In accordance with the requirements of the modern professional market, graduates of non-linguistic universities need to have a well-formed professional foreign language communicative competence, which will allow them to function effectively in the academic and professional environment. A master's degree graduate must meet the requirements of a qualified specialist (including the employer) in the use of a foreign language. When studying a foreign language by undergraduates, mastering the terminology of their future professional activity for the realization of themselves in various situations of business and professional foreign language communication is of paramount importance. The purpose of the article is to consider role-playing as an effective method of formation of professional foreign language communicative competence when teaching a foreign language to master’s degree students of economic specialties. The author presents various classifications of educational role-playing games, their functions, requirements for their organization, as well as some aspects of professionally oriented educational situations. On the example of an educational role-playing game in the form of a scientific conference, its stages and functions are described in detail. The effectiveness of the process of formation of professional foreign language communicative competence of master’s degree students of economic specialties was checked using the methods of questioning, testing, pedagogical observation, conversation. The author comes to the conclusion that role play is a model of communication, it has many features and characteristics that motivate master’s degree students to take an active part in performing tasks within the framework of their professional-oriented learning situations, and contributes to the expansion of the associative base in the process of learning new material, creates a positive atmosphere in the class-room, creates a harmonious collective activity, and raises the efficiency of foreign language teaching.