Failing or Prevailing? Russian Educational Discourse in the Israeli Academic Classroom

Abstract

This article seeks to explore the ways in which Russian–Soviet educational discourse survives in Israeli universities by bringing its underlying cultural messages to Israeli students. It focuses on the interpretation of educational discursive perceptions and practices of Russian-speaking professors who teach at Israeli universities. The study suggests considering the manifestation of the Russian–Soviet educational scenario through its enforcement in the Russian linguistic repertoire of meta-class talk, in which the professors report on the educational modes of in-class interaction. The analysis reveals that immigrant university teachers adopt communicative strategies imbued with key Russian–Soviet educational messages making them a cultural resource in the Israeli academic context. Concomitantly, however, the professors’ voices seem to be opposed to local Israeli cultural perception and practice. The study therefore seeks to uncover how enacted patterns of educational style reflect the cross-cultural condition of the academic context. It adopts the communicative–pragmatic perspective and focuses on key cultural educational scripts, rhetorical argumentation strategies, and the realization of speech acts in the university interaction.

Keywords

• cross-cultural academic teaching
• professor
• student interaction
• professors’ discursive practices
• russian
• soviet educational communication
• educational postulates as a cultural resource