Larry McLellan's specialty is the learning and teaching of Russian, as well as Slavic linguistics, syntax, discourse, and language pedagogy. His current interests are focused on profiles of Russian heritage learners; integration of heritage and non-heritage students in mixed classrooms; and differentiated instruction.

"I grew up far from Santa Barbara in rural Maine. Before coming to UCSB, I completed an M.A. and was advanced to Ph.D. Candidacy in the Slavic Department at UC Berkeley. My undergraduate degree is from George Washington University in D.C. Between my undergraduate and graduate study, I spent several years working at the Kennan Insitutute, a Russian studies center at the Smithsonian, and at a Seattle travel company specializing in group tours to the former Soviet Union.

I'm a coauthor of a two-volume introductory-intermediate Russian textbook ("Nachalo," McGraw-Hill, 2001-2002). One of my contributions to the textbook and one of the central aspects of my teaching philosophy is to help students tackle complex linguistic structures and make them seem systematic and simple. I love teaching all levels of Russian. At the intro level, it's exciting to watch students progress from having no knowledge of the language to being able to communicate.

At the upper levels, I especially enjoy the challenge of working with heritage students-those who grew up speaking Russian. Mixed upper-level classes with both heritage and non-heritage students provide a great opportunity to use differentiated instruction, an approach that takes into consideration student readiness, learning styles and interests, as they progress along different paths toward a common goal.

In my spare time I enjoy cooking, reading, watching movies and listening to 80s new wave music. I adore cats and do volunteer work at VIVA, the Lompoc cat shelter. My partner and I have two young cats named Myilka and Koshka who provide endless entertainment at our home in Lompoc."