Introduction. The teaching of English as a foreign language is a real need across the globe. There is no doubt that this language is of great significance and has obtained as a means of communication among all the countries around the world.  In recent times, the concept of communicative competence in education is no longer a novelty, on the contrary, it is safe to say that increasing students’ communicative competence has become one of the main goals of each lesson.

Since the last decade, the government of Uzbekistan has tried to implement noticeable changes in the educational system in response to global challenges by investing in quality education and resources to promote state-of-the-art English language teaching. According to the Decree PQ-5117 “On measures to bring the popularization of foreign language learning in the Republic of Uzbekistan to a qualitatively new level”, foreign   language teachers who have obtained C1 level certificate on national or international tests qualify for 50% monthly bonus on their salaries. Also, "Improving the quality of higher education" is stated in the "Strategy for the Development of New Uzbekistan in 2022-2026" in the President Decree of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In accordance with the Decree of the President  PF-5847 “On approval of the concept of development of the higher education system of the republic of Uzbekistan until 2030”, the goal was set to determine the priority areas of systemic reform of higher education in the Republic of Uzbekistan, to raise the process of training highly qualified personnel with modern knowledge and high spiritual and moral qualities, independent thinking to a qualitatively new level, to modernize higher education, and to develop the social sphere and economic sectors based on advanced educational technologies.

Materials and Methods.  The most important goal of teaching a foreign language is the formation of communicative competence, which includes both linguistic and sociocultural competence, because communicative competence cannot be formed without the knowledge of the sociocultural characteristics of the country of the studied language.

The concept of communicative competence, as developed in linguistics, originated in response to perceived inadequacy of the notion of linguistic competence. That is, communicative competence encompasses a language user’s grammatical knowledge of syntax, morphology, phonology and the like, but reconceives this knowledge as a functional, social understanding of how and when to use utterances appropriately (wikipedia.org).

The notion of communicative competence refers to an individual’s capability to communicate successfully in terms of both effectiveness and appropriateness. The concept is related to debates about the nature of language and was developed by Hymes as a counter concept to Chomsky’s proposal of linguistic competence. According to Dell Hymes (Hymes, 1972)  to describe, and account for, the knowledge that speakers and listeners have in order to communicate appropriately in different social contexts. It is a central notion in sociolinguistics and other socially oriented approaches to the study of language.  Having initially emerged in the works of N. Chomsky  (Chomsky, 2002), the notion of "communicative competence" initially received the following definition: "... mental representations of language rules acting as the internal grammar of an ideal speaker and a listener". Over time, it was expanded and differentiated. The elements of communicative competence, which implies the ability of people to "understand, generate foreign language expressions in a variety of socially determined situations, taking into account the linguistic and social rules, that native speakers adhere to" (Galskova, 2003)  include linguistic, sociolinguistic, pragmatic, sociocultural and strategic competence  (Shatunova, etc., 2019).

Communicative competence develops oral and written communication strategies that are required to use the language in real-life situations and to keep on learning by themselves.

Canale M., and Swain M., (Canale,1980) discusses the grammatical competence is an essential component of the communicative competence. However, they agree that in normal conversation the native speakers will focus more on language use than on grammar. Canale M., (and Swain M.,) states that the communicative competence is described as a conjunction of competencies closely related whose components are:

1-Linguistic or grammatical competence: It refers to the degree to which the language user has mastered the linguistic code.

2-Sociolinguistic competence: It addresses the extent to which grammatical forms can be used or understood appropriately in various contexts to convey specific communicative functions.

3-Discourse competence: It involves the ability to combine ideas to achieve cohesion in form and coherence in thought.

4-Strategic competence: It involves the use of verbal and nonverbal communication strategies to compensate for gaps in the user’s knowledge of the language code, or for a breakdown in communication.

5-Sociocultural Competence: It implies the ability to understand the cultural meaning underlying linguistic forms and to understand the culture of the people whose language is being studied.

Sociocultural competence is the willingness and ability of communication partners to conduct a dialogue based on knowledge of their own culture and the culture of their partner. It involves the ability to navigate in time and space, understanding the social status of the partner, the ability to use various language norms (formal and informal styles, jargon, professional vocabulary, etc.), knowledge of intercultural differences in behavioral rituals, etc. (Sadokhin, 2007).

In this study the following methods were used: – theoretical methods of research: analysis of pedagogical and sociological literature; synthesis, involving the comprehensive examination and study of the development of sociocultural competence (Hymes, 1972; Canale, Swain, 1980; Galskova, 2009, etc.).

– empirical methods: questionnaires, interviews and surveys developed by Khutorskoy (2003), Sannikova (2006), Levitskaya (2011) and Sannikova (2006). The questionnaire developed by Sannikova (2006), developed to analyse students five components of cultural linguistic personality, one of which allowed revealing the motives for studying the Russian language and the levels of formation of the motivational component.

Results and Discussion. A.V. Khutorskoy’s research convinces us that sociocultural competence is one of the elements of general cultural competence. Taking this point of view into account, we consider sociocultural competence as an activity-based form of expression of competence in social and labor relations, moral and civil relations, family, everyday life, production and cultural spheres.

Sociocultural competence implies the presence of deep and systematized knowledge of social and cultural characteristics, the regulation of behavior by generally accepted norms in society, the ability to implement cultural and traditional rules of interaction, taking into account customs and traditions, the ability to implement socially normative interaction, to cooperate in social and professional activities (Levitskaya, 2011).

Sannikova S.V. considers the sociocultural competence of a future teacher as an integrative characteristic of a specialist, reflecting the ability and readiness to apply a set of sociocultural knowledge about the national specifics of his country and the country of the language being studied in the process of professional activity and skills in the field of intercultural communication, while demonstrating such professionally important qualities as sociability, empathy, tolerance.

When modeling an image of a competent teacher with a high level of development of general culture, it is assumed that a person of culture is a free, spiritual person, oriented towards the values ​​of world and national culture, capable of creative self-realization, moral self-regulation and adaptation in a changing socio-cultural environment.

Hymes devoted his last work to the description of the sociocultural competence; the basis for judgements as to the appropriateness of a given utterance in a particular social context. He has proposed the term ‘ethnography of speaking‘ to refer to the system of factors and rules that make up the structure of speaking or communication in a group and that are the basis for the social meaning of any utterance.

By studying the views of scholars, we can say that, sociocultural competence, is not just learning the culture and history of the target language, but understanding the cultural views, traditions and life of the people who communicate in the target language. Sociocultural competence is about being able to work, play, and exist amongst those of all cultures.

Conclusion

To conclude, language and culture are connected and cannot be separated, as each person has a distinct way of thinking and cultural background. As the study and implementation of modern methods for teaching foreign languages have become one of the most important policies in Uzbekistan, teaching students to be communicatively competent in real-life situations is a very essential task for teachers. Achieving communicative and sociocultural competence in teaching requires effective communication skills and cultural awareness. The more distant the learner’s culture is from the target culture, the higher the chance that miscommunication might happen. Learning the culture means learning to understand values, beliefs and codes of behavior. Being socioculturally competent a person does not need to have a broad knowledge about the target culture, but rather has the knowledge to communicate successfully. In this article, we analyze materials related to communicative and sociocultural competence and explore the significance of learning the language and culture of the target language society in order to become a fluent and articulate speaker who can produce language naturally in different cultural situations.