In the thesis the theoretical and methodological grounds of future foreign languages teachers’ linguistic self-education at pedagogical higher educational establishments are researched for the first time. The objective necessity of re-directing the vector of the existing higher education system, in particular, in the sphere of foreign languages teaching, from solely institutional paradigm to self-educational one, as the traditional «knowledge-competence» format does not meet the needs of the present, is substantiated.
It is emphasized that higher educational institutions are supposed to provide students with basic training for continuous life-long linguistic self-education, which is regarded as one of the most important constituents of the profession of the modern teacher-linguist.
The future teachers of foreign languages’ linguistic self-education is defined as practice-oriented foreign language self-education, which provides constant independent maintaining and enhancing the level of proficiency in a foreign language aimed at personal growth and professional self-perfection. The retrospective analysis of growth dynamics of theory and practice of foreign languages self-education from antiquity to the first quarter of the XXIst century is conducted; the periodization of the evolution of the above mentioned pedagogical phenomenon is carried out. The basic psychophysiological factors, conditions and mechanisms, which stipulate the process of linguistic self-education, as well as psychophysiological features of the personality, that should be taken into account while organizing students’ linguistic self-educational activities with the view of its activation, are considered.
The necessity of realizing conceptual transition from linguistic education to linguistic self-education, which is supposed to act as the condition of training, as the process, parallel to formal education, and as the way of its continuation, which will be both the driving force of improving the process of future foreign languages teachers’ professional training and a promising development trend of modern linguodidactics, is proved.
The conception of linguistic self-education pedagogical system is theoretically grounded and its model is elaborated. The key idea of the conception centers around building the pedagogical system of future foreign languages teachers’ linguistic self-education, which enables realizing the integrative links between institutional foreign languages training and linguistic self-education at the level of methodology, technology and linguodidactics within polycentric level-based educational space. The main points of the conception are as follows: linguistic self-education is a professionally-oriented process directed at the specificity of future foreign languages teachers’ professional activities; is a continuous process, since linguistic self-education acts as an interlink between institutional and professional foreign languages self-education of the foreign languages teacher, which provides its life-long continuity and succession; is an integrative process, as foreign languages training should not only form the basis and determine the general character of linguistic self-education, but also embrace linguistic self-education; is an auto-transformable process – linguistic self-education, as the result of interaction of internal and external factors, influences the process of formation and development of the student, as a self-organizing self-developing professional secondary language personality.
The essence of future foreign languages teachers’ preparedness for linguistic self-education is disclosed and its structure is defined. It is substantiated that this preparedness acts as training for postgraduate stage of foreign languages self-instruction and includes value-motivational, cognitive, organizational-procedural and reflective-volitional components.
The author’s linguodidactic technology, aimed not only at achieving specific pragmatic goals of forming the previously mentioned preparedness, but also at forming the students’ personality, oriented at constant improving his or her future professional activities by means of continuous linguistic self-education, is proposed.
