Reports on an experiment conducted to determine that recognizability of loanwords in Russian by English-speaking college students and whether there is any correlation between recognition skill and the students' level of language study. Concludes that loanwards are not readily recognizable at any level and that the overall skill in recognition does…

Reasons that students have trouble developing their reading skills in Russian include: (1) reading comprehension is regarded as unimportant; (2) teachers discourage the surmising of meaning; and, (3) it is difficult to remember Russian words unless their elements (roots, prefixes, and suffixes) are recognized. (SED)