The article reveals the role of "soft skills" in teaching foreign languages to primary school students in the format of the requirements of the new generation of the Federal State Educational Standard. «Soft skills» are an important component of metasubject educational outcomes. Of particular importance is the process of their formation in primary school, since at this stage of training, the foundations for further successful education in school are laid. The author analyzes «English in focus" for primary secondary school from the point of view of linguistic and philological approaches to teaching a foreign language.