In this paper I deal with the issues related to the factors influencing people’s attitudes to learning a foreign language and the factors influencing changes in educator’ approaches to teaching a (foreign) language. Both the former and the latter comprise social factors caused by globalization, economic crisis, and rapid development of information technologies. However, the formation of learning patterns (preferences) is affected by personal characteristics such as cultural background, educational background, cognitive peculiarities, age and sex. I also make some insights into the nature of a human language and its functions: ICT, paired with the changes in socio-economic situation and political impact, have changed the form of human communication, i.e. they have affected the basic functions a human language. The trend to interdisciplinary research and integrative approach to language teaching, in effect, seem to be more of theoretical rather than practical nature. Language learning goals have changed, and th