Developing social and communicative competence of students in studying foreign languages

The paper raises the issue of developing social and communicative skills and competences of students in studying foreign languages. Federal Education Standards define a competency-based approach as the leading approach in modern education. The authors suggest uniting competency-based and problem-solving approaches to developing social and communicative skills and competences of students while studying a foreign language. Being metaobjective and professionally essential, socio-communicative competence is considered both as a goal and result of vocational training developed within social interaction. It is defined as a set of skills enabling a person navigate in any social environment and to solve situations, including conflicts, within social interaction. Studying a foreign language involves developing both foreign language competences and interpersonal and intercultural communication skills of students, essential in any community. Foreign language is one of the universal tools for developing students’ communicative competence...