College of Liberal Arts
Beyond the Textbook: National Recognition for TV Russian Faculty
Kat Reichert, CLA Public Information OfficeSeptember 15, 2025cla-pio@alaska.edu
Associate Professor of Linguistics and Russian program coordinator Wendy Whitehead Martelle and Russian adjunct instructor Svetlana Nuss are celebrating two national honors. Their most recent co-edited volume, Teaching Russian Creatively With and Beyond the Textbook, has been nominated for an AATSEEL Book Award in “Best Book in Linguistics and Language Pedagogy.” Nuss’ co-edited volume Dynamic Teaching of Russian: Games and Gamification of Learning is also nominated, earning double recognition for the innovative work happening in TV’s Russian program.
The American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) has championed the study and teaching of Slavic and East European languages, literatures, and cultures for more than 80 years. Its annual Book Awards recognize publications and resources that make language teaching more dynamic, effective, and engaging, including everything from textbooks and classroom tools to research that advances the practice of teaching language, literature, and culture.
Martelle says Teaching Russian Creatively With and Beyond the Textbook reflects exactly that kind of innovation. “The book is a collection of chapters by colleagues from universities in the U.S., Europe, Belarus, and Russia. Svetlana and I co-edited this volume, and we have been inspired by the many creative approaches to teaching a language without a textbook (or going beyond a textbook),” she explains. “For example, one of the chapters described how students created podcasts to explore social and cultural themes in the U.S. and in Russian-speaking countries. I am interested in building on this idea and have 3rd year students create podcasts about the adventures of studying the Russian language for our 1st and 2nd year students!”
Her classes also thrive on authentic materials chosen by the students themselves. “I have lots of favorite authentic materials, thanks to our students! In 2nd and 3rd year Russian, students choose an authentic text that they’d like to ‘dig’ into. This could be a song, excerpt from a story, a video clip, a news article, really anything that grabs their interest,” Martelle says. “I then design a lesson around each of their chosen texts to show how the language ‘comes to life.’ Sometimes, we dig into the structure of the language; an authentic text provides a great context to show how Russian grammar works (which in many ways is so different from English!). Other times, I may highlight cultural moments like traditions, nonverbal communication, or superstitions. It’s one thing for me to describe certain nonverbal cues that are common and appropriate in Russian-speaking cultures, but it’s quite another to use authentic materials to show them in context.”
While TV’s Global Languages and Literatures major is not currently accepting new students, students can still pursue a minor, and Japanese Studies remains available as both a major and a minor. Study-away opportunities give students the chance to apply their learning abroad and return with new perspectives, hallmarks of a transformative experience at TV.
That bridge from classroom to world is at the heart of Martelle’s upcoming talk, on Friday, Sept. 19, 3:15–4:25 p.m., in the BP Design Theater. Martelle spent a month in Kazakhstan thanks to a fully funded professional development fellowship through American Councils: the Summer Professional Development and Fellowship Opportunity for U.S. Teachers of Russian at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty. She’ll share stories of daily life, show photos and videos, and introduce visitors to the region’s culture and history. Guests can browse Kazakh artifacts and even leave with a small souvenir.
Congratulations to Wendy Whitehead Martelle and Svetlana Nuss on these well-earned nominations. The AATSEEL Book Awards will be announced at the annual conference, Feb. 19–22, 2026, in New Orleans. “It’s a great honor for this work to be recognized, and we hope the book can be of service to language educators!” Martelle says.
