Elena Lawrick is Assistant Professor and directs the ESL Program at Reading Area Community College. She received her Ph.D. degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from Purdue University. Her research focuses on bridging the fields of world Englishes and second language writing. In the field of world Englishes, her research concentrates on the sociolinguistic realities of English in the Expanding Circle, especially Russia. Her dissertation, entitled “English in Russian Academia: Uses and Perceived Significance”, investigates an ongoing language change in the Russian scholarly community, drawing on the analysis of sociopolitical factors and empirical data. With Dr. Proshina, Elena founded and co-authored the English in Russia Internet Project and continues to assemble the bibliography of works investigating the sociolinguistic realities of English in the Russian Federation. In the field of second language writing, her research focuses on the impact of the dominance of English in international scholarly publishing on teaching writing in the U.S. higher education institutions. Her forthcoming publication “Students in the first-year ESL writing program: revisiting the notion of “traditional” ESL” discusses the implications of the global spread of English for U.S. writing program administration.
