Creative Economy in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

The article is devoted to the analysis of the concept of a new creative economy. Creative economy is a special sector of the economy, combining activities related to intellectual work, creativity. The creative economy is based on intellectual work, generating income not only from the final product created, but also from trading in its results and intellectual property rights as opposed to traditional factors of production. In the creative economy, the kreatosphere is formed. The kreatosphere is a type of activity in the creative economy. Features of the products of the creative economy are the high added values created by intellectual effort. On the example of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), accelerators of the development of the kreatosphere are highlighted: the development of educational programs, the preparation of creative, creative-minded specialists; support of innovation centers and investments in creative industries; development of creative projects. Keywords: new economy, creative economy, digital economy, kreatosphere, creative class, creativit

L2 Nonword Recognition and Phonotactic Constraints

This lexical decision task tests the salience of the first language phonological filter in fluent Russian-English adult bilinguals. The results show that illegal English nonwords with sound clusters impossible for English but which are at the same time legal for Russian (which means they occur in Russian), are sooner recognized as such than those nonwords that do not violate constraints of either language. All critical items have the same structure (CCVCC), with one-to-one grapheme-phoneme correspondence and are controlled for frequency and neighborhood density. As expected, both groups have significantly lower accuracy and take longer to process legal nonwords, and native English speakers have faster processing times and better accuracy than the bilingual group. The results of the experiment and the debriefing session suggest that, at the level of phonological processing, fluent adult bilinguals seem well aware of the information that is impossible in L2 and reject illegal items before accessing lexical knowledge

Morphological bottleneck: the case of Russian heritage speakers

The Bottleneck Hypothesis (Slabakova, 2008) assumes functional morphology to be a particular challenge in second language (L2) acquisition whereas acquisition of syntax and semantics to be unproblematic. I propose, following Polinsky (2011), that functional morphology can be seen as an acquisitional bottleneck for heritage language (hl) speakers as well. Russian verbal aspect is known to be problematic in bilingual Russian children (Anstatt, 2008; Gupol, 2009), in adult foreign language learners (Slabakova, 2005, Nossalik, 2009) and in Russian heritage speakers of low (Polinsky, 2008) and even near-native fluency (Laleko, 2010)

Exploring change : oral metadiscourse of advanced learners of Russian in extended study abroad

Abstract: In this dissertation, I propose to examine the oral metadiscourse of advanced learners of Russian (RAL2). The data is drawn from speech samples collected at Time 1 and Time 2 during the subjects’ yearlong residence abroad. The first oral segment portrays RAL2s’ metadiscourse (MD) after four months of in-country residence, and the second oral segment demonstrates changes in MD that result from an additional five months spent in the target language environment. Speech samples include role-play and narration, which are the tasks that RAL2 carry out in the Test of Russian as a Foreign Language level 3 (TORFL-3) Professional mastery, speaking portion. From the perspective of the current study, TORFL-3 role-play situated in a professional context most vividly demonstrates the composition of RAL2 oral metadiscourse as participants engage in organizing their message and positioning themselves in a formal setting. In order to understand whether task format bears any significance, I also consider narrative from TORFL-3 and provide a between-task comparison of metadiscourse. To explore oral metadiscourse in RAL2s’ speech, I apply the functional framework of metadiscourse put forth by Hyland (2005). Such analysis illuminates the composition of unexplored facets of proficiency by offering a description of an RAL2 metadiscourse profile. Furthermore, this dissertation addresses the question of nativelikeness by comparing RAL2s’ and native speakers’ metadiscourse in role-plays. I explore the extent to which RAL2’s and native speakers’ (NS) metadiscourse exhibit similarities. The findings herein contribute to research on long-term study abroad gains, and they offer implications for instruction in the area of metadiscourse at the advanced level of proficiency.Slavic and Eurasian Studie

Valuating the appropriation of digital technologies across Russian regions

The COVID-19 pandemic has proved a powerful catalyst for the integration of digital technologies in everyday life. Many digital routines have replaced the traditional ones relating to purchasing goods and services, information exchange, movement, document issuance, or scheduling medical appointments. Despite technology proliferating through society, the digital divide is widening. The place of residence is a factor affecting the involvement in digitalisation, along with age, education, income, and the availability of ICT infrastructure. This study evaluates the readiness of the population of various Russian regions to embrace digital technologies. Based on a comparative analysis of traffic to the most popular websites on the Russian Internet, grouped into five categories (e-commerce, e-government, information exchange, spatial mobility, scholarly communication), an index method for assessing readiness for digitalisation is developed. The study uses Yandex search data from February 2019 to January 2021. The findings suggest that Russian regions may be divided into digitally advanced areas, runner-ups, average performers, and the digital periphery. Recommendations are given on how to increase readiness for digital transformation in territories of different types without running the risks of forced digitalisation

Building the Russian world: cultural diplomacy of the Russian language and cultural identity

This article explores the topics of Russian diaspora and the politics of culture and identity, expressed through Russia’s humanitarian cooperation initiatives. The study posits that the Russian cultural diplomacy policy focuses on the compatriots living abroad and the Russian Diaspora to create and solidify Russkiy Mir [Russian World] communities and turn them into Russia’s advocates abroad. The study extends the argument that the Russian language is treated as one of the main tools in Russia’s soft power arsenal to foster loyal and supportive attitudes toward Russia among the Russian-speaking communities. Such policy accentuates language as an important marker of stronger sense of belonging and self-identification (in this case with the Russian World) and a critical element in the construction of cultural and/or ethnic identity. The study highlights the complexity and diversity of Russian Diasporas and Russian compatriots that comprise Russkiy Mir, specifically in the United States, and discusses the socio-linguistic factors these efforts must take into account in the Russian-speaking Diasporas abroad

Extending RiC-O to Model Historical Architectural Archives: The ITDT Ontology

Historical architectural archives enjoy attention from diverse audiences, acting as a primary source of information for architects, historians, public authorities, and common citizens alike. In Italy, the interest in architectural archives has grown slowly but steadily for the last 20 years. However, architectural archives do not generally follow the trend common for museums and galleries in publishing digitized materials and providing standard metadata for individual records. The information that is available online usually includes only an archival finding aid, instead of metadata about the individual records, or fully digital versions of the records. While cataloguing standards for archival descriptions of architectural records have existed at least since the 1980s, the rise of Linked Open Data as a framework for publishing cultural heritage data has allowed archivists to enhance these archival descriptions with richer contextual information and links to external knowledge bases. In this paper we present the ITDT ontology, an extension of the Records in Contexts Ontology that facilitates the representation of architectural records and of the context related to architectural projects, its process, and participating entities. We discuss the application of the ontology to the project files of Italian architect and engineer Dino Tamburini (1924–2011), and the creation of a digital archive offering multiple perspectives over the records

The impact of institutions on regional credit ratings in Russia

Relevance. Institutions of a fiscal system play a significant role in regional credit ratings. This is reflected in the low creditworthiness of Russian regions from the international perspective.Research objective. The paper discusses the role of the institutional factors in the credit ratings assigned to Russian regions by Russian and international agencies.Data and Methods. The study analyzes the rating methodology adopted by Russian and international credit rating agencies and tests the presence of the institutional factors by conducting a formal regression analysis based on the data from the budgetary systems of Russia and the United States.Results. We demonstrate that international agencies value institutional factors, while Russian agencies use formal quantitative indicators. By applying comparative regression analysis to the economic and fiscal indicators of Russian regions and U.S. states, we found that The Big Three (Fitch Ratings, SP Global Ratings and Moody's Investors Service) rate Russian regions lower than U.S. states, although the formal indicators between the two fiscal systems at the regional level do not differ as much. Conclusions. We conclude that the lower creditworthiness of Russian regions in the international perspective reflects the weakness of the institutions in the Russian budgetary system. Practically, the assessment of regional creditworthiness in Russia by the international agencies highlights the areas of intergovernmental fiscal relations that need improvement, most notably the insufficient tax and spending autonomy of local and regional governments