The Handbook of World Englishes, 2nd Edition

13Russian Englishes

ZOYA G. PROSHINA

1 Introduction

When discussing Russian Englishes,¹ I focus on the cultural diversity of Englishes in Russia, though the term in the plural can raise some doubts due to the federal state unity and strong trends toward standardization in the education system of Russia. However, standardization of English in Russia differs from similar processes in the Inner and Outer Circle countries in a greater variability of exonormative models that can be learnt and followed by users of English, which might be typical of other Expanding Circle Englishes as well. In this chapter, I also show the gradual expanding of English in Russia and the increase in its functions.

2 Russian English as a multicultural term

Russian English is not a term to indicate use of English in the ethnic framework only. Russia is a federal state, with 85 constituent entities (subjects) of the federation, including 22 republics, 4 autonomous okrugs (“districts”), 1 autonomous oblast (“province”), 9 krais (“territories”), 46 oblasts (“regions”), and 3 cities of federal importance. The republics, okrugs, and autonomous oblast are mainly homes for ethnic minorities, though every constituent entity has a mixed population. Over 180 ethnicities make up Russia’s population; therefore, over 180 cultures underpin languages used in the country. According to the 2010 census, the dominant language is Russian, which is in use by 99.4 % of the population, including 5.7 % of non‐Russian ethnicities ...