The "Language Barrier" in private online tutoring: from an innocuous concept to a neoliberal marketing tool

The "language barrier" is a common buzzword in Russian-English teaching discourse that has not yet been critically investigated. This study contemplates a recently emerging phenomenon of private online language tutoring in Russia through investigation of this popular phrase. The paper draws on Critical Discourse Analysis to explore narratives about the language barrier, and shows that this concept is construed as a negative phenomenon that occurs with language learners as a result of "incorrect" methodology allegedly employed by public schools in selected Russian media as well as in websites about private online tutors. The findings suggest that the concept of "language barrier" seems to have been appropriated by for-profit English-teaching providers in Russia to justify their existence and attract more customers.