Keyword: «coursebook»

The English language has ceased to be just the language of the culture of the United Kingdom and the USA and has become the language of international communication. The aim of the research was to identify how sociocultural competence is implemented in teaching English as a language of international communication within the school educational and methodological complex "English in Focus" for the 9th grade. An overview of scientific article databases shows that teaching English as a language of international communication is a relevant topic for research. The literature analysis revealed that, in the context of this study, the most significant component of foreign language communicative competence is sociocultural competence, which familiarizes learners with the peculiarities of communication within a specific cultural context. Approaches to teaching English as a foreign language and as a language of international communication were identified. Requirements for educational materials for teaching English as a language of international communication were defined: the presence of materials about local/native culture, the culture of the target language, and world/global culture in approximately equal proportions. The literature review showed that modern educational materials in various countries do not meet these requirements. An analysis of the "English in Focus" educational complex for the 9th grade of general education schools was conducted during the study. The results indicated that the materials predominantly focus on the UK and the USA (66-77%), while materials about native culture are almost absent (3-4%), and materials on world culture are insufficiently represented (4-20%). The new concept of English as a language of international communication and lingua franca has its own characteristics, as it implies a greater significance of the sociocultural component as a basis for forming not only foreign language communicative competence but also intercultural competence. The study substantiated the necessity of using additional materials with sociocultural content in English lessons at school, as they are one of the means for developing target competences. The research practically proved that for the successful development of these competences, it is essential to introduce a greater variety of materials related to both native/local/regional culture and world culture without the predominant influence of any specific culture.