Abstract:

This paper explores basic features of foreign language teacher education in the USA, the country that provides strong quality assurance and accreditation process as well as internationally recognized degree courses. The success is gained through collaborative partnership model to ensure fruitful cooperation of schools, university and teacher candidates. The model caters for teacher career-long professional learning linked to high professional standards.

The study is relevant due to the significance of modernization of linguistic education worldwide that defines certain conditions for the efficient future foreign language teachers’ training.

The paper reveals that the most common approach to choosing the forms of subject preparation of foreign language teachers in the Education departments of the US universities and colleges is integration and problem-solving. The study highlights the significant role of research integration into teaching as a crucial feature which is implemented in numerous courses. The main requirement for the choice of strategies of teacher education in the US is that the learning process should be based on a series of research activities so that students acquire knowledge and skills themselves, under the supervision of a university teacher.

The foreign language teacher training curriculum in the US is often called electively-determined, because along with compulsory disciplines it offers a set of elective courses, which makes it possible to take into account a wide range of interests of students and provide for profession-wide capacity building of the future teachers.

The research data collected with the help of traditional research methods, such as literature review, analysis, synthesis and interpretation of theoretical and empirical material allowed the authors to come to a number of conclusions. One of them is that a teacher who uses active teaching strategies is meant to be not only a person who transfers information, but also a moderator and a tutor in the student-centered learning environment.

The authors make an insight into such-like foreign language teacher-training academic programmes in the USA and outline effective forms of training such as couching, postgraduate training and conference. The use of methods such as Case Study definitely draw students’ attention to the subject and help to develop students’ professional competencies.

The use of modern information technology in learning languages helps students to be actively involved and learn according to their interests. It provides for differentiation and individualization of the learning process as different modes of perceiving information are catered for.

The experience of the United States in teacher education is valuable and on careful consideration can be transferred to Russia and worldwide to successfully educate foreign language teachers.

Keywords:

Student, teacher, training, education, learning, learner, foreign language, university, school, the US.