Russian language in the space of the Russian World: from status determination to the postulation of care

Babaeva Anastasiya Valentinovna ORCID: 0000-0002-0676-6336 PhD in Philosophy Associate Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Minin Nizhny Novgorod Statе Pedagogical University 603157, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanova str., 1, office 405 dff1890@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

The term "Russian world" was introduced into scientific use in the middle of the nineteenth century, nowadays heated discussions are unfolding around it, but we have to admit that it is still far from a clear formulation of the content of the concept. It is impossible not to agree with researcher Penkova E.A. that "in a meaningful sense, the concept is still metaphorical, it is more a speech turnover than a specific scientific category with a clear conceptual status" ^{[1, p. 4]}.

The vagueness of the concept can be explained, among other things, by the fact that the representative of the concept turns out to be a composite phraseological nomination consisting of the lexical components "Russian" and "world", where the leading role is assigned to the first component. Each of the components is already as semantically loaded as possible, so in total they make up not so much a clear definition as a "cloud" of meanings. In whatever field – science, culture, politics – the concept is used, in any case it causes a whole associative range of meanings, therefore serious problems arise with the translation of the concept into other languages.

The complexity, ambiguity of the concept, as well as its frequent use without revealing its meaning in public discourse – all this gave rise to politically biased Western authors to characterize the "Russian world" as an "empty sign" or "floating signifier" – a concept that not only does not have a specific meaning, but also can change its meaning depending on a specific situation ^[2]. On the other hand, translations of the concept "Russian world" as "Russian World" or as "Pax Russica" distort the meanings with which the concept runs in the domestic context, causing negative associations in the minds of foreign researchers ^[3,4,5,6].

Regardless of how the content of the concept is revealed, language is considered one of the factors of the identity of the Russian world ^[7]. However, during the discussions, opinions regarding the status and role of the Russian language in the formation and development of the phenomenon itself were divided. Russian Russian The purpose of this article is to critically comprehend the main approaches that have developed in Russian thought regarding the positions that the Russian language has in the cultural and civilizational space of the Russian world. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks: Russian Russian Russian Russian language 1) identify and analyze the main approaches in determining the status of the Russian language as an identification factor of the Russian world; 2) assess the status of the Russian language in various regions of the Russian world: in the core (Russia) and in the inner belt (CIS countries, using the example of the republics of Central Asia); 3) outline the vectors of the Russian state's concern for Russian the language. Russian Russian language analysis of public discussions, which are often attended by top officials of the Russian state, in our opinion, allows us to form an idea of the status of the Russian language in the public consciousness, as well as demonstrate the methodological potential of the language factor in determining the structure and boundaries of the Russian world.

Critical discourse analysis, combining kratological, semiotic and sociocultural interpretations, is used as the leading research method. Russian Russian language The author believes that statements about the Russian language and its status, articulated by representatives of the Russian elites, are not just a description of the linguistic situation, but actually outline the socio-cultural boundaries within which the existence of the Russian world unfolds. And the very repeated reference to this topic by President V.V. Putin, Patriarch Kirill, testifies, firstly, to the relevance of the issue both at the theoretical level and at the level of socio-political practices; and, secondly, to the presence of a request from the public consciousness to clarify the problem area and a clear formulation of the appropriate methodology.

The Russian World: from Political Discourse to Academic Studies

The concept of the "Russian world" appeared in political discourse in 2000 in connection with the proclamation of a strategy for the consolidation of compatriots who found themselves outside Russia in different periods of history. Russians Russian world" became one of the basic concepts of the country's foreign policy doctrine by the end of the first decade of the 21st century, through which the idea of promoting the Russian language and Russian culture abroad was legislatively outlined ^[8].

Russian Russian Federation Foreign Policy Concept proclaims Russia as the core of the Russian world – a special cultural and civilizational community (The Concept of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation V.V.Putin on March 31, 2023 No. 229.). The essence and principles of the historical formation of the Russian world were outlined in the speech of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin at Russian Russian People's Council plenary session in November 2023: "The Russian world is all the generations of our ancestors and our descendants who will live after us. The Russian world is Ancient Russia, the Moscow Kingdom, the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, this is modern Russia, which returns, strengthens and multiplies its sovereignty as a world power. Russian Russian world unites all those who feel a spiritual connection with our Homeland, who consider themselves native speakers of the Russian language, history, culture, regardless of national or religious affiliation" (Speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the World Russian People's Council on November 28, 2023 http://www.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/page/32 ).

As we can see, the principle of the formation of the Russian world is clearly marked by the spatial-temporal principle, which describes the time of origin and the process of formation of the phenomenon in the context of a certain space: The logic of the development of the Russian world is clearly reflected in 5 historical stages. Regarding geography, the issue is more difficult to solve: the Russian world appears as a kind of living, pulsating organism, whose living space, judging by the statement, is expanding and contracting. Thus, Ancient Russia is geographically much smaller than the Russian Empire, in fact, modern Russia is geographically inferior to the scale of the Soviet Union. But despite the change in the political form of the organization of power and the transformation of geography in the ontological aspect: value, semantic – the Russian world continues to live and develop. So, we are talking not only about space, but also about people who are bearers of the meanings of the Russian world.

Two points should be highlighted here. Russian Russian culture is the ontology of the Russian world, "which is universally recognized on a global scale, is not imitative, ... went far beyond the national framework, influenced the development of other cultures" (Gromyko A. The Russian world: concept, principles, values, structure https://russkiymir.ru/analytics/tables/news/119902 /). In this case, the term "culture" means a multifaceted, centuries-old experience that "all generations of our ancestors" have accumulated, and artistic practices, including outside the Russian world, are a representation of these accumulations. And in this regard, it is no coincidence that F.M. Dostoevsky is remembered with his description of "Russianness" as universal humanity, universal responsiveness and striving for unity (Report of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill at the plenary session of the XXV World Russian People's Council. http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/6080946.html). Russian Russian culture is not even being talked about for this reason, but about Russian culture with a Russian dominant, where polyethnicity, multi-confessionality, and "multiculturalism" are recognized as fundamental values. Thus, they strive to emphasize the universality of Russian culture, which is not limited solely to ethnographic parameters.

The second point to which attention should be paid is the problem of determining a person's belonging to the Russian world. Who can be considered a representative of the Russian world? Thus, N.A. Narochnitskaya, a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, suggests referring to the Russian world those "who are united by a sense of belonging to the entire centuries-old history of Russia with its ups and downs, sins, delusions and tosses" ^{[9, p. 5]}. Thus, belonging to a cultural and civilizational community is based not on "blood" or the fact of birth in the "mother state", but on a sense of belonging to Russia, i.e., an existential psychological correlation with a certain community, a desire to share a common historical fate with Russia. Russian Russian World Foundation head V.A. Nikonov writes about the same thing, however, his "sense of belonging" as a fundamental characteristic of representation in the Russian world is also supplemented by an interest in Russian culture ^[10].

In this case, it is necessary to talk not only about compatriots, but also about a very wide range of people who are not indifferent to Russian culture. With regard to the definition of the first category, we can be guided by normative legal acts recognizing as compatriots people "born in the same state, living or living in it and possessing signs of common language, history, cultural heritage, traditions and customs, as well as descendants of these persons in a direct descending line" (Federal Law "On State Policy Of the Russian Federation in relation to compatriots abroad" dated 05/24/1999, No. 99-FZ). Despite the fact that the legislation fixes several more groups of people who fall under the status of compatriots, as a result of which the boundaries of definition are vaguely expanded, it is still possible to talk about the existence of a methodology for the formation of a specific category.

The situation with the second cohort is much more complicated. Russian Russian culture is not entirely clear how to determine the presence of interest in Russian culture, where is the level of interest that allows you to relate a person to the Russian world? In fact, in this case, we should talk about translators of Russian culture, which can include those, for example, for whom Russian studies and related scientific fields are the subject of study, research or teaching. Russian Russian language and culture are not native to people who also work to popularize and promote them.

Taking into account the latest theses, let's return to the problem of spatial and geographical characteristics of the Russian world. Russian Russian President Vladimir Putin's famous phrase that the Russian world has no borders, that it is global – this is true, by the way, for other civilizations – means that the Russian world is not limited to the Russian Federation, since its representatives are located in every corner of the globe: in Asia, Africa, Europe ... Here Russian The world acts as an integration mechanism for everyone who feels a "spiritual connection" with Russia and its culture. Russian Russians, then, it turns out that "it is necessary to talk about the Russian world without tying it either to the Russian state or to the Russian nation. The focus of attention is ... the "traveling", cross-border Russian world and the very process of spreading, scattering our culture, language, science in the global world" ^{[11, pp. 270-271]}.

Russian Russian language analysis of the spatial-temporal and ontological principles outlining the contours of a cultural and civilizational organism raises the question of the foundations of identification with the Russian world and, in fact, the role of the Russian language in the identification process even more acutely. In this regard, over the past quarter century, three fundamental approaches have emerged on the Russian research agenda that address this issue in different ways. In the light of the first, conditionally we can call it a worldview approach, the worldview, i.e. awareness of the unity of historical destiny, community of spiritual and moral values, in other words, culture and tradition based on the foundation of Orthodoxy, occupies a decisive role in the process of establishing belonging to the Russian world. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill expresses the most authoritative opinion here. Russian Russian Russian Russian is an important parameter, according to his position, but it cannot be considered as a common denominator of the Russian world, since emigrants of the second and third generation, who hardly speak Russian, can nevertheless consider themselves to be truly Russian people. In his report at the World Russian People's Council in 2023, the Patriarch expressed another argument in defense of his own position: Russian Russian is not spoken and written by everyone who speaks and writes Russian as their native language, thereby declaring their belonging to the Russian people. Even more, some openly renounce their national roots, testifying to the rejection of the Russian cultural code" (http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/6080946.html ). Russian Russian is not an independent tool for identifying the Russian world, but only a marker of the peripheral level in the light of this approach.

The second approach, conventionally called socio-cultural, considers language as an essential element of the Russian world, i.e. a marker of the nuclear, first level, but among other significant factors. Russian Russian culture and the Russian Orthodox Church, for example, V.A. Nikonov believes that language as a factor of self-identification should be distinguished along with Russian culture and the Russian Orthodox Church ^[10]. Russian Russian Academy of Sciences Academician V.A. Tishkov, describing the mechanisms of the formation of the Russian world, states: "the Russian language and Russian-speaking Russian or Soviet culture, together with historical memory, unite and construct this world." Russian Russian emigrants form the Russian diaspora, and not a "trivial migration" on the basis of the Russian language, the loss of which actually means the loss of belonging to the Russian world ^[8]. Russian Russian As we can see, according to the second approach, for representatives of the Russian world located outside of Russia, the Russian language is regarded as the only channel of communication with the core of civilization.

And the last approach, linguistic-semiotic, proclaims the Russian language itself as the main factor of identification. Many researchers note that the conceptual design of the idea of the "Russian world" was laid at the turn of the XX–XXI centuries. directly within the framework of this approach thanks to the activities of the Moscow Methodological Circle. The founder of the concept is considered to be P.G. Shchedrovitsky, who in the late 1990s proposed a strategy for "gathering" disunited and scattered Russian-speaking compatriots as a result of the collapse of the USSR. Russian Russian World is a network structure of large and small communities that think and speak Russian in this logic (https://shchedrovitskiy.com/russkiy-mir /). Shchedrovitsky's concept was based on the idea of capital accumulation as "a set of cultural, intellectual, human and organizational potentials expressed in linguistic thinking and communication (humanitarian) resources of the Russian language." He believed that by organizing the interaction of the "Slavic triangle" (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine) and diasporas around the world, it is possible to create a network structure that could broadcast intellectual and industrial technologies from Russia to the outside and back. Technological metaphors and the economism of the concept did not take root in the domestic intellectual space, and very soon the geopolitical perspective was replaced by a geocultural one. But the intention of the linguistic-semiotic approach, according to which language is the determining factor of the identity of the Russian world, was further developed: Russian Russian is undoubtedly the binding solution of the Russian world, the main carrier of its historical codes and meanings, and the basis of its culture." (Gromyko A. The Russian world: concept, principles, values, structure https://russkiymir.ru/analytics/tables/news/119902 / )

The language factor and the civilizational identity of the Russian world

The assessment of the relevance of approaches, as well as everything related to the methodology of analyzing the phenomenon of the "Russian world", refers to problem areas. The idea of the leading role of language in the formation of the identity of the Russian world, advocated by representatives of the linguistic-semiotic approach, is clearly extrapolated from the "language-nation" model. Indeed, any nation is, first of all, a linguistic community, and the role of the linguistic factor in the process of formation and development of the nation only increases over time, since the national literary language is nothing more than a condition for the existence of national culture ^[12]. In this regard, national States are concerned about the creation of standardized languages through the universal education system ^[13]. Russian Russian, however, is a transnational and trans–state community, therefore, it is not necessary to expect from the Russian language that it will fully "work out" the functions of consolidation and identification in the space of global culture. These theoretical calculations are confirmed by empirical studies. Russians Russian Russian Russians, for example, conducted a study back in 2014 on how Russians understand the phenomenon of the "Russian World", showed that 56% of Russians are confident that citizens who "do not speak Russian can be part of the "Russian world" ("Russian world" and how to understand it? https://wciom.ru/analytical-reviews/analiticheskii-obzor/russkij-mir-i-kak-ego-ponimat). Russian Russian is thus not considered by more than half of Russians as an indicator of belonging to the Russian world. It would seem that here one should see a manifestation of the universal humanity of the Russian soul, postulating the establishment of peace and harmony between people regardless of linguistic differences. But, from another point of view, the result of the study cannot but be alarming, since it indicates a decrease in the value of the Russian language in the public consciousness.

Russian Russian language status and its functionality in the space of the Russian world have undoubtedly changed significantly since the birth of the cultural and civilizational community itself. Russian Russian world is mentioned in the first text, "The Word for the renewal of the Tithe Church" (XI century), the expression "into the Growing world" ^[14] has a semantics close to the meaning of "cultural and civilizational education created by the Russian people". Russian Russian is an ethnonym, meaning a person who speaks Russian easily, as opposed to a "German" - any foreigner, literally "mute", i.e., not speaking the language properly, speaking Russian indistinctly. By the way, in this sense the word "German" (without reference to the Germans themselves) existed in the Russian language until the XVII century ^{[15, p.3; 16, p. 98]}. This circumstance demonstrates that language, in addition to the function of identification, also has the function of differentiation, distinguishing native speakers from representatives of other ethno-cultural communities. Most likely, this function, along with the identification function of modern languages, is also not fully implemented.

Russians Russian world phenomenon, it is worth noting that certain developments in the status of the Russian language in the space of the Russian world have been beginning to manifest themselves since the XIII century. Russian Russian world" is mentioned next in the "Epistle of the humble Bishop Simon of Vladimir and Suzdal to Polycarp, chernorizets Pecherskiy" ^[17], it turns out that it is already correlated not with the Russian language directly, but with the axiology of Russian culture. Russian Russian Russian Russian Bishop Leonty (Rostovsky), a Greek by origin, who in the course of his ministry on Russian soil showed the spiritual and moral qualities befitting representatives of the civilization of the Russian world: true Christian faith, sacrifice, patience, humility, etc. It can be concluded that since the XIII century the Russian language as a factor Russian Russian identification is gradually beginning to lose its defining importance and comes into conflict with such factors as cultural values and religious faith (Orthodox Christianity somehow becomes the subject of author's reflections in all Russian medieval texts, where the concept of "Russian world" arises).

Russians Russian language in the space of the Russian world, two contours should be taken into account – internal and external. Russian Russian language When it comes to the inner contour, the processes concerning the existence of language in the core of the Russian world – on the territory of the Russian state, i.e. the existence of the Russian language in the status of a national literary language, are touched upon. This question concerns both the objective side of the case and the subjective assessment of what is happening by native speakers. Russians Russian Language: Development, Enrichment, Dissemination, conducted by VTSIOM in April 2021, are interesting in this regard. More than half of the respondents (67%) believe that foreign words do not enrich the Russian language in any way, and almost 27% of respondents even declare a feeling of irritation that they experience if they witness the fact of using foreign words in speech. People over the age of 60 are most critical of unjustified borrowing. And 50% of the respondents said that they do not use foreign words in their speech at all (https://wciom.ru/analytical-reviews/analiticheskii-obzor/russkii-jazyk-razvitie-obogashchenie-rasprostranenie-1).

The survey data indicate that the purity of the Russian language for native speakers is a matter of interest and concern. We see that the citizens of the Russian Federation are not indifferent to what is happening with their native language inside the country, moreover, most of the respondents negatively assess the situation with uncritical borrowing of foreign words. However, since the expression "Russian world" has become a basic concept in building a foreign policy doctrine, it is impossible to ignore the external contour. Here we have to take into account, firstly, the fact that more than 20 million compatriots currently live outside Russia (Interview with E. Primakov http://russkiymir/news/293552 /). And, secondly, to consider the specifics of the current global language situation: 1) "we no longer live in a culture of reading and writing"; 2) "we inevitably live in a multilingual world"; 3) we live in an era characterized by the emergence of the first global language of transnational communication - "a certain kind of English" ^{[12, p.39]}. Russian Russian language in general marks the position of Russian culture on the world stage, and for this reason it becomes a matter of concern for the Russian state in the field of protecting compatriots abroad and defending its interests in the system of international relations.

In recent years, the Russian state has launched two large-scale projects aimed at a comprehensive study of this problem and the development of ways to solve it. Russian Russian Language and Literature Teachers Association's first project, implemented in cooperation with the Higher School of Economics, is called "The position of the Russian language in the education system of foreign countries" (https://ropryal.ru/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Исследование-положения-русского-языка-в-системах-образования.pdf). Russian Russian Language The project aims to identify the factors influencing the decline in interest in the study of the Russian language with the growth of critical publications in the press about the Russian language and Russian culture in general. Russian Russian Language Index The second project is called "The Index of the position of the Russian language in the world", the project is implemented by the Pushkin State Institute of the Russian Language. Russian Russian language's main task is to "monitor the state of the Russian language", i.e., to determine the index of stability of the Russian language in the post-Soviet countries ^[18]. The monitoring itself is included in the global contour, which implies a description of the main trends in the development of the situation against the background of competition between the Russian language and the languages of international communication.

The first project works to understand the specifics of the state's humanitarian policy in supporting the Russian language. The results of the study show that the situation in different regions of the world regarding the Russian language is heterogeneous, mainly depends on political and economic factors: a steady interest in the language persists where ties with Russia are being established and strengthened. However, the complexity of the language and the lack of prospects for professional use affect the interest in learning the Russian language no less than the negative image of Russia created by Western media.

Russians Russian Language Institute's latest (2023 as of 2022) study defines the "GC-Index" as a whole at the level of last year, where the Russian language occupies a confident 5th place in terms of the number of scientific publications (on Scopus and Web of Science platforms), maintaining last year's positions and ahead of English, Chinese Russian Russian, Spanish and French; 4th place in terms of status in international organizations when used in supranational communication (Russian is the official language of fifteen major international organizations); and 2nd place in terms of Internet content, i.e. the number of sites in Russian. Russian Russian speakers In general, the indicators are estimated to be quite good, but the research results demonstrate the fact that the total number of Russian speakers decreased to 255 million over the year, as a result of which the Russian language lost ground and dropped from 8th place in the ranking to 9th ^[19].

Russian Russian speakers are in decline, not least due to natural processes, in particular, the decline in the population of the core of the Russian world. However, negative trends are also taking place in the inner belt of civilization - in the CIS countries. After the collapse of the USSR, the Central Asian countries defined the logic of relations with the Russian Federation in different ways, and consequently, the principles of language policy. Regardless of the nature of relations with Russia, all the republics of this region have embarked, firstly, on multilingualism, and secondly, on de-Russification. The implementation of the principle of multilingualism meant for most CIS countries the launch of projects on learning English, which further weakened the position of the Russian language. De-russification meant for the CIS countries a movement towards national independence and a demonstration of diplomatic freedom. Turkmenistan is the most closed country from this region, consistently pursuing a program of de-russification. The language policy of this country in relation to the neutralization of the Russian language turned out to be the most thorough and consistent ^{[20, p.269]}. The Russian language is not used in government offices and in everyday practices of Turkmenistan. Russian Russian schools are currently operating in the country, and in a few Russian-speaking classes, some subjects are taught in the Turkmen language, although there is a request from the population to master the Russian language. Russian Russian language specialists in a situation of serious shortage of personnel, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation launched a free Russian language learning project in the republic in 2022.

Russian Russian language has been given official status by Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, countries with close trade and economic contacts with Russia and a significant proportion of the Russian population. It can be said that these countries generally adhere to the adoption model in their language policy towards the Russian language. Russian Russian was declared the official language of communication along with Kazakh by the Constitution of Kazakhstan back in 1995, and the program for the implementation of language policy in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2020-2025 assigned general cultural functions to the Russian language. However, the widespread circulation of the Russian language in official documents and the media has caused discontent among representatives of other ethno-linguistic communities in Kazakhstan. The difficult ethno-cultural situation has led to a decrease in the Russian population in the republic. Similar processes are taking place in Kyrgyzstan. The Constitution of this country fixes Russian as the official language, which is functionally even more widely used than the Kyrgyz language. The official language in Kyrgyzstan is mainly symbolic, while Russian is practical. Russian Russian is widely used in the life of Bishkek and other major cities of the republic, but in the hinterland, the Russian distribution zone is minimal. In recent years, the number of Russian-speaking schools in Kyrgyzstan has been significantly reduced, as well as the amount of hours allocated to learning Russian.

Tajikistan is implementing a different strategic approach to the Russian language. The approach itself could be called the inconsistent resistance approach. At the moment, official documents recognize Russian as the language of international communication. However, the status of the Russian language has changed several times in the recent history of the republic. For example, the Tajik law of 2009 prescribed communication with authorities exclusively in the state language and effectively deprived Russian of the status of the language of interethnic communication. In 2011, the Russian language was restored to its former positions, it was again used in the publication of normative legal acts. The Russian side is making serious efforts to strengthen the position of the Russian language in this country. Only for the period from 2020 to 2022. Russia has opened 5 new Russian-speaking schools (the volume of investments amounted to more than $ 150 million), in 2023 several humanitarian projects aimed at popularizing Russian culture were implemented, and the number of quota places for students from Tajikistan to study in Russian universities was seriously increased.

The linguistic situation in Uzbekistan also turns out to be close to the one mentioned above. Russian Russian is deprived of the status of the language of interethnic communication by the current version of the law on the state language of the Republic of Uzbekistan (2016), while about a third of the messages in the media of the republic are published in Russian. In addition, Russian is allowed to be used in the preparation of documentation in the civil registry. Thus, a dual situation is developing in Uzbekistan: on the one hand, the government of the republic is striving to maintain the state language with all its might, on the other hand, it preserves the Russian language in the scientific and technical field and in the sphere of everyday communication in large cities.

Russian Russian Federation Summarizing the above, we can conclude that the core of the Russian world and its inner belt are experiencing a decrease in the number of speakers of the Russian language. These trends are very alarming, for this reason, the Russian state is faced with the need to develop comprehensive measures to strengthen the position of the Russian language. Here we should talk about the expansion of Russia's cultural influence abroad, primarily in the zone of the inner belt of the Russian world. And, of course, about the state language policy protecting the national language as a tool for the formation of national statehood. Unfortunately, we have to admit that the internal policy of our state is still in the formative stage. In this regard, the legislative framework governing the language situation suffers from vagueness and inconsistency (for example, the existence of two laws that regulate similar legal relations), lack of clarity in defining mandatory language norms, as well as the lack of transparent mechanisms for monitoring their compliance ^{[21, pp.49-57]}.

Conclusion

One could say that empirical studies show excessive attention to quantitative indicators and that not everything can be calculated. This is partly true. However, the figures persistently indicate a decrease in the number of users of the Russian language and a decrease in interest in it. If these problems were related solely to political and economic reasons, it would be possible to predict that as the political authority of the Russian Federation in the international arena strengthens and its economy grows, interest in the Russian language will automatically grow. But the uncertainty of forecasts is clearly added by such a cultural factor as the formed global language agenda, where the Russian language, competing with other languages, is by no means in a favorable position compared to simpler tools of international communication: "a certain version of English" or, for example, Spanish. Russian Russian, on the other hand, should not be dismissed from the billboards and the tendency to reduce the importance of the Russian language in the process of identification with the Russian world. Russian Russian citizenship can be "obtained" not so much by the level of proficiency in the Russian language, but by the level of mastering Russian speech etiquette, the norms of which are also becoming more vague. The Russian Russian language as a living organism is now in a difficult situation, experiencing negative pressure both from the outside and in the space of the civilization of the Russian world. Russian Russian language and the Russian world are becoming more and more clearly delineated, since the threat of language loss, restriction of its use, etc. are often regarded as a "sensitively perceived form of discrimination" ^{[22, p.7]}. Russian Russian Russian Russian language. Summarizing what has been said, we have to admit that the socio–cultural approach to determining the status of the Russian language today turns out to be the most adequately reflecting the realities of modern life: on the one hand, there is a whole group of factors determining identification with the Russian world and in addition to the linguistic, on the other - outside the core of civilization, it is the Russian language that often acts as a determining indicator of belonging to the Russian cultural and civilizational community.

In this regard, it must be recognized that not all the processes characterizing the existence of a language should be considered as natural and inevitable – certain things can be controlled, therefore, there is a need for an integrated approach to caring for the Russian language, about its life not only in the external contour, but also in the internal one. Russian Russian language positions outside Russia are regulated directly by the state program called "Support and promotion of the Russian language abroad". The program is aimed at implementing a diaspora policy, "increasing the volume" of exports of Russian education, and expanding the range of information resources in Russian. The language situation on the territory of the Russian Federation is also a matter of state concern, as evidenced by the adoption in February 2023 of the relevant law (Federal Law No. 52-FZ "On Amendments to the Federal Law "On the State Language of the Russian Federation"), aimed at strengthening the norms of the national language, expanding the scope of mandatory use of the state language of the Russian Federation, and protection against unjustified foreign borrowings. The law also regulates the mandatory linguistic examination of draft normative legal acts from January 2025.

Unfortunately, the vagueness of the description of the spheres of strict application of the state language, the lack of consistency of the principles of language policy, including in the articulation of mandatory language norms, the opacity of professional standards in the section of requirements for proficiency in the national language - all these issues are still awaiting their solution ^{[21, p. 60]}. But let's hope that the state language policy will be steadily improved, and that the measures taken in the near future will strengthen the norms of the national literary language, increase its status in the eyes of the Russian public, and also help make the Russian language more attractive for study outside our country.