Abstract:

In the modern sociocultural situation, the need for independent choice is sharply increasing, which does not always coincide with the capabilities of a particular person. Within the educational system, the emphasis is on the formation and development of the child’s capabilities and abilities in solving life problems on the basis of mastered models, which creates difficulties in the child’s exercise of freedom of choice. The essence of the pedagogical problem is to create conditions that allow students to consciously choose their educational and life path based on the acquired social experience and their value and semantic position and acquire a culture of choice. In activity theory, choice is defined as “a complexly organized activity that has its own motivation, has internal dynamics, is sensitive to the characteristics of the object and is regulated by the subject” (Leontyev D.A.). Based on the availability of choice alternatives and criteria for comparing them, simple, semantic and personal choices are distinguished and described in the paper. The situation of choice determines the ascent to a higher level of personal development; its result is the transformation of intention into a meaningful goal. Thus, choice is a necessary element of healthy personality development, since it contains personal, conscious, semantic, goal, motivational elements, has internal dynamics, is sensitive to the characteristics of the object and is regulated by the subject, and is also determined by the characteristics of a specific social environment In order for a person to think about the need for choice, a life situation must arise where a choice is required from a person. The specificity lies in the fact that society can actualize or exclude the possibility of choice in a given life situation. For example, the situation of a child studying in secondary school is associated with choosing an educational route, making decisions and choosing a position in interpersonal communication situations. A full and productive choice is impossible if a person does not have at least minimal information about the life situation and ways to solve it. Therefore, the efforts of society again become important. This time by providing the person with the maximum amount of this information. On the other hand, sometimes society specifically limits information so that a person makes a socially necessary decision. A person’s ability to accept and process the information received also becomes important. As a result, we are again dealing with a two-way process in which society provides, and a person processes, the information necessary to solve life situations.

Analyzing the activities of an educational institution, ways and means of fostering a culture of choice can be divided into two groups:
- complex pedagogical tools that combine a set of various methods and techniques and ensure the emergence of a special quality of an educational institution as a system that promotes the cultivation of a culture of choice;
- specific pedagogical methods and techniques used in individual academic subjects, lessons, extracurricular activities and contributing to one degree or another to fostering a culture of choice.

The authors consider the formation of a culture of choice in studying a foreign language. Special exercises in a foreign language studying allow to form skills and then a culture of choice.

Keywords:

Foreign language, skills, choice, method, school.