The article deals with the issue of the professional foreign language teachers and lecturers training in the USA. The purpose of the article is to highlight the peculiarities of the professional foreign language teachers and lecturers training in the USA within the scope of the study, one of the tasks of which is to identify positive American experience for its implementation in higher education institutions of Ukraine. It is argued that the process of modernization of professional language education in the USA takes place according to the principles of variability and pluralism, and this is what determines the spread of mixed methods of foreign language learning, where traditional and innovative methods are combined. The article notes that there are two ways to obtain a foreign language teacher certificate: traditional (Traditional Teaching Certification) and alternative (Alternative Teaching Certification). The traditional path involves training a prospective foreign language teacher at a college or university in the field of education that is regionally accredited and approved by the state board of education with a bachelor’s degree, and an alternative certification program can be conducted by both school districts and non-profit organizations, based on the already obtained bachelor’s degree in education. It is noted that the alternative teacher certification was originally introduced to fill an acute shortage of teachers, but today it aims at attracting talented people who want to teach and have a bachelor’s degree, but do not have an educational experience. Both certification paths include practical teaching experience as a capstone component, with practicum completion dates set by the state and depending on the type of Teacher Certification the candidate is seeking. The research has shown that a foreign language teacher in the United States must revalidate their certificate every few years in order to maintain the right to teach. The article examines that the most common educational programs among future teachers are the training of teachers of Spanish, French, Latin, German, and Chinese. The authors proved that the system of professional foreign language teachers and lecturers training in the USA is multi-level, and built in accordance with all international standards: bachelor’s, master’s, postgraduate and doctoral studies. Each level is described in detail in the article: requirements for applicants for enrollment in the educational program, tasks and content of the educational program. The authors provide a list of the most popular states among future applicants, where foreign language teachers are trained, as well as the best institutions of higher education, where foreign language lecturers are professionally trained for master’s and doctoral degrees. At the end of the article, the authors present the conclusion that the professional training of foreign language teachers and lecturers in the USA is carried out according to government standards, but the requirements for admission to educational programs vary and differ according to the requirements of each university, as well as the requirements for the certification of a foreign language teacher. With the exception of five states, future teachers are required to take a PLT (Principles of Learning & Teaching) test before college or university practicum. And it is also noted that in order to fully understand how useful the experience of training foreign language teachers can be for the improvement of the education system of Ukraine, further scientific research is needed on the development trends of the US system in the field of foreign language teachers and lecturers training.
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Oct 9, 2023
Fang Zhang 
Open Access
