The article admits the necessity of integrating intercultural and sociolinguistic approaches in the process of preparing students for intercultural communication. During this communication, students focus not only on learning the features of a different linguistic society but also on an active awareness of the parameters of their native culture. Cognitive analysis of two cultures, that is one of the bases of the intercultural approach requires the active comparison of phenomena at the level of the language system. Being able to do this analysis is part of the structure of the intercultural dialogue participants’ sociolinguistic competence. To study this ability the author uses a combination of research methods: analysis of scientific literature, content analysis of concepts, modeling of sociolinguistic competence components. The research summarizes the requirements for the level of sociolinguistic competence from the perspective of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The paper introduces the term "sociolinguistic credo" of a participant in intercultural communication, describes this concept, specifies the degree and nature of its influence on the success of the dialogue of cultures. The author emphasizes the importance of understanding and accepting the participant’s sociolinguistic "image" ("credo"). The article describes the specifics of an intercultural participant’s sociolinguistic competence by highlighting the special parameters of this competence.