The kasha syndrome: English language teaching in Russia

This paper examines the current state of consciousness in the language teaching field, as it changes from a Soviet era of restricted resources to a potpourri of English language input from every corner of the planet. Language teaching in the Soviet system promoted a prescriptive “correct/incorrect” dichotomy; it privileged British over American English. Today, Russian administrators and teachers accept a bi-partisan English, British and American, but have yet to address the hundreds of millions of non-native speakers whose contributions are influencing English as a lingua franca.