The thesis is a theoretical and experimental study of the problem of developing learner autonomy of future foreign language teachers. The main idea of the study is that the level of learner autonomy of future foreign language teachers will increase as a result of determining pedagogical conditions for fostering learner autonomy and the development and implementation of a model and technology for developing learner autonomy in future teachers training.
The relevance of the study is explained by the fact that to effectively perform their professional functions, a foreign language teacher should have their developed communicative, linguistic and psychological and pedagogical competence and use the obtained knowledge, skills, resources, tools, and the ability to reflect and continue learning throughout their life.
The paper systematizes theoretical approaches to defining the essence of the concept of “learner autonomy of future foreign language teachers”, summarizes the content of its structural components, criteria, and indicators of its development.
The process of developing learner autonomy of future foreign language teachers is specified as a specially organized, staged, purposeful activity of the subjects of the educational process to master a set of forms, methods, and tools to address their own educational needs.
The second section substantiates pedagogical conditions for developing learner autonomy of future teachers in professional training: creating a favorable learning environment; increasing the level of responsibility and significance of the student’s role in the classroom; reflecting the components of learner autonomy in the content of education.
The model and technology of developing learner autonomy of future foreign language teachers in professional training are developed. The peculiarity of the model is that it contains mechanisms of motivation, planning, organization, and control of the process of developing learner autonomy and determines the factors of its formation for future foreign language teachers. The objectives of the model are the organization, coordination, and control of the process of forming a set of skills in learning foreign languages. The model is aimed at the effective implementation of management activities in the field of higher education, is based on the demands of society, and takes into account the needs of all the participants of the educational process.
The use of the model provides the designing of a specific educational environment based on the abilities and wishes of students, in which future teachers will achieve their own learning goals. It is expedient to implement the components of the model with the help of the presented technology of developing learner autonomy of future foreign language teachers.
To assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the components of the model of developing learner autonomy of future foreign language teachers in professional training, a qualimetric submodel of developing learner autonomy was built.
The submodel is built in such a way that at each stage a teacher and a student can perform a series of actions to correct, improve, adapt the educational process to achieve the result. The algorithm of mathematical processing, laid down in the submodel, allowed to objectively assess the level of developing learner autonomy.
To implement the developed model and technology, an experimental study was conducted during classes in the discipline “English Oral and Written Speech Practice” for 2nd year students of the Faculty of Foreign Philology of H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University. The implementation of the technology was designed for one academic year.
The work includes methodological recommendations for developing learner autonomy of future foreign language teachers in professional training using the designed model, which ensures the sequence and continuity of the study of material, planning, and effective organization of the educational process. The recommendations describe the forms and methods of developing learner autonomy of future foreign languages teachers, provide a system of exercises and tasks.
The practical significance of the obtained results is confirmed by their implementation in the educational process of H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University (reference № 01/10-112 dated 02.03.2021), Poltava V.G. Korolenko National Pedagogical University (reference № 703/01-65/03 dated 17.03.2021), Bogdan Khmelnytsky Melitopol State Pedagogical University (reference № 01-28/591 dated 30.04.2021), Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University (reference № 01-23/172 dated 30.04.2021); some suggestions of the methodological approach to developing learner autonomy were implemented into the educational process of Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics (reference № 01/10-112 dated 24.05.2021).
