Developing and Improving Professional Skills and Personality Traits as Indicators of Foreign Language Teachers Ability for Applying Personal Approach to the Teaching of Students

Abstract

The subject matter of the article involved is the problem of forming and developing professional skills and personality traits of foreign language teachers for applying personal approaches to the teaching of students. It has been demonstrated that skills of carrying out training goal-setting should be seen as the indicator of the development of foreign language teacher organizational abilities. Components of the indicator have been pointed out, they being necessary to be fixed in defining it. The personality traits characterizing the level of foreign language teacher communicative skills have been defined in terms of the need for developing teacher training abilities. The foreign language teacher’s methodological preparedness has been shown to be defined most exactly when classified into three levels such as inefficient or locally modeling level, efficient or system-modeling level and highly efficient or globally modeling level. Indicators of foreign language teacher methodological preparedness have been pointed out for personality-centered university education. It has been shown that personal, professional and reflexive kinds of preparedness should be seen as interrelated in estimating the foreign language teacher ability for carrying out personality-centered training, factors necessary for assessing it having been presented. Results of the experimental research carried out at the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia (MUCTR) and Russian Academy College of Higher Education have shown that personality-centered training can only be carried out by the teachers of efficient or system-modeling methodological preparedness level and highly efficient or globally modeling level.

Keywords: The model of the formation of professional foreign language competence, communicative competence, organizational-pedagogical conditions of foreign language teaching, a set of requirements for foreign language training

1.Introduction

Problems of improving in teaching foreign languages at the university require maximum

rationalization of training and using up-to-date achievements in educational science and psychology,

teacher professional standard and pedagogical abilities being of great significance. Three aspects in

examining pedagogical abilities should be pointed out in foreign language training of future specialists

according to personality-centered approach; the development of which results in forming skills and

personality traits – indicators of the foreign language teacher preparedness for applying the personality-

centered approach in training technological university students, i.e. personal, active and reflexive

aspects.

2.Problem statement

The problem statement is the problem of forming and developing professional skills and personality

traits of foreign language teachers for applying a personal approach to teaching students. It is shown

that the level of personal, active and reflexive aspects of the teacher training ability should be seen as

interrelated for rating foreign language teachers preparedness to apply personal approaches in training

students. It is expected that the only teacher being master of efficient (system-modeling) and highly

efficient (globally modeling) levels of teaching competence can fulfill personality-centered approach to

teaching foreign language; the teaching competence levels involved can be seen as development

indicators of teaching activity and teaching skills. The foreign language teacher being master of the

teaching competence appears to be able to 1) maintain the enjoyment and motivation in acquiring

foreign languages through the whole training period; 2) organize foreign language communication; 3)

use foreign language teaching for actualizing positive features and personal characteristics including it

in the cooperative activity aimed at obtaining results related to the expression of emotional kindness,

empathy, mercy, beneficence and other moral personal features.

3.Research questions

Should the skills of carrying out training goal-setting be seen as the indicator of the development of foreign language teacher organizational abilities?

Have the personality traits characterized the level of foreign language teacher communicative skills, defined in terms of the need for developing teacher training abilities?

Has the foreign language teacher's methodological preparedness been most efficiently defined when classified into three levels such as; inefficient or locally modeling level, efficient or system-modeling level and highly efficient or globally modeling one?

Have indicators of foreign language teacher methodological preparedness pointed out personality-centered university education?

We do not mean to examine each aspect in detail but we confine ourselves to pointing out main indicators of foreign language preparedness for applying personality-centered approach.

1. Indicators of personal preparedness: pedagogical approach or gnostic abilities; educational goal-

setting or organizational abilities; pedagogical abilities or communicative abilities.

2. Indicators of professional preparedness: pedagogical tactics (modeling abilities).

3. Indicators of reflexive preparedness: educational reflection (reflexive abilities).

So, the teacher’s personal, professional, and reflexive preparedness involves their ability to control

themselves and the students.

It is necessary to take into account that the main characteristic of teaching activity is its

effectiveness. So, we can recommend estimating the foreign language teacher preparedness in

accordance with teacher effectiveness levels, the effectiveness involved being necessary to define

teaching competencies. We see teaching competence as the new formation of the teacher's personality

resulting from transforming and developing their mind, operating as a generalized capacity to carry out

teaching and reflexive activity for achieving the certain educational goal, as the ability to explain an

educational act in terms of methodology and psycho-educational science. Let us give characteristics for

teaching competence (TC) levels.

1. TC inefficiency (locally modeling) level is characterized by the following indicators. The teachers

control teaching factors but are not able to see the factors’ correlation depending on the teaching

environment. The education does not result in progress for the student or teacher's development, both

the student and the teacher are being integrated into the educational process. The teaching goes along

with development instead of leading. The teacher uses prepared teaching materials and is unable to

adapt them to new situations. The foreign language is seen as a teaching goal, instead of the way for

personal development.

2. TC efficiency (system-modeling) level is characterized by the teacher's understanding and

controlling the factors of both teaching and reflexive activities and their correlation. The teaching

should be developing the student's personality, the foreign language being used as the way for applying

the personality-centered approach in training. The teacher is able to reflect and carry out the teaching

acts at an upper level. Elements of prepared teaching materials are applied and modeled correctly.

3. The highly efficient or global modeling level is characterized by the teacher being the master of

the educational and training process, as well as understanding the correlation of the factors of both

processes, the teachers being able to create their own rules and their own controlling model for forming

senses and meanings. The educational and training processes are the models for transforming

integrated subject of education, the teacher at a highly efficient level has to be able to carry out

teaching at an intuitive level. We see the global modeling preparedness level of the foreign language

teacher, as the ability to consider the value setting to be more important than goal-setting, to focus on

the human fulfillment for both the teacher and the student. Achieving this level involves converting

personal traits into personal senses and meanings, transforming professional skills into personally

meaningful structures, and reflexive abilities into life meanings.

4.Purpose of the Study

The aim of the study is the problem of forming and developing professional skills and personality

traits of foreign language teachers for applying the personal approach to the teaching of students.

We think that the teachers who are masters of efficient (system-modeling) and highly efficient

(globally modeling) levels of teaching competence can fulfill personality-centered approach to teaching

foreign language; the teaching competence levels involved can be seen as development indicators of

teaching activity and teaching skills. The foreign language teacher who has mastered teaching

competencies appears to be able to 1) maintain the enjoyment and motivation in acquiring foreign

languages through the whole training period; 2) organize foreign language communication; 3) use

foreign language teaching for actualizing positive features and personal characteristics, including it in

the cooperative activity aimed at obtaining results related to the expression of emotional kindness,

empathy, mercy, beneficence and other moral personal features.

We have developed criteria for assessing the foreign language teacher's preparedness in applying the

personality-centered approach to training technological university students.

5.Research Methods

Research methods are the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the results, mathematical statistical

of the processed results, and the questionnaire «Professional Advancement Map»

The research was carried out at the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia and

Russian Academy College of Higher Education. Students majoring in foreign language teaching (70

students totally), as well as in teacher refresher training (47 teachers) were involved.

Generally, the experimental training of the grad students and the refresher training of the foreign

language teachers involved applying teaching materials and foreign language communicative training

technology that provide the future foreign language teacher as the professional training subject with the

personal self-fulfillment mechanism.

In the theoretical preparation course the students and foreign language teachers acquired theoretical

knowledge and practical skills aimed at analyzing and teaching of educational and psycho-educational

literature in Russian and foreign languages; collecting linguistic teaching materials for teaching foreign

languages; making up subject projects, class materials, and exercises for teaching students according to

the personality-centered approach.

In the course of experimental research, the students and future teachers, worked with «Professional

Advancement Map», filling it three times: before the university course (at the end of the 8th semester),

before the teacher training work at Mendeleev University (MUCTR) at the end of the 8th semester, and

after the training work at the end of the 9th semester, estimating themselves by 4 score system. These

were the following criteria of estimation: if the capacity for applying the personality-centered approach

in foreign language is bright, it is being shown at the personal trait level – 4 scores; if the capacity is

less bright, it is being shown at the second skill level – 3 scores; if the capacity is not too bright, it is

more often being shown at the skill level – 2 scores; if the capacity is quite poor, it is being shown at

the primary skill level – 1 score; if the capacity is not developed, it not being present at all – 0 score.

Statistical processing of the experimental data made it possible to estimate student skills and determine

the grade of student preparedness for applying the personality-centered approach to foreign language

teaching at technological universities. It was proven experimentally that in the university training

course, the foreign language department students developed personal and professional preparedness for

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for applying the personality-centered approach to foreign language teaching. Before the university

course, before the teacher training work, and after the training work

6.Findings

In the course of the experiment, the analysis of changing the indicators of foreign language

department student preparedness for applying the personality-centered approach showed improvements

in teaching abilities, professional activities, and reflexive preparedness for applying the personality-

centered approach to foreign language teaching.

Three levels of foreign language teacher structural activity arrangements such as individual, subject,

and personal levels have been pointed out, their structures, as well as indicators of preparedness for

carrying out personality-centered training, have been defined based on it.

It has been demonstrated that skills of carrying out training goal-setting should be seen as the

indicator of the development of foreign language teacher organizational abilities. Components of the

indicator have been pointed out to be are necessary for defining it.

The personality traits characterizing the level of foreign language teacher communicative skills have

been defined in terms of the need for developing teacher training abilities.

The foreign language teacher methodological preparedness has been shown to be defined most

exactly when classified into three levels such as; inefficient or locally modeling level, efficient or

system-modeling level, and highly efficient or globally modeling one. Indicators of foreign language

teacher methodological preparedness have been pointed out for personality-centered university

education.

It has been shown that personal, professional and reflexive kinds of preparedness should be seen as

interrelated in estimating the foreign language teacher's ability to carry out personality-centered

training, factors necessary for assessing it having been presented.

7.Conclusions

The results of the experimental research carried out at the Mendeleev University of Chemical

Technology of Russia and Russian Academy College of Higher Education, have shown that

personality-centered training can only be performed by teachers of efficient (system-modeling) and

highly efficient (globally modeling) methodological preparedness level. Methodological teaching

materials for developing proper preparedness levels have been presented.

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