The article considers one of the main problems of teaching English in a higher educational institution at the current stage of education. The ways of effective introducing integrative and interdisciplinary approaches are of interest to teachers in the criteria for early career choice. Structuring the beliefs of researchers on the conditions and principles for the implementation of these approaches enables to develop a strategy for the language training of non-linguistic students, and to guarantee professional retraining of teaching staff. For this, the article proposes the use of competence-based and culturological approaches to developing competence in students and future teachers, disclosing the cultural and creative potential of the university in the field of intercultural interaction. The article considers the issue of developing students' competence in intercultural interaction directly related to their general cultural training, personal development, as well as the issue of disclosing the cultural and creative potential of the educational environment of the university and exceeding the limits of the curriculum with a limited set of disciplines, within which the development of the considered competence is laid.