ИСТИНА

The cultural component in English Language Teaching has been in the focus of teachers’ attention for some time. Teaching speech etiquette, or social English, is part and parcel of this aspect of language study. In the present paper special emphasis is made on the importance of diachronic and synchronic approach to the issue under consideration. Otherwise stated, the talk deals with some features of the formation and evolution of speech etiquette in English, the modern state of affairs in this field of speech activity, as well as the significance of its awareness in English Language Teaching. It is pointed out that among some salient characteristics of English speech etiquette one can name understatement and euphemism, as well as diverse stylistic variants of politeness formulae, which are used in accordance with a given speech situation. A Russian student of English should be fully aware of these peculiarities, if what he/ she is after is effective and unconstrained cross-cultural communication.