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Russian Language Journal

Article Title

Introduction

Keywords

leader, scholar, friend, Richard D, Brecht

Abstract

This volume is dedicated to an extraordinary leader, scholar, teacher, friend and mentor to many, Richard D. Brecht, in honor of his distinguished career as a researcher, organizer, advocate, and leader of significant and lasting institutions which have served the Less Commonly Taught Languages, the field of Russian, and the language readiness and preparedness of the United States. There is a tendency to count achievements as the measure of a man, more so when the qualities cited above are said to accrue to him. While Richardʹs work has always been scientifically rigorous and politically and epistemologically provocative, what is far more telling and more important is the quality and diversity of people he has gathered around him. The works collected here from his students and colleagues reflect the breadth of Richard’s scholarly interests and the impact of his activities over the past forty years insofar as they reflect the countless debates, heated conversations, and long discussions of Slavic linguistics, the acquisition of Russian, language policy in the US and elsewhere, and many other subjects that are intimately and inimitably linked to his vocation. The contributors to this volume represent a distinguished international коллектив of like‐minded colleagues, students, and researchers sharing Richard’s vocation: the improvement of the greater good through the expansion of language learning and use. That vocation rests on the integration of theoretical and empirical research, policy development. For the reader who may not be aware of his career and its import, I would like to take note of the significant reasons why we honor Richard Brecht with this Festschrift.

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