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Study Guide

Field 027: Russian
Listening Comprehension

Sample Test Directions

This test consists of six sections: (1) a listening comprehension section, (2) a reading section, (3) a section on language structures, (4) a section on language comparisons, (5) a section on cultural knowledge and language acquisition, and (6) a written expression section. The directions for each section appear before the section.

Sample Directions for Listening Comprehension

This section of the test contains two listening comprehension exercises that involve listening to recorded excerpts and then responding in writing to the assignments presented. The passages will be read twice. Your response may be written in either English or the target language.

If you choose to respond in English, type your response in the response box presented on-screen. If you choose to respond in the target language, your final responses must be written on the response sheets provided. Please label each response sheet with the appropriate exercise (e.g., "Listening Comprehension Assignment 1"). Your response sheets must be scanned using the scanner provided at your workstation.

Instructions for scanning your Response Sheets are available by clicking the "Scanning Help" button at the top of the screen.

You may use the erasable notebooklet to make notes, write an outline, or otherwise prepare your response. However, your final responses to the exercises must be typed into the on-screen response box OR written on the response sheet and scanned using the scanner provided.

Your responses will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria.

Be sure to write about the assigned topics. You may not use any reference materials during the test. Remember to review your work and make any changes you think will improve your responses.

Any time spent responding to the exercises, including scanning the response sheet(s), is part of your testing time. Monitor your time carefully. When your testing time expires, a pop-up message will appear on-screen indicating the conclusion of your test session. Only response sheets that are scanned before you end your test or before time has expired will be scored. Any response sheet that is not scanned before testing ends will NOT be scored.

Please be aware that the visual enhancements Example of the Color Scheme visual enhancement control and Example of the Font Size visual enhancement control are NOT available during this section of the test. Please DO NOT use these features until you have completed all listening items and proceeded to the remaining sections of the test.

Click the Next button when when you have finished reading these directions and are ready to begin the first listening comprehension exercise. Once the recording has begun, it cannot be stopped, nor can any part of it be replayed. Therefore, listen carefully.

Be sure you have your headset on before proceeding.

Select the Next button to continue.

Sample Listening Comprehension Exercise

This is a listening comprehension item. You will hear a monologue. After you have heard the monologue twice, you will respond in writing to the assignment given below. Your response may be written in either Russian or English. Before you hear the monologue, you will be given 30 seconds to study the assignment. Begin studying the assignment now.

*(PAUSE 30 seconds)*

Write a response of three to four sentences in which you:

Listen carefully to the following monologue. After you have heard it twice, respond in writing to the assignment.

*(one female speaker—opinion)

На днях посмотрела "Зимние дни" и очень разочарована. Фильм является сборником фантазий разных аниматоров на тему японской поэзии. Задуман был этот фильм по принципу рэнку — стихотворного произведения группы поэтов. Но замысел, на мой взгляд, воплощен просто ужасно. Во-первых, рэнку — это целостное произведение, несмотря на то, что это жанр коллективной поэзии. Однако, ни художественной, ни какой-либо другой целостности в этом фильме нет. Просто обыкновенная эклектика. Во-вторых, в этом фильме есть работы, чьи авторы, видимо, имеют смутное представление о японской поэзии. Их интерпетация, образность и ритм очень далеки от её уникальной стилистики. Так, бельгийский аниматор в стихотворении про волосы и цаплю увидел какую-то романтическую историю, а британский представил хайку о дереве и стреле как криминальный сюжет.

Единственный плюс от просмотра заключается в том, что я еще раз убедилась, что русская анимация лучшая в мире. Юрий Норштейн в традициях рэнку как великий мастер открывает "Зимние дни". Его работа, по-моему, самая лучшая в фильме.

(PAUSE 3 seconds)

Now it will be repeated.

(monologue is repeated)

(PAUSE 3 seconds)

Now write your response to the assignment.*

Sample Response for the Listening Comprehension Exercise

The speaker saw an animated film, Зимние дни, that was a collection of short sequences meant to reflect the principles of a particular form of Japanese poetry. The speaker was disappointed in the film because she thought it failed to reflect the sense of unity that is the most central quality of this type of poetry. In addition, several of the animators, such as the English and Belgian artists, did not seem to understand the form at all. The speaker was, however, pleased to see that Russian animation, as reflected in this film, is some of the best animation in the world. She enjoyed the work of the Russian artist whose animation began the film and considered it the best animation in the film as a whole.

Performance Characteristics for the Listening Comprehension Assignments

Listening Comprehension accuracy and completeness in comprehending spoken language
Listening Inference demonstrated ability to infer information accurately from spoken language, including subtleties such as tone

Score Scale for the Listening Comprehension Assignments

Score Point Score Point Description
4 The "4" response gives evidence of strong listening comprehension skills.
  • The candidate demonstrates thorough comprehension of literal content and understands main ideas and details.
  • The candidate accurately infers implied information and demonstrates awareness of sociocultural references, including the ability to characterize tone.
3 The "3" response gives evidence of satisfactory listening comprehension skills.
  • The candidate demonstrates adequate comprehension of literal content, although some details and sequencing may be misunderstood or missed.
  • The candidate adequately infers implied information, although some subtleties such as tone and sociocultural references may be misinterpreted or missed.
2 The "2" response gives evidence of limited listening comprehension skills.
  • The candidate demonstrates limited comprehension, discerning some ideas but not understanding main ideas and details.
  • The candidate demonstrates limited ability to infer implied information or discern subtleties such as tone and sociocultural inferences.
1 The "1" response gives evidence of weak listening comprehension skills.
  • The candidate fails to demonstrate comprehension of ideas and details, showing understanding only of isolated words and phrases.
  • The candidate fails to infer information or discern subtleties such as tone and sociocultural references.
U The response is "unscorable" because it is not on the given topic, illegible, not in the appropriate language, or too short to score.
B There is no response to the assignment.