Recent studies have shown that the number of international students, who are academically mobile, is growing. As a result, higher education institutions aim at competitiveness in the world market. Therefore, the core issue of the following work is a process of adaptation of international students to a new educational environment, especially to the process of English teaching and learning in new frameworks. Thus, the purpose of the study is to understand the role of a language teacher in the process of international students’ foreign language learning by comparing faculty’s and students’ views on certain aspects of the educational process. For the following study, quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data using questionnaires with closed-ended and open-ended questions were applied, and the data analysis was carried out. The data obtained from the conducted survey reveals the importance of studying English for international students, their motivation and difficulties that they have to face. Moreover, the obtained data show the great complexity of the English syllabus and ways of its adaptation to the needs of international students. Furthermore, the results of the survey determine an important role of the professional culture of the second language teacher in the context of integrating students into the Russian academic environment.

The paper aims to substantiate that the use of TRIZ technology (the theory of inventive problem solving) has a high methodological potential, since it contributes to a deeper analysis of the situation under study, activates critical, logical and creative thinking and also promotes the formation of students’ communicative skills through teamwork. The paper describes the prerequisites for the development of TRIZ pedagogy, within the framework of which the authors elaborated an algorithm for stimulating foreign students’ creative thinking in foreign language classes. The algorithm was tested in the 2021/2022 academic year at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and proved its effectiveness by demonstrating an increase in the indicators of creativity criteria (productivity, originality, curiosity, accuracy) and positive dynamics of interaction in the study group. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the elaboration of the algorithm for teaching foreign students English based on TRIZ technology. As a result, it was proved that the described and tested algorithm, consisting of the following steps: (1) warming up, (2) analysis, (3) reflection, (4) generation, (5) selection, (6) summary, can be used for teaching English in order to develop creative thinking.