Writing Centers in Russia: Limitations and Challenges

Abstract

Academic writing in Russia is gaining a momentum due to the governmental policies of promoting international publications by Russian researchers and academics and internationalizing the Russian education. However, a number of interrelated factors, such as the generally poor command of written English among researchers, the traditionally low status of teachers of English in non-linguistic universities, and the lack of academic writing methodology in the native language along with the national tradition of rather incomprehensible writing, impede the implementation of these policies. In this paper, I analyze the current situation in Russia and consider the ways of preventing problems which might result from adopting methodological and institutional models created in a different social and cultural context by applying the Russian economist Oleg Sukharev’s principles of system stability. Emphasis is made on networking between researchers, academics and EAP teachers, the bilingual approach to teaching academic writing and the necessity of developing its methodology in Russian.

Keywords: academic writing, writing center, internationalization of education, international publications, bilingual approach