Irina Zaykovskaya
9 Pleasant St SE
Minneapolis,
MN
55455
I am a Lecturer in Russian at the Department of German, Nordic, Slavic and Dutch at the University of Minnesota.
I was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, and began my career there teaching English and Russian at Petersburg State Transport University. In 2011, I got a Ph.D. in the Russian Language from Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, and in 2014, I moved to the U.S. to pursue another degree at Michigan State University. I quickly became interested in language ideologies and the ways in which multilingual speakers engage with language variation and develop beliefs about and attitudes towards it. 2019, I got my Ph.D. in Second Language Studies.
Because of this background, my language pedagogy is informed by both second language acquisition research and understanding of the complex language ideologies surrounding the Russian language in Russia, other Russian speaking countries, and the United States. My goal is to make my classes accessible and exciting for any learner while respecting their linguistic and cultural heritage and their learning goals.
Educational Background
- Ph.D.: Second Language Studies, Michigan State University, 2019
- Ph.D.: Russian Language, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, 2011
- MA: Philological Education, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, 2008
- BA: Russian, English, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, 2006
Specialties
- language ideologies
- second language acquisition (study abroad)
- sociolinguistics (variation in L2)
- Russian language