Inna Akinshina

The relevance of the research problem is due to the processes of globalization, entailing changes in the world educational space, including Russian higher education establishments; the contradictions between the needs of the modern graduates to be able to participate in foreign language communication and a lack of well-developed methodological base which is necessary to form students’ language competence through cross-cultural communication in the classroom. The purpose of the research is to consider the understanding of the concept "competence", in particular “language competence”, by the representatives of foreign and Russian scientific communities, and to determine the features of the formation of language competence of University students in the light of the communicative approach, to identify priority areas that determine the effectiveness of teaching foreign language through cross-cultural communication-based activities involving students in discussions of social and professional-oriented situations. The study is based on such methods as theoretical analysis of domestic and foreign literature concerning the research problem, pedagogical observation and generalization of the results of the proven record of the authors. The theoretical significance of the article is revealed in the interpretation of "language competence" concept of the foreign and Russian scientists, as well as the justification of the specifics of the implementation of the communicative approach in the process of formation of University students’ language competence through social and professional-oriented discussions, i.e. training a competent language user, who is able to communicate in multicultural society and in the sphere of business. The practical significance of the research is to consider specific methodological aspects for effective problem solving while arranging foreign language communication through activity-based tasks performance. It is concluded that the formation of students' language competence in order to implement cross-cultural communication implies a cognitive and activity-based learning, i.e. it’s necessary to involve students in the process of foreign language communication. The article presents didactic materials helping create an atmosphere of real-life cross-cultural communication, and push students to cognitive and activity-based communication, pair and small group collaboration, and problem discussion activities through the exchange of reasoned opinions, which contributes to the development of students' mental activity and the formation of cross-cultural communication skills.