PARAMETERS OF THE LANGUAGE SHIFT AND TEACHING RUSSIAN IN THE US

DOI: 10.24412/2470-1262-2022-1-74-84

Abstract:

The article examines the problems of teaching the Russian language in American universities from the point of view of heritage learners coming from Russian-speaking immigrant families. This group is attracting increasing attention from researchers in the context of growing crisis in the teaching of foreign languages in the United States. Having acquired the Russian language in the conditions of language shift in the immigrant community, such students have limited register of language opportunities, but retain an internal connection with the culture and the language. In addition to the linguistic aspects of bilingualism, the article investigates the sociological and psychological features of this target group.

Keywords: language shift, bilingualism, heritage learners, extra-linguistic factors, linguistic variation, language games, teaching Russian as a foreign language

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Information about the author:

Pustovoit Igor V. (Hempstead, NY, USA) – Doctor of Arts, Professor of Russian Language and Literature at the Department of Comparative Literature, Languages, and Linguistics of Hofstra University. Spent twelve years at Kiev University prior to coming to the US in 1992. Research interests include cognitive linguistics, metaphor, formality, vagueness, linguistic identity, linguistic imperialism, as well as foreign-language methodology, and Russian as a foreign language. E-mail: Igor.V.Pustovoit@hofstra.edu

For citation: Pustovoit Igor V., (2022).

Parameters of the language shift and teaching Russian in the US. Cross-Cultural Studies: Education and Science, Vol. 7, Issue 1 (2022), pp. 74-84 (in USA) Manuscript received: 11/01/2022 – Accepted for publication: 28/03/2022