Abstract

English in Russia has made significant inroads by the beginning of the 21st century. The workplace, education, and business are domains in which the use of English is rapidly increasing because English proficiency is seen as the promise of economic, cultural, and individual advantage over others. The sociolinguistic survey reveals that Russian speakers learn English through instruction, and mainly for instrumental reasons, including the use of a lingua franca. The target varieties of English for Russians are still British and American English. The attitudes are controversial toward the issue whether English variety spoken in Russia has or has not its own distinct features. At present, Russian English is not an institutionalized variety, but all indications exist that English will continue to be Russians’ language of wider communication with the rest of the world.