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Russian Language Journal

Keywords

Russian, study, globalization, language, foreign

Abstract

The present issue of RLJ reflects the new editorial board’s view of the state of Russian study in the U.S. and the world today in the context of globalization, internationalization of curriculum, and increased expectations regarding the outcomes of language study everywhere. (Verbitskaya) While more modest than the bold Soviet-era policy assertions concerning Russian as a “primary language of mass international communication,” Kostomarov addresses the new role of Russian as mother tongue, second language, or major foreign language for more than 300 million speakers in the world, nearly 3 million of whom are now resident in the United States, and contributing thereby to a new concept of the meaning of “world languages.” With this change in status has come the need for a much more “activist” and outreach-oriented role for the professional associations that support the study and teaching of Russian, and for the donor organizations that make their work possible. (Brecht) The editors are pleased that Dr. Brecht’s new model of field architecture derives to some degree from his firsthand role and observations of the evolution of ACTR itself over the past 30 years.

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