ORGANIZING STUDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL AND COGNITIVE ACTIVITY IN THE COURSE «METHODS OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES»

Abstract

Modern professional education should be aimed at stimulating prospective foreign language teachers’ self-guided activity and provide new opportunities for their creative self-realization as a performer of management of an integral pedagogical process, a performer who is able to predict its goals and objectives, to organize their effective solution and to evaluate the quality of the results achieved. Therefore, in order to train a competent foreign (English) language teacher it is necessary to involve students in the process of learning and transforming themselves into educational managers through understanding of the social and personal significance of this professional role and its conscious assumption. To achieve this goal, there have been reviewed the objectives and the program content of the course “Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages” as well as approaches to the organization of students’ educational and cognitive activity in the process of its study. The article outlines the content and forms of organizing students’ educational and cognitive activity in the aspect of their mastering reflexive management in the sphere of professional and pedagogical activity working over the content module “The analysis of the Ukrainian and foreign methods of teaching foreign languages” within the course “Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages”. Accordingly, the goal was to draw students’ attention to the general and specific moments of management of teaching English in two aspects: organizing English textbooks content; methods and forms of management of students’ educational and cognitive activity as well as their speech activity offered by foreign and the Ukrainian authors. The students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages majoring in the English Language and Literature were involved in this research. The key aspect of the article is the scheme of work and the tasks suggested within this scheme. The experience of the scheme implementation is described. The advantage of the scheme and tasks offered is the possibility to focus future English language teachers’ attention on the peculiarities of management processes taking place in a teacher – students’ interaction in teaching a foreign (English) language. Thus, integrating such training on reflexive management into the process of pre-service foreign language (English) teachers’ professional education is a rewarding experience.