Abstract:

Globalisation is a process that involves more and more communities and people, who belong to different age, gender, social, and professional groups. To integrate successfully into globalization processes, it is necessary to master a global language, and this role nowadays belongs to English. Proficiency in the language of communication provides for effective cooperation and professional success. Education and research mostly need the knowledge of the global language skills. The question if Russian professors will start speaking English is not a rhetorical one any more but a real challenge for Russian scientists and researchers, which should be solved in a short period of time. Despite the efforts to teach English to Russian academics (in our case we talk about Ural Federal University) the results are far from being satisfying. University professors and researchers were offered a level (according to Common European Framework of Reference) programme of English language learning. This programme finishes with an official Cambridge English Language Assessment Exam. We took the scores for the exams from June 2015 to August 2016 (after the Cambridge English Scale was introduced).

The obtained data reveal that:
1) the percentage of people not having met the required level of the exam is 25%;
2) out of the latter 61% are aged 45 and older;
3) the skills that these people mostly face difficulties with are listening and speaking.

Therefore, the obtained empirical data and the lack of thorough research into a foreign language perception, conditions of effective training of listening in people aged 45 and older have brought us to defining and clarifying the problem. A study of listening as a specific age-related cognitive resource under “artificial bilingualism” conditions provides for understanding the mechanisms of language learning, overcoming barriers, and opening opportunities for their effective implementation.

Keywords:

Language skills, adults, “artificial” bilingualism, listening, age-related cognition.