The relevance of the problem of cognitive approach use in school teaching of the Russian language is due to the fact that the idea of conscious assimilation of the material comes to the fore in the educational process, which is an important stage in the formation of a system of full-fledged knowledge among students. The aim of the article is to prove the great potential of cognitive approach as an effective direction for teaching language in a modern school. The leading method for studying this problem is an integrated comprehensive analysis that allows us to consider this approach as innovative and fundamental in the formation of basic competences in the educational process. The cognitive approach to language teaching is based on the principle of consciousness, which proves its important role in deep understanding and conscious application of language material by learners. The cognitive approach can contribute to the upbringing, development and formation of an active citizenship of a student. The article is aimed at attracting the attention of language teachers to cognitive approach that is still poorly studied, but has enormous potential, the purpose of which is to use thinking in the study of language material.