This article highlights the issue of the student’s cultural identity in the process of learning a foreign language, argues the relevance of this issue for the ongoing period of globalization of languages and cultures. The paper reflects the notion of a "cultural approach", combined with the study of the cultural, personal, national and international identity of the student from the perspective of the English language. The author concludes that cultural identity in teaching English can be regarded as an intrapersonal process through which students are prepared to exercise tolerance towards other cultures beyond diversity and differences.