The article offers a project-based lesson of English with university students, which is aimed at studying the way stereotypes function in mass culture. Critical multiculturalism is currently gaining more and more attention among researchers, its rise is reflected in English language study books, which stands in stark contrast with the inexhaustible popularity of stereotypes in mass culture. Meanwhile, it is noteworthy that stereotypes are viewed not only as clichéd images of ethnic and socio-cultural groups, but they also participate in categorizing the flow of incoming information and thus act as an essential tool of cognition. During the preparation for the project-based lesson, students studied and analyzed the functioning of stereotypes in various samples of mass culture, including commercials and memes, and then presented the results of their research in class. With the help of their teacher the students managed to reveal the following functions of stereotypes in mass culture: cognitive, persuasive, integrative, reflexive, entertaining (including sarcastic), therapeutic function, and the function of compression. Further research may continue this list and describe the hierarchical relations between the functions.

The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of the complexity of texts on the material of the linguistic subcorpus of English textbooks “English”, “Starlight” and “Rainbow English” for the 11th grade. The total volume of the sub-corpus of texts acting as empirical material for the research amounted to 36 texts (3955 word uses). One of the characteristics of the complexity of the text is its readability. It depends on the degree of complexity of words and the structures used in the sentences, as well as on such quantitative parameters of the text as the average length of the sentence (in word usage) and the average length of the syllable in the word. The readability of the text is calculated with the help of the formulas of Flesh Reading Ease, Flesh-Kincaid Grade, and the Gunning Fog index known in linguistics. The results of the complexity assessment were obtained using the TextInspector automated text complexity analyzer program. It was revealed that the complexity of the texts in the textbooks under discussion corresponds to the age characteristics and intellectual level of high school students. At the same time, the complexity indicators of the texts in the textbook “Starlight” are higher than the indicators of the textbooks “Rainbow English” and “English”, which is explainable, since the textbook “Starlight” is intended for schools with in-depth study of the English language. The automatic analysis of the complexity of educational texts using information technologies based on methods of their 

The article analyzes the problem associated with improving the quality of professional training of foreign language teachers. The quality and level of foreign language training in higher education are determined by the teaching staff, who are the bearers of the ideology of education renewal conditions. In the context of the digitalization of education, improving the quality of foreign language training involves the widespread use of digital learning technologies. The digitalization of education has brought the foreign language training of students to a new level of quality, which makes it possible to raise the culture of teaching foreign languages, ensure the social adaptation of the student, and create an appropriate digital educational and developmental environment for the personal development of the student. The article examines significant innovative trends in the system of higher education, which make it possible to train a competitive specialist, who becomes the main indicator of the quality of university education. Specialists trained with the help of new-generation technologies demonstrate the advantages of a new system of foreign language training using digital learning technologies with their fluency in a foreign language. The introduction of digital technologies in the process of teaching a foreign language substantially expands the possibilities of education, significantly enriching the educational process.

The article considers the changes that have been taking place in the world in recent years, including a growing demand for soft skills, and the impact these changes may have on the professional competencies of teachers of the English language worldwide. The authors explore professional standards and requirements for teachers in a number of countries, including Canada, the EU, Russia, and India in order to see whether these changes are reflected, and describe the teaching context in India to see what teachers are concerned with. The article shows that although digital competencies are included in the teachers’ competencies in many countries, certain expectations of learners and their potential employers are not reflected in frameworks of teacher competencies and requirements. The authors believe that current frameworks of teachers’ competencies in general and English language teachers’ competencies, in particular, need a partial revision to accommodate the expectations of learners and their potential employers, which may lead to a more interdisciplinary approach to teacher training.

School subject Olympiads in Russia are among the most important projects in the field of education that receive powerful state support. During the preparation for the Olympiads, participants thoroughly study the curriculum. Meanwhile, successful students often go far beyond the minimum level of knowledge in their subject studies, thus preparing for research activities in higher education. However, the program documents of the Olympiads poorly regulate the instructional framework of the educational and methodological sets created. The purpose of this study is to identify the moral impact of the tasks of the Olympiad in English on schoolchildren, as well as to establish the moral potential of the content of the Olympiad. The author has studied numerous scientific materials of modern Russian researchers reflecting on the prospects of the moral aspects of education, taking into account the specifics of the English language subject. The author concludes that mastering sociocultural competence at the level declared in the Olympiad can impact the ethical education of a person, besides, excessive immersion in the values of English-speaking countries can lead to defying more traditional values. As part of the research, the materials of the Olympiad were studied and the focus was put on sociocultural phenomena that are required to be learned for successful participation in the Olympiad. The article speaks of the need to rethink approaches to the creation of the Olympiad competition materials, including the systematization of topics as part of the study of the socio-cultural characteristics of English-speaking countries.

The article considers a special subclass of phraseological units of the English language, known as binomials. The author highlights their main structural, functional, and semantic characteristics. The article reviews the issues of teaching these language units within the framework of school education, as well as the problems that arise when teaching professional communication in English at the university level. Based on the generalization of the experience of teaching English at school and university, the author explains that this type of phraseological units does not receive sufficient coverage in the education process. It is argued that students do not develop an understanding of the linguistic specificity of this type of phraseological units, which is demonstrated by the example of the so-called “paired synonyms”. The article gives several reasons, including a variety of terminology, which, in the author’s opinion, contribute to this state of affairs. The article discusses individual solutions to the issues raised. Among other things, it is pointed out that, within the framework of the English language teaching at school, it is necessary to create a separate phraseological minimum and develop a system of special exercises that would contribute to the active use of the most common language units of this type in the speech of English language learners.

The article is devoted to revealing the specifics of teaching reading for detailed comprehension in high school. Based on the analysis of methodological literature, the concept of “reading for detailed comprehension” is disclosed, and the psychological mechanisms that determine the effectiveness of this type of reading in a foreign language lesson in high school are characterized. The article describes the stages of work on reading for detailed comprehension. A list of formed speech skills and abilities in this kind of reading in a foreign language among high school students is presented based on the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard, the Exemplary Work Program in English, and controlled content elements in the Universal Codifier in English. The authors of the article pay special attention to the exercises used in teaching reading for detailed comprehension, aimed at a deep understanding of a foreign language text presented in graphic form. On the example of working with a text on the topic “Art”, the types of exercises that allow a foreign language teacher to effectively form speech skills and abilities in reading for detailed comprehension at a foreign language lesson in high school are described.

The article aims to illuminate the issues of the impact of the current geopolitical situation on the economic relations between Russian companies and their foreign partners, especially Eastern business associates, in a multicultural environment. The purpose of the study is to consider this interaction from the perspective of the contextual cultural component. The author investigates the role of context in intercultural professional communication according to the classifications by Edward Hall and by Geert Hofstede. Special attention is paid to the need to implement a revised business English curriculum in the training of professional communication at the universities of international relations. The knowledge of cultural differences and the importance of their correct perception and interpretation benefit the effective pursuit of goals in the business sphere. Contextuality is analyzed at verbal and non-verbal levels of professional communication. Based on the comparison of the cultural specifics, the issue of business integration between Russian and Asian markets acquires a new political and economic meaning.

The paper overviews the IV International Scientific and Practical Conference dedicated to Elena N. Solovova “Teaching Foreign Languages Modern Problems and Solutions” held on November 6, 2022.