This article is devoted to the process of formation of functional literacy of students in English lessons. Based on the existing regulatory framework, the authors define the concept of functional literacy. It describes the structure of functional literacy, its relationship with key competencies, including the influence of a foreign language on the formation of functional literacy. One of the tasks that a foreign language teacher faces is the formation of functional literacy in practical lessons. To achieve the solution of this problem, various tasks are proposed, developed within the framework of the text — centric approach, as well as aimed at the formation of one of the important components of functional literacy — semantic reading.

Keywords: functional literacy, semantic reading, self-development, foreign language, practical classes, PISA.