ИСТИНА

The talk is devoted to such a vital part of cultural studies as speech etiquette, or the language of socializing in English. The following aspects of English speech etiquette are brought to the fore: 1) its oblique modality, understatement, less directness and straightforwardness; 2) its semiotic nature, as it is a kind of a code; 3) its reliance on the existence of clearly defined stylistic variants, which are picked depending on who a person addresses – a mere acquaintance, a stranger or a close friend. As the subject is rather vast, the talk focuses only on Greetings-Introductions-Leave-Takings. The material is gleaned from the well-known work by a famous British anthropologist Kate Fox “Watching the English. The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour”. Turning to the study of English speech etiquette opens up new vistas for teaching students, because linguocultural studies are becoming increasingly more important in the education process. As an outstanding British linguist David Crystal states, "it is essential to provide a perspective which will enable the students of English to move towards deeper understanding of various cultural aspects of the language they are learning".