Virtual linguistic identity and teaching / learning foreign languages in a higher school

Many Russian universities support the implementation of information technologies into educational system actively using them in the instruction process. Taking into consideration the fact that the transition to a new model of teaching foreign languages creates the necessity to develop new concepts in universities, studying in the new conditions is aimed to achieve the maximal compliance of proficiency level in foreign languages with international standards. The authors of the article address the problem of linguistic identity and the language system, and the problem of linguistic identity and language acquisition. Linguistic identity is an integrative concept with heterogeneous and interrelated components. The paper gives the description of virtual linguistic identity considering it as a new type of linguistic identity characterized by a set of specific features, such as special values, changed attitude to time and space, high degree of preoccupation with virtual activity, special aims in communication. The researchers conclude that the use of foreign language Internet environment both in a selflearning model and in a classroom appears to be a powerful tool in forming virtual linguistic competence of non-linguistic university students that has been proved by a number of educational experiments.