The article deals with the content of cross-cultural literacy. The study is dedicated to the formation of students' cross-cultural literacy in the learning process at the university. When studying ethnic identity, special attention was paid to examining the culture of one's own people and the culture of other ethnic groups. The basis of ethnic identity reflects the person's self-image and self-perception as representatives of a certain community. The formation of cross-cultural literacy is presented as a kind of semantic process, in which the educational space of the institution should be saturated with information and emotional elements of culture (at each lesson within any academic discipline, and within extracurricular activities as well).