TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: AN EXTENT OF SOCIO-CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE

The participation of Russia in international organizations and involvement in foreign trade transactions provided opportunities for domestic companies to extend overseas counterparts they could build relationships with. Companies have to seek for the specialists whose socio-cultural knowledge allows to adapt to foreign environment, overcome mentality differences, variations of traditions, values, peculiarities of business, financial and law aspects. Meanwhile the Russian tertiary institutions used to limit socio-cultural competence within the cultures of studied languages that cannot meet the realities of the contemporary business environment. The paper suggests transforming the usage of English as a language to communicate into the international language as a provider of culture with other nations. The research aims at redesigning the syllabus to holistic approach of culture learning targeting the strategic partners cultures and core international business activities. The extent of Russian socio-cultural partners knowledge, was researched by undertaking the survey among 123 undergraduates of 18-21 age groups studying economy as a major at Kazan Federal University. The results gained proved the hypothesis that despite the exposure to open source of information, socio-cultural knowledge is limited to the traditions of English-speaking countries. Respondents admitted they are seeking an international working experience and understand the vitality of socio-cultural knowledge to immerse into culture and collaborate with counterparts. The authors recommend on teaching techniques which help students to be familiar with regional and social diversity and later to incorporate them into professional fields.