English language in the context of globalization

The wide spread of English language is obvious today and in many ways remarkable. A variety of studies that are devoted to the role of English in the modern world have been undertaken in different countries and have demonstrated different and contradictory points of view. Some linguists see the reasons for the unprecedented spread of the English language in the colonial past of the British Empire, others explain this fact by pursuing the international policy from the United States, next explain this fact by conscious linguistic expansion, "linguistic imperialism" [1]. Without going into explanation of this phenomenon, we can note that today English plays a dominant role in intercultural communication of the international arena, both in the sphere of economy or business, and in science or in the media. In this regard, the need and importance of learning English as a foreign language is constantly growing.

On the other hand, the widespread of one language in the world leads to the fact that it is native for a quarter of all speakers on it. In other words, in most situations of international communication, English is not used by native speakers, but those who spoke it as a foreign language. To denote English as an international communication tool, linguists use various terms, such as "international" or "interethnic" language, "world English" Lingua Franca [2].

In connection with this, one of the most urgent areas of research at the present stage is the study of the linguistic features of the English language’s different variants. In addition to the generally accepted British and American and less popular Canadian or Australian versions of the English language, the researchers consider it possible to single out a wide variety of spoken English, called "New Englishes" or "World Englishes" [2]. The numerous studies that have been conducted in Western Europe suggest that the English language is currently undergoing the process of change. The differences that exist in different versions of the English language have been identified and described, both at the level of phonetics, and in the field of vocabulary and grammar.

The existence of various versions of the English language, and most importantly, the recognition as an equal language competence of non-native speakers will lead to the democratization of English itself, according to G. Ferguson [3]. Indeed, we often become witnesses to deviations of real usage from standard English norms, as well as discrepancies between classical, academic English and its colloquial variants. Such phenomena make us think about the principles of teaching English as a foreign language and the need to rethink both the content of the learning process and its forms and methods.

The traditional approach to learning a foreign language is focused on communicating with native speakers, and the pedagogical community is slow to respond to sociolinguistic changes that occur in the world. Teachers of English should take into account the new language situation in the world, under the influence of which the learning objectives and expected results can change. Since students will use English in their further professional work, mainly in the process of intercultural communication, we must adapt the structure and methods of learning to the changing conditions of communication and the realities of international communication in the modern world.

Thus, for today, there is a need for a broad discussion among both linguists or methodologists and practitioners of two fundamental questions:

• 1.    Which English language should we teach? Should we focus on the standards of the classical English language or consider its various options?

• 2.    Should we focus on the formation of linguistic and communicative competence or intensively introduce various accommodative strategies in the learning process that are aimed at facilitating understanding between representatives of different countries that are not native speakers of English?

Currently, a significant number of textbooks and training tools for teaching Global English have been published, which are usually in high demand, for example, Globish The World Over [4] and others. However, the main problem in this matter is the absence of a single standard.

If we consider Globish as a tool for intercultural communication, it can be considered an almost ideal means for communicating with a representative of any culture who knows English a little at least. The fact that "global English" inherited both cultures, Anglo-Saxon and American, may cause a difficulty. As a result, a person who is not familiar with one of these cultures will have difficulties in learning this language. Indicative in this regard is the fact that speakers of classical English cannot always understand this dialect, which creates additional difficulties for communication.

In addition, the mutual understanding of people from different countries will be hampered by the fact that the bearers of each culture bring something to Globish from their native language and their national culture. Global English can be an excellent solution for those who need to learn a foreign language in a short time, to solve daily household tasks, but the speech of such a person will be very primitive and poor. This language does not have a large vocabulary (about 1500 words), it completely lacks idiomatic expressions, mostly simplified syntactic constructions are used. If we want a graduate of a university or an expert to have a foreign language at a level of communicative competence that allows free use of it in professional and scientific activities, then the choice should be made in favor of the standard English language. Moreover, the distribution of a simplified English jeopardizes the fate of the classical English language: if more people prefer the global option, then classical English will be used only by its speakers, who will also have to master Global English as well.

If we consider as an ultimate goal the ability of students to participate in social, cultural and professional activities within the multinational community, then the learning process should be focused, first of all, on the formation of communicative competence. Obviously, in connection with the expansion of the English language’s boundaries use and the recognition of its various variants, the emphasis in the learning process is transferred from the linguistic component itself to such components as sociolinguistic and strategic competencies. Increasing importance is acquired by the ability to navigate in a specific communicative situation, to select statements that correspond to it not only in meaning but also in form, and also choose appropriate speech behavior strategies, to compensate for the lack of the language knowledge, including through non-verbal means.

Thus, the process of teaching English as a foreign language should be reviewed and optimized taking into account trends in the development of intercultural communication in the multicultural world. Moreover, recently researchers are increasingly talking about changes in the English language itself, revealing traces of influence on it from other languages, which allows us to speak about the multilateral orientation of linguistic exchange vector in the process of interlingual interactions [5].

Summarizing the foregoing, it can be said that the widespread use of the English language in the current globalization conditions leads to the fact that the English language itself undergoes significant changes, becomes different from what we are accustomed to consider correct. The modern language situation in the world is gradually moving from the dominance of standards of English-speaking native speakers to the prevalence of communicative methods of using English as a means of international communication between representatives of different nations or countries, and speakers of different languages. These changes should be reflected in the process of teaching English as a foreign language.