Рубрика: Теория и история культуры 
УДК 571.63-25:316.72(=111)
Хорошо ли во Владивостоке знают английский?
Немчинова Елизавета Сергеевна, бакалавр
Владивостокский государственный университет экономики и сервиса
Россия. Владивосток
E-mail: lady.ama99@mail.com; тел.: +79146717166
Котенко Светлана Николаевна, старший преподаватель
E-mail: svetlana.kotenko@vvsu.ru; тел.: 240-42-45
ул. Гоголя, 41, г. Владивосток, Приморский край, Россия, 690014

В современном мире английский язык играет большую роль, и каждый человек должен владеть его основами, чтобы взаимодействовать с окружающим нас миром. Но почему же во Владивостоке столь низкий уровень владения этим языком и англоговорящие иностранцы не стремятся сюда приезжать? 
Ключевые слова и словосочетания: английский язык, Владивосток, низкий уровень,  иностранный, коммуникация. 
Is Vladivostok Good at English?
We all understand that in our days the English language plays significant role and every person should know it to communicate with the foreign world. But why in Vladivostok which is situated in the edge of the country the level of knowing English is so low? The article explains why it’s vital to know English even being in Asia and suggests the probable ways of solving the problem.
Keywords: English language, Vladivostok, low level, foreign, communication. 
It’s not a secret that English is the most important international language in the world. It is the consequence of colonial policy of the British Empire in XIX century and the USA global influence in XX – XXI centuries. The English language helps all people around the Earth to communicate with each other, makes them keep abreast of things and opens the doors of various countries in front of the guests. But as for our city Vladivostok, not every traveler feels himself “as home” here. A very small amount of people living here can speak English fluently and it is a great concern. Foreign visitors to our city have to face a complete misunderstanding. Based on the annual global studies of the EF EPI, in general, Russia in the world's largest rating EF English Proficiency Index is on the 38th place out of 80. We are ahead of such countries of the Pacific region as China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines (pic. 1.) [1] 

Pic.1. World ranking
Possible reasons for such a low level of language proficiency in Vladivostok: [2]
• The main volume of the market for teaching English in Russia is concentrated in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Despite the fact that the volume of the English language market in Russia is more than 300 million US dollars and continues to grow. 
• Although many teachers are currently learning communicative teaching methods, they are not always able to apply these strategies in the classroom, curriculum and materials are not flexible, and the tests are standardized and focused on grammar. 
Vladivostok residents’ low English proficiency  makes our city lag behind the civilized developed countries. Of course, the level of English in the adult population of Russia has increased over the past seven years, but most people still do not speak English well enough to use their language skills in their professional activities. [2]
The index is higher than 7 years ago. On average, our country has improved the level of English by 2.5 points in the overall rating. Despite these improvements, the adult population of Russia still has a poor command of English.
In Asia, since 2007, the average level of English has grown by 3.52 points, similar to the growth in Europe. In this case, some regions demonstrate a breakthrough, others can not boast of significant improvements.
People of middle age (from 25 to 34 years and from 35 to 44 years) know English better than other age groups. Young people (aged 18 to 24) know English a little worse, and the most surprising is that people over 45years old acquire the poorest language skills. In general, people of all ages in Vladivostok know English worse than in the above-mentioned countries of the Pacific Asia region. [2][1, c.13]
Let us look at the Philippines – the state in South-East Asia in West part of the Pacific Ocean. The country consists of more than 7000 islands. [1] Every island has its own language. Surely with such a big amount of languages it would be hard for them to communicate with world so that’s why besides their official Tagalog language they all learn English. 
The Filipinos just need to know the English language to integrate into the world economy system. Even foreign films and cartoons are not duplicated there and more often these are American films and cartoons. That’s why even children of preschool age know English and can speak to foreigners. In the rating of the EF English Proficiency Index the state takes the 15th place. 
Consequently, you can hear English speech anywhere and from anyone in this country: sellers, guards of Shops, doctors, taxi drivers, random passers-by. Everywhere people more or less can speak English knowing basic rules. So, tourists will not feel lost themselves there. English-speaking tourists cannot be afraid of the language barrier and can boldly come to Philippines. That  cannot be said about Vladivostok. However, can we expect that our city will become attractive  to foreign investments? 
Ignorance of the language deprive people of the opportunities to meet and communicate with citizens of other countries, broaden the horizons of knowledge and culture, travel, get highly-paid jobs. But in the meantime, development and improvement of foreign language skills contribute to training  highly qualified and competitive specialists. 
The studies show that the better the knowledge of English is, the higher the income is. [3] The knowledge of English increasingly influences the possibility of obtaining a highly paid job. Employees who are fluent in English earn an average of 34% more than those who do not speak English. Even those who speak English at least a little, earn 13% more than those who do not know the language. (Table 1)

Table 1
Level of economy and specialist’s welfare of city population directly depends on how well people can speak a foreign language. The link between knowledge of English and gross national income per capita forms a positive vicious circle: increasing the level of language proficiency leads to a rise in salaries. This allows the government and individuals to invest more money in language training. Experience shows that the same statement is true also on a smaller level: good English allows people to get high positions and improve their standard of living. [4]
Summarizing the above it is possible to suggest some ways to solve problems that are elements of successful reforms in this area: [2]
• Implementation of comprehensive training programs for all teachers of the English language with an emphasis on developing communication skills and mentoring.
• Use of  English as a means of teaching at various levels in public schools. Studies show that using this approach, one can find a compromise between the study of the subject and the study of the language. As the language skills of students improve, the problems associated with an insufficient level of language skills will disappear. 
• Developing standards for assessing conversational skills that allow students and teachers to focus on the most useful language skills.
• Support of the adult population in effective learning of English. Adults often do not have enough time and correct instructions, and with motivation they usually have everything in order. They need to help determine the learning goals and evaluate the progress achieved so that they do not lose the desire to be engaged in studying.
• Reduction of barriers to study abroad: review of visa agreements with host countries, free English language tests, scholarships, standardization of credit transfers and the creation of formal research partnerships.
• Recognition of the role of companies as the main investors in teaching English. Companies not only generate demand for English, but also help to satisfy it. Thousands of companies also invest in training their employees in English, often with unsatisfactory or unknown results. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage the exchange of best practices between companies, evaluate the effectiveness of training their employees and clearly define the language requirements for hired personnel, so that educational institutions can make appropriate adjustments to the learning process.
 	In our century of advanced technologies there are many apps on smartphones with which you can easily and availably learn basics of English.  [5] It is possible to conclude that the advanced level of English in Vladivostok and in other parts of our country will foster the formation of a highly intelligent society.
List of references:
1.	https://www.ef.ru/epi/ (accessed: 24/03/18)
2.	http://docplayer.ru/184631-Indeks-ef-epi-uroven-vladeniya-angliyskim-yazykom-www-ef-com-epi-www-ef-edu-epi.html (accessed: 24/03/18)
3.	https://rg.ru/2016/04/05/znanie-anglijskogo-iazyka-uvelichit-zarplatu-rossiianina-v-poltora-raza.html  (accessed: 17/04/18)
4.	https://rg.ru/2017/11/08/rossiia-zaniala-38-e-mesto-po-urovniu-vladeniia-anglijskim-iazykom.html  (accessed: 7/04/18)
5.	.https://losangeles.zagranitsa.com/article/3537/top10-prilozhenii-dlia-izucheniia-angliiskogo-iazyka-dlia-ios-i-android (accessed: 7/04/18)
6.	.K. Brunner «History of English» (accessed: 2/03/18)
7.	ENGLISH LANGUAGE AS A GLOBAL: «FOR» AND «AGAINST» JOURNAL Bulletin of Transbaikal State University №4 (41) 2006, p. 71-75 (accessed: 7/04/18)