At present, the global goal of mastering a foreign language is the ability and skill to participate in the dialogue of cultures. At the same time, it is not just about knowing the language but about the ability to use it in real communication, that is, about practical knowledge of the language. Therefore, it is necessary to have educational standards that would imply an increase in the effectiveness of the educational process in which various methods, techniques and organizational forms of education would contribute to the complete organization of the knowledge of the students. In view of this, the following aspects are considered in the article: peculiarities of teaching university students a foreign language; the organization of teaching a foreign language in a functional context; the basic principles of teaching a foreign language; basic methodological approaches for teaching students in the context of the form of organization of their knowledge; increase of intellectual and general cultural level of students’ knowledge when studying a foreign language; opportunities to improve the form of organization of knowledge when teaching students.

language education; cognitive capacities; construction of knowledge; foreign language; methodological approaches.