The article is devoted to the personal and linguistic abilities of the future teacher of a foreign language. Considerable attention is paid to numerous social changes, as well as Kazakhstan's entry into the world educational space, rethinking the target educational guidelines that led to the nomination of a number of new requirements for the professional training of future specialists, including teachers of a foreign language. According to these principles, in this vein, a knowledge-oriented approach to education has been replaced by a competence approach aimed at providing a new quality of professional training, optimal and efficient, from the point of view of modern objective reality. The authors noted that the competent foreign language teacher should not only differ by a high level of foreign communicative competence, but also know how to effectively organize the learning process in different types of educational institutions in the conditions of global changes. Also, various methodological competence definitions of future foreign language teacher are considered, which specify the structural components of the phenomenon and emphasize the possible organizational and technological aspects of the purposeful development of methodological competence in conditions of the university.
Language as a complex semiotic system and the universal means of communication in the content of individual consciousness and culture has its national and personal identification in the process of teaching and studying of the individual. The modern life and educational space is characterized, on the one hand, by the expanding opportunities for the development of a linguistic personality with a high level of mastering linguistic competences, with the culture and methods of speech studying at schools and universities. On the other hand, rapid changes in the language, as a «house of being», stimulated by dynamic socio-cultural transformations lead to a reorientation in the value relation to language and speech.
Considering language as an indicator of the intellectual and spiritual and moral development of the individual, with its abilities for self-actualization and self-improvement, we put the problem of the students' linguistic personality as theoretical, methodical and practical techniques. It is associated with the development of the ability to recognize the real value of the language, to understand that speech is related to the thinking and consciousness of the individual. The educational process of the university has a great pedagogical potential for the development of students' language personality and is characterized by a combination of cognitive, communicative, educational, cultural, and organizational components.
There are different approaches of English teaching which focused students on mastering a set of competences:
- – the possession of competent oral and written speech;
- – the ability to adequately translate texts;
- – the ability of students to participate in intercultural dialogue;
- – the ability of critically reflective attitude to the received information;
- – the ability of speech manifestation in the socio-cultural space;
- – the ability to verbally resist the verbal destructiveness of the environment;
- – reflection of yourself as a linguistic person [1].
In this way, a person may have competent in the field of language and speech having a responsible speech behavior that presupposes the presence of language immunity (the ability to withstand the destructiveness of the speech environment).
The purpose of the professional language training of foreign language teachers is generated not only by speech activity. However, in a number of cases, with the traditional approach, foreign speech activity and the activity that the teacher must master are identified. The highlighting of the communicative goal of instructionis conditioned by the communicative nature of the language, which appeared «out of necessity, from the urgent need to communicate with other people» [2].
Development of personal and linguistic abilities of students is inseparable from the formation of future teacher's professional consciousness. This position fully corresponds to the principle of students' consciousness and activity units. One of the ways to develop the professional consciousness of foreign language teacher is the use of methodological tasks in the educational process. The effectiveness of methodical thinking development is associated with the extent to which the totality of actions realized by the communicative and teaching activities of students [3]. The use of methodological tasks allows, to a certain extent, to optimize the formation of the communicative and teaching techniques of future foreign language teachers. In the process of solving these questions, the foundations of methodical thinking are laid, students learn to transform the problematic methodological situation, find its decision, go beyond the limits of the well-known methods of professional activities.
However, the possibilities of methodological tasks in the formation of an adequate personal sense of professional knowledge are limited. In the process of their solution, only the external union of «thought and word» takes place and the student is not a subject of professional activity having a personal meaning; there is no active issue for these problems during the educational process. And thus, solving the methodological tasks, the future teacher is deprived of feedback from his students and does not have a reliable source of information about the correctness of the goal and the effectiveness of the methodical methods. All this, reduces the effectiveness of the application of methodological tasks for the formation of a professional, personal sense of foreign language studying. The personal meaning of mastering a foreign speech by a future professional teacher is formed in a deep, active penetration into the pedagogical reality. But for that, it is not enough to combine consistently linguistic and methodological professional knowledge. The real solution is to organize «real experience of labor and non-labor activities» [4].
In searching for ways to improve the development of the communicative and teaching function of the future teacher, the ratio of professional knowledge and foreign language speech gives a way to «an issue that is immeasurably more important from the philosophical, logical and psychological aspects of the relationship between speech and the content of activity». In this relationship, it is formed the subjectively significant goal of foreign language studying. S.L. Rubinstein noted that such a goal is «simultaneously generalized and personally significant, for the sake of which, in the final analysis, the man does everything he does» [5].
In the process of foreign language studying, the future teacher unifies his or her character to activities pushing one and bringing others which may have more significant prospects. This manifests «the special integrative capacity of the individual». And in this way, foreign language studying acquires a personal meaning for the student, depending on which subjectively the significant activity or the system of activities the acquired language knowledge is integrated [6].
For young teachers of foreign languages and graduate students, the average assessments of the personal meaning of foreign language studying on a number of parameters were significantly different from the corresponding indicators of students. Approximately to the maximum, the average assessments of the personal meaning of the parameter include «learning activity», «the personal significance of learning a foreign lan- guage», «the interest to a foreign language», «the desire to imitate the pedagogical example». These and other results tell about significant changes in the structure of the personal meaning of foreign language studying according to the influence in the experience of pedagogical activity. However, the indicators of average ratings were not sufficient for a deep psychological analysis. It was important not only to establish the measure of the significance of certain semantic entities according to the average assessment of the subjects, but also to reveal their correlating relationship with the personal significance of foreign language studying.
Development of professional personal meaning of foreign language studying among graduates was carried out as far as setting new, professionally significant goals. This is evidenced by their practice reports: «It turns out that you need not only to know but also be able to teach», «I began to follow the dictation and intonation so that children understand me better», «How important it is to speak correctly in class, not to make grammatical errors!», «To teach others, replenish your knowledge». In the process of formation a professional personal sense of foreign language studying, collisions of the former and new meaning of linguistic knowledge were observed. Let's illustrate this with the following statements: «The teacher's speech, unfortunately, is limited to the school curriculum», «Where can we use that knowledge of a foreign language that we have?», «The teacher gradually forgets the foreign language at school».
The research shows that the personal meaning of foreign language studying in the process of preparing for pedagogical activity is under the determining influence of subjectively significant activity. Knowledge ofa foreign language as a motive of educational activity is correlated with certain goals in the system of different activities of the student, and thus the personal meaning of his or her study appears. Development of the communicative and teaching function of the future teacher can be carried out quite effectively, if the study of a foreign language acquires for the student not only communicative-linguistic, but also by the professional and teaching sense.
The experience gained by future foreign language teachers in the teaching process does not always help them to develop a professional personal sense of language learning. This is confirmed by the results of correlation and intercorrelation analysis. By this way it is revealed an insufficient correlation between the personal significance of foreign language studying and preparing for learning activity. The results of factor analysis convincingly show that the process of acquiring and applying knowledge of a foreign language is integrated largely by the factor of preparation not for teaching, but for speech activity.
So far as, the personal meaning is formed in the presence of a subjectively significant goal of activity; the task is to make the future teacher as an active subject of pedagogical activity. It is possible in conditions of creative application of the received knowledge, when the consciousness of the future specialist «not only reflects the objective world, but also creates it».
Professional-oriented teaching provides for professional direction by the content of teaching material by the activities which form the professional skills of future specialists. Foreign language teaching requires the integration of disciplines like «Foreign Language» from profile disciplines like «Language for Specific Pur- poses» and puts before the teacher of a foreign language the task of teaching the future specialist on the basis of interdisciplinary links to use a foreign language as a systematic replenishment of his or her professional skills.
Considering a foreign language as a means of the professional orientation development of a future specialist, N.D. Gal'skova notes that studying of professional-oriented language material has a two-way link between the student's desire to acquire special knowledge and the success of language mastering [7]. The author emphasizes that foreign language studying at the university should not be an end in itself, but a means to achieve the goal of raising the level of education and erudition within its specialty. In scientific and scientific-methodical literature, the foreign language as a subject in the higher education system is revealed by the author from a position as «the problem of teaching a foreign language in higher education as a means of communication».
An important feature of a foreign language as an academic subject is that the language is both a means and the purpose of studying. The student learns the easiest linguistic means, he learns various types of speech activity, which until a certain point has the purpose of studying, and then they are used by him for mastering more complex linguistic actions, that is, they are already a means of learning.
Thus, an essential feature of a foreign language as a subject is its eccentricity. Considering the aspects of linguistic phenomena, one can say that their initial base is the grammatical speech activity which is the main object of foreign language studying. Practical mastery of a foreign language is the only aspect of professional-oriented teaching of the subject. It involves the expansion of the concept of «professional orienta- tion» of foreign language teaching which includes one component-the professional- oriented direction of the content of the teaching material. The approach to the choice of activity content should be focused on students' achievements in this or that sphere of human activity reflects the scientific achievements of students, presents them an opportunity for professional growth.
Communicative and socio-cultural knowledge of students by the means of educational material and activity is realized to a greater extent due to the correct implementation of the linguistic-cultural approach. This approach ensures the assimilation of the language in close connection with the foreign culture which includes a variety of cognitive information about history, literature, customs, and way of life in the country of the target language. Mastering a foreign language and using it require knowledge of the socio-cultural features of language speakers being studied, a wide range of verbal and non-verbal communication. Socio-cultural knowledge helps to adapt to a foreign environment, follows the canons of courtesy in a foreign culture environment. They are an obligatory component of the content model in foreign language teaching of students in the development of their professional and linguistic abilities.
Foreign language is a means of increasing professional competence and personal and professional development of students and it is a prerequisite for the successful professional activities of a graduate specialist. At the same time, the professional activity of the teacher is determined by the specificity of his or her professional-object, personal (individual-psychological) and communicative (interactive) qualities.
Professional activities of teachers of any subject are characterized by the following functions: developing, educative, communicative, constructive-planning, organizational.
Foreign language teacher has a special specificity of his professional activity. Thus, he must have a high level of knowledge in a foreign language; possess linguistic cultural and socio-cultural information, a methodology for teaching a foreign language and new developments in this field. As for the knowledge of the method foreign language teaching, a student as a future teacher needs not only to teach how to teach phonetics, vocabulary, grammar, types of speech activity in a foreign language, but also to formulate a system of methodical concepts and categories, and show their interconnection and interdependence. Nowadays, the orientation toward developing individual abilities of each student, on the education of intelligent, thinking personalities prone to self-education becomes more and more relevant. The starting point for this can be the adequate organization of the learning process, namely, the interaction with teacher and students as with equal partners, personalities, and a collective of personalities. When the teacher acts on the student not as an object, he does not solve the problem for the student, which then only repeats the solution, and together they solve it, and the teacher only helps, productive interaction is achieved.
But the success of teaching (and especially, foreign language studying) depends on the relationship based on activity of the teacher and students. An important role is played by the interaction of students with each other. However, the interaction with educational work of students involving the conversion of students to each other, exchange their points view. Students work side by side, but not together. But it is the interaction of their personalities, as well as the personality of the teacher, the mutual understanding that develops between them, which is the psychological basis for cooperation during the lesson. Only in the conditions of cooperative and creative activity of the teacher and students, which has for each of them a personal meaning, that is, in the conditions of personal interaction, between them are the relations of partnership, which appear in the interrelation and mutual influence of the teacher and students.
Thus, the meaning of the pedagogical profession is revealed in the activities carried out by its representatives and which is called pedagogical. It represents a special kind of social activity aimed at transferring from senior generations to younger accumulated by experience and mankind, creating conditions for their personal development and preparing for the performance of certain social roles in society. Pedagogical activity as a professional takes place in specially organized educational institutions: pre-school establishments, schools, vocational schools, secondary and higher educational institutions, additional education institutions, advanced training and retraining establishments.
The main characteristics of teacher's pedagogical activity and indicators of his professional growth can be called pedagogical skills. Pedagogical skills should be understood as a level of professionalism of the teacher, which includes knowledge of his academic subject, good knowledge of the psychological and pedagogical theory and the system of teaching and educational skills, as well as rather developed professional and personal qualities and qualities which in its totality allows students to be sufficiently educated [8]. Pedagogical skills- the basis of the teacher's professionalism, without which it is impossible to work at schools. It is as a qualitative characteristic of teachers' upbringing activity which also have educational and upbringing skills that the teacher brought to a high degree of perfection in the psychological and pedagogical theory in practice, thanks to which provides the high efficiency of the educational process.
The highest level of teacher's professional activity is pedagogical innovation. It organically includes the introduction and implementation of new and progressive ideas, principles and techniques in the process of education and upbringing and significantly changes and enhances teacher's important qualities:
- – high civil responsibility and social activity;
- – love for children, the need and ability to give them their heart;
- – genuine intelligence, spiritual culture, desire and ability to work together with others;
- – high professionalism, innovative style of scientific and pedagogical thinking, readiness to create new values and make creative decisions.
Thus, the pedagogical vocation is formed in the process of accumulation by the future foreign language teacher of theoretical and practical pedagogical experience and self-assessment of his or her pedagogical abilities. Hence it can be concluded that the shortcomings of special (academic) qualification cannot serve as an excuse for recognizing the full professional unfitness of the future specialist. Pedagogical tactics as the important component largely depends on the personal qualities of the teacher, his outlook, culture, freedom, civil position and professional skills. It is the basis on which a trusting relationship develops between teachers and students. Especially distinctly pedagogical tact is manifested in the control and evaluation activity of the teacher, where special attention and justice are extremely important. The basis of person's cognitive orientation is spiritual needs and interests. One of the things of the spiritual forces and cultural needs of the individual is the need for knowledge. Continuity of pedagogical self-education is a necessary condition for professional development and improvement.
The contemporary foreign language teacher should be well-oriented in various branches of science, the basics of which he teaches, to know its possibilities for solving social, economic, industrial and cultural problems. But this is not enough - he must constantly be aware of new research, discoveries and hypotheses, and looks forward the near and far prospects of the science being taught.
Non-linguistic communication is based on the theory of speech activity. Communicative teaching of a foreign language is activity-oriented, since verbal communication is carried out through the speech activity, which, in turn, serves to solve the tasks of productive human activity in conditions of social interaction of communicating people. Participants in communication try to solve real and imaginary problems of joint activity with the help of a foreign language [9].The activity essence of communicative foreign language teaching is realized in the conditions of a humanistic approach to learning. With this approach, positive conditions are created for the active and free development of the personality in the activity. In general terms, these conditions are as follows:
– students have the opportunity to freely express their thoughts and feelings in the process of communication;
– each participant of communication remains in focus of attention of the others;
– participants in communication feel safe from criticism, prosecution for mistakes and punishment.
Learning a foreign language allows students:
1) Get acquainted with a different social culture, other types of state structure, life and everyday life of peers;
2) Understand, and not evaluate the similarity and difference of other cultures, features of mentality, lifestyle and the system of moral values of other peoples. In this regard, in methodological science, it has become an opinion to introduce a certain change in the content of teaching a foreign language. In the center of the content of foreign language education should be foreign language culture.
Foreign language becomes, thus, an integral component of culture, its carrier and exponent. Foreign language contains in its words and grammatical forms not only knowledge of the language system, the rules of using the elements of this system, but also background knowledge. Information about the culture of other country can also be found in the names of objects and phenomena of traditional and new life, in terms reflecting phenomena of a public nature. Elements of culture are contained, in addition, in non-verbal means of communication. In this regard, the teacher of a foreign language faces the task to form a secondary linguistic personality capable of being an effective participant in intercultural communication. In order to participate in the dialogue of cultures, it is necessary to develop the students' readiness to use a foreign language as a means of communication, and also to develop their intellect, creative thinking, and the desire to learn.
The process of acquirement a foreign culture helps to satisfy the diverse interests of students' personality. At the same time, there is a development of thinking, a culture of intellectual labor. The development of thinking is carried out mainly due to the solution of constantly more complicated problems of different levels, reflecting the content of communication process. The acquirement of cultural values in the process of foreign language studying makes a significant contribution to the culture of intellectual work. Students develop the ability to use dictionaries, reference books, memos on the rational performance of study assignments. Foreign language is not only a means of cognition, storage of national culture, communication, development and education of the individual, but also as an important means of international communication [10]. In pedagogy there are the following styles of communication between teachers and students:
- communication based on enthusiasm for creative activity;
- communication based on friendly relationship;
- communication in distance.
Only in the conditions of creative activity between teachers and students there are the relations of partnership. Teachers' attitude is characterized by requests, advice, praise and approval. The main form of learning activity is the live communication among teachers and students. Thanks to interpersonal relations, the student does not feel afraid to make foreign language mistakes. And the system of professional training should be aimed to the development of the teacher's personality which should provide for a differentiated evaluation of professional skills.
A teacher of a foreign language cannot teach without constant of self-improvement and self-education. English is not a frozen phenomenon, it is constantly changing. Perfection of language knowledge and technologies of teaching is the key to the successful work of the teacher.
Summing up the aforesaid, it is necessary to emphasize the importance of student interaction and cooperation, as well as the speech task for the organization of communicative language acquisition. Communicative learning involves the formation of a communicative concept, that is, of internal readiness and the ability to communicate with the voice, orienting students to enter into a different cultural space.
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