In the thesis a systematic analysis of foreign language teacher education in the US universities has been carried out, its theoretical, didactic and organizational underpinnings have been highlighted with a view of identifying possibilities of utilizing flagship ideas of the US teacher preparation experience to advance the system of language teacher education in Ukraine.
The theoretical framework of the system of foreign language teacher education in the USA is a combination of symbiotic scientific approaches (culturological, interdisciplinary, anthropocentrical, ambivalent, acmeological, axiological, empirical) and educational principles (autonomy, connection between educational theory and practice, creating conditions conducive to self-actualisation, attending to individual needs, tolerance for and acceptance of individual differences and cultural diversity, humanisation, self-regulation, continuous learning, collaboration, pragmatism etc.).
Approaches to the development of foreign language teaching competence have been scrutinized. Mainstream practices in the development of foreign language teaching competence in the US universities include increased control over the quality of teacher preparation programmes, assessment of student teachers’ oral proficiency, implementation of the external evaluation procedures, greater focus on the selection and practicality of the content of educational programmes by means of enriching the range of profession-related disciplines, increased integration of teaching practicum, earlier and extended field experience, collaboration between the subjects of the educational system and stakeholders etc.
The system of foreign language teacher education in the US universities has been presented, together with its structure, integrative characteristics, elements, principles, legislative basis, and conceptual orientation. The system-activity research approach made it possible to characterize the US system of foreign language teacher education as a holistic, systemic entity exhibiting the characteristics of openness to interaction and interconnection with other social systems, dynamism by evolving in line with social transformations, purposefulness by reflecting on societal demands, adaptability to sociocultural reality, and decentralization of management. The aforementioned system’s structure comprises internally discrete components (normative-legislative, organizational-procedural, target, curricular/content, diagnostic and conceptual). The uniqueness of the system-forming characteristics is determined by the extended efforts at modernization and reforming of the system at all educational levels, prioritizing the quality assurance of education as key to the country’s sustainable development, ensuring equal access and inclusion of all citizens to quality education, promoting intercultural and transethnic articulation, creating optimum conditions for individual self-realisation. The integrative properties of the system are diversity and inclusion, continuous learning, personalisation, individualisation, differentiation, standardisation, fundamentalisation, digitalisation, collaboration/partnership.
Effective foreign language teacher education is sustained at several levels: educational policy level – embedded in the idea of quality assurance and professionalism of the teaching corpus, standartisation in teacher preparation and development; institutional level – expanding the range and types of educational programmes, knowledge-base/content of the foreign language teacher education field; governance level – autonomy of institutions of higher education, striking balance between spheres of federal and public influence, accreditation, certification and licensing by independent professional agencies; organisational level – revisiting approaches to the development of student teachers’ competence in light of holism and interdisciplinarity (integrated instruction of language and content area); individual level – the development of teacher’s personality, dispositions for teaching, commitment, motivation etc.
The principles of content selection of the foreign language teacher education field have been explored on the basis of 45 curricula of the respective programmes in the US universities, in the result of which their quantitative and qualitative characteristics have been established. The practical component in the system of language teacher preparation relies on the principles of professional relevance, coherence between theory and practice, collaboration between the protagonists of the educational system, diversification of clinical experiences, of their organizational and didactic approaches, consistency and continuity, autonomy; its quantitative characteristics have been explored.
