The relevance of the study is due to the fact that in the modern theory of teaching foreign languages, a special place is given to phraseological units as elements of culture, however, an analysis of school textbooks shows that phraseological units are practically not studied at the school level due to a number of factors. However, phraseological units are means of expression that show the luxuriance of imagery of a particular language. The proper use of phraseological units makes speech more enriched and multifaceted. The use of phraseological units by non-native speakers indicates a high level of foreign language proficiency. By studying the phraseological composition of a language, students assimilate its sociocultural component, since the phraseology of a language is a valuable linguistic and cultural heritage, which reflects the vision of the world, national culture, customs, traditions, beliefs and history of the people speaking it. This indicates the need to study socio-cultural phraseological units. In this regard, we have identified a contradiction between the great potential of phraseological units for learning a foreign language and insufficient attention to them in secondary general education. This contradiction leads to formulating the problem, the essence of which is to identify which ways of working with phraseological units in English lessons can ensure better mastery of a foreign language.

The following methods were used in the research: analysis of methodological, philological, psychological and pedagogical literature on the problem of teaching phraseological units in foreign language lessons; comparison of school textbooks and generalization of pedagogical experience in teaching phraseological units with a socio-cultural component; experimental training, testing and interviewing students, graphical and tabular representation of data, methods of mathematical information processing.

In the course of the research, the study of a number of topics in the English classroom was deepened by culturally colored phraseological units, which were selected according to the following criteria: frequency of use, reflection of modern realities, compliance to age specifics of 16-17- year-old adolescents, and consideration of the learners’ level of foreign language proficiency at the time of the experiment. A set of tasks, a complex, for teaching phraseological units was developed for them, the effectiveness of which was tested during experimental work. The complex included three stages: preparatory, pre-speech, and speech ones, and consisted of a sequence of tasks and exercises: imitative and reproductive, combined and communicative.

According to the results of the study, students not only formed a lexical skill of distinguishing the phraseological units in written and audio texts and using them in oral and written speech, but also developed socio-cultural competence, as they demonstrated deeper knowledge of the cultural peculiarities and speech behavior close to native speakers.

Keywords: Lexical skill formation, phraseological units, socio-cultural connotations, English classroom, secondary education, foreign language proficiency.