The formation of research competence as a professional skill in future teachers of English

Abstract

Research competence is an important component of the professional competence of a foreign language teacher, is a condition for its development and implementation of the teacher to work. The problem of preparing students for research activities is very relevant. The study of students’ readiness to carry out research reveals significant shortcomings: insufficient knowledge of the methodology of research activities, the role of research work in the process of becoming a teacher’s personality. The predominant use of information-receptive, reproductive methods in working with students and the insufficient use of active ones leads to the fact that students cannot apply knowledge in an unfamiliar situation when solving research tasks that require a non-standard approach. Cognitive interests and motives of research activity are not purposefully formed either. The formation of students’ research competence is based on the optimally acceptable levels of formation of all components of research competence: students’ motivational readiness for research activities; students’ theoretical readiness for research activities; students’ technological readiness for research activities; students’ productive readiness for research activities. The model of formation of the research competence of future foreign language teachers and the program of its implementation, tested experimentally, have shown high efficiency and can be used in the pedagogical process of the university. Thus, the results of the study of the formation of research competence in future teachers of a foreign language allow us to consider its tasks solved, and the hypothesis confirmed. At the same time, the conducted research does not pretend to solve all the issues related to this problem. These are, first of all, issues of continuity of students’ training at different levels of research activity.