The purpose of this article is to identify the range of basic value orientations of students who aspire to become linguists, which determine their choice of studying foreign languages. On the one hand, the essential condition for the future work of graduates is their skill to communicate with those people for whom this language is native. On the other hand, the value of any foreign language lies in the possibility of acquaintance with the national culture of the country in which it originated and functions to ensure a certain cultural unity of its speakers. The results of the materials of the pilot sociological study of the fi rst year students majoring in linguistics have shown that the main value of the foreign language for them lies in the opportunity to be employed in international enterprises, organizations, or as teachers at a foreign university, thus ensuring the enhancement of their social status. The importance of a qualifi ed knowledge of a foreign language as a condition for a deeper understanding of the culture of the country for which it is a national language has been insignifi cant. Dominant is the utilitarian approach to professional mastering of foreign languages.