ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on the pedagogy of teaching Russian as a foreign language developed at Concordia Language Villages (CLV; MN, U.S.). The communicative, task-based approach to foreign language teaching and learning has been practiced at CLV long before the emergence of the respective method and theory, and over the course of several decades, has been effectively implemented in various students’ groups, as well as linguistic and cultural contexts. The retrospective analysis of Concordia’s unique method of instruction is organized in this paper around the six major principles and core concepts of the CLV Way, namely, giving learners courage, learner investment, linguistic and cultural authenticity, creating a need to communicate, and experiencing language learning within the context of extended projects. These principles are enacted through a series of task-based assignments, as well as the unique learning environment of Concordia’s Russian Village. This chapter illustrates the diverse ways in which the six principles of the CLV grand-simulation model are fostering task- and project-based learning with an in-depth discussion of the intelligence gathering simulation and the immigration simulation project.
