all of the translation and grammar help embedded. So, a student can obtain translations and grammar explanation of any word at any point. The only drawback to this system is that the instructor cannot introduce arbitrary words into these vocabulary lists. They must come from one of the titles. Although the instructor can create word lists for the students to access, it is not a simple matter to create a vocabulary list based on your own textbook as the documentation implies. A vast improvement in this software would be to allow the instructor to create completely arbitrary word lists as well as entire titles. I believe this could be done by creating a CD with a master vocabulary list from all of the titles so far created for RussianNow!, which the instructor could utilize as he or she sees fit.

Use in a language lab

RussianNow! incorporates the ability to record students' voices and compare their voice print to that of a native speaker. This feature is also available in a form of conversation practice that prompts the student to speak one of the parts in a conversation found in a title they are using. Although the value of voice prints in language instruction is disputed, I think that students should be given a disclaimer that voice prints are not the final word in pronunciation accuracy. Regardless, some may find this feature useful. Voice analysis can be activated at almost any point in the program. The emphasis on voice analysis may bother some instructors, who would rather students learn to develop an ear for correct speech without a visual distraction.

Documentation and Help

Due to the variety of language lab configurations and options for customization, the instructor may need to write up his/her own documentation explaining the use of the software to the students, as well as to present the program to them and probably to provide some user support, though the program is generally straightforward in its use. That said, the program makes use of the Windows help menus with comprehensive explanations of most features. With today's students, one might be able to simply present the program to them, tell them how to access the help menus, and hope for the best. I plan to write up some step-by-step instructions on how to use the program in order to stave off excuses about not understanding an assignment.

Purchase options

If the instructor has a small number of students (six or less), he/she might consider purchasing only one copy of the software, having it installed on the language lab network, and explaining to students that it will only work for one student at a time (single-user option). With more students, more copies should probably be purchased. Depending on campus policies and computer security, the basic software probably needs to be pre-installed by tech support on all computers that might access the program. Since the disk can be copied to a server, students do not necessarily have to check a CD out of the language lab, but they will still be limited by the number of copies purchased. One copy means one student at a time.

Expansion 

LanguageNow! provides over twenty Russian titles available for purchase separately at a cost of approximately $30 each on topics such as fairy tales, Russian writers, Russian politicians, Chechnya, and the Soviet/Russian space program. Judging from the interview with Mikhail Gorbachev provided in my examination pack, they are of high quality and certainly worth the price. However, not all of them come with full-motion video. For example, the Master and Margarita CD only comes with images, some of which do not seem to be connected to the text in any way. The CD is still useful, but to imply that it is has a visual component is stretching credibility. Instructors should also keep in mind that all the titles for use with RussianNow! have been added over a period of years, and their cultural context ranges from the Soviet Union of the late 1980s to the New Russia of at least the mid-1990s. In this sense, the additional titles are also valuable as a cultural resource.

Conclusion

How well does RussianNow! address the traditional four food groups of language learning: speaking, listening, reading, writing? Aside from the methodological issues mentioned above, this software is fairly strong on most aspects. There are several ways for the students to speak with the dialogues in the titles, either through pronunciation practice, or by attempting to keep up their half of a conversation presented in a title. This is no substitute for classroom practice, but certainly helpful in focusing a student's attention on self-improvement. The sound quality is good, and most importantly, there are several pronunciations of each word available. The font is legible and the texts are easy to navigate. Typing, of course, is not the same as writing, especially in Russian. However, typing in Russian has become an important skill for working online, and this software provides an easy-to-use keyboard configuration. The Russian keyboard is laid out like the QWERTY keyboard, and an image of the keyboard is provided in a floating window upon demand. 

The digitized video meshes beautifully with the text. Students can go to a specific point in a video simply by clicking on a word in the corresponding text, and the text follows along in synch if you fast-forward or rewind the video. All of the dialogues are indexed into "segments" which the instructor can assign. Segments appear to be roughly equivalent to sentences, so the instructor can choose in advance exactly how far students are expected to work through a title. 

The weaknesses of this program are its quirks of installation, the somewhat narrow customization features, the fact that students will initially need significant guidance in using the program, and finally, the price. Although the single-user price seems appropriate, the multi-user fee should either be lower, or include more users. I suggest that the company adopt a two-tier price scale, for one user or as a full site license.

In the coming year, I will be using RussianNow! with my second and third-year students. If all goes as planned, I will provide a follow-up review at that time.