(Т.С. Самохина, е.М. Дианова Text pp.125-127).

The changes in teaching role come together with the changes of life. There are some points which have influenced the status of teaching English recently: political, national and economic. It‘s very important how politicians view the question of foreign languages in general.

First of all we bear in mind the ex-president of Russia, V.Putin, who set a good example as a student of E and a fluent user of German. So the attitude towards foreign languages teachers seems to be taking a turn for the better.

Russia hasn’t any problem with her nationhood and our language is not afraid of the intervention of E like G. In such way national considerations in our country cannot prevent E.from becoming the language of international communication.

Secondly Globalization makes our planet a smaller place, integrating financial, informational and trading systems. That’s why the role of E. in the process of modernization, science and technology is significant.

And finally we should say that economic considerations for teaching and learning E are more than considerations, they are imperatives.

So it seems that, considering political trends, international ties and national concerns, the graduate of an English department in 21st century seems to be in the right place at the right time.

Perestrojka changed the status of language. It challenged the existing standards of language competence. Before Perestroika the effectiveness of students’ performance used to be viewed in terms of linguistic effectiveness like grammar, vocabulary, phonetics etc. Nowadays there are new terms of linguistic effectiveness, like body-language, facial expression, gestures, and extra-linguistic competence (=cultural awareness). Without awareness of what goes on in the world, nobody can claim to be an effective teacher of communication in the world. Specialists often have to teach English to a multi-level, multi-age and multi-cultural groups with different language backgrounds, job positions & characters. The audience is extremely busy nowadays. English for them is not a subject, but an instrument for career progress. What’s more, nobody can give the right textbook, a plan or program to teach happily ever after. There is no ready-made course – innovative teacher has to design it. But we must admit that all brand-new training programs & courses are useless without substantial time given to training, practice and drill.

The status of teaching profession nowadays in Russia is low – teachers are badly underpaid. The government tries to change this situation, but mostly people choose this job, because they have no other place to go. Education in Russia goes through radical and at times controversial changes. V. Putin focuses on educational needs of children as well as teachers. He also states that the government financed all educational institutions in full and that the right to free education was enshrined in the Russian Constitution.

It's up to each person or especially undergraduates of pedagogical universities to decide for them it’s worth being a teacher.

22. Nowadays the educational system both in Russia and in the whole world is changing rapidly. Now we deal with many things we couldn’t even imagine ten or twenty years ago. Of course, there are both advantages and disadvantages in this particular process. And one can’t predict what we will face in the period of fifty years, for example. (Т.С. Самохина, Е.М. Дианова Text pp.125-129).

The profession of teacher is one of the noblest professions in the world.  And today we deal with a new education. It’s not like it used to be 50 or 70 years ago. And there’re some important reasons for that.  Firstly we should mention the economic considerations for teaching and learning English. They are more than considerations, they are imperatives. Globalization makes our planet a smaller place, integrating financial, informational and trading systems, and the role of English in the process of modernization, science and technology is significant.

Perestroika reached behind the secure barricade of the university walls, and brought new challenges. It reached all institutions teaching English, and challenged the existing standards of language competence. The effectiveness of students’ performance, which used to be viewed in terms of linguistic effectiveness assessed in dimensions of para-linguistic and extra-linguistic competence. 

The way of teaching and the audience has changed too. Workers and engineers, students and other people who want to go overseas can’t attend the classes regularly. That’s why in-house or on-the-job training programs appeared. 

All this factors mentioned above caused the appearance of new ways of teaching and the involvement of new innovative facilities into the teaching process. Today we have lots of computer programs helping us to teach or to learn language, the Internet access made it easier to practice the languages. We entered the “Live the Language century”. Of course everything has its disadvantages too, e.g. for some people it’s hard to catch up with the time, to follow the progress. And our task, as teachers is to make our students feel comfortable in this fast changing life. Because life is changing constantly, with every breath we make and we don’t know what will happen in the near future, but we should always fit this lifestyle, if we want to be successful. 

Now we see, there is a lot of job for us to do. And the motto of modern teachers should be – the harder you work, the luckier you get!

23. Summarize your own position on the changes in the teaching profession, its status and perspectives. Identify your creed and give an answer to the poignant question: “To teach or not to teach?”