Abstract:

Research questions:
The article explores initial education of English language teachers in multilingual countries, focusing on the cases of French-speaking community of Belgium and the Canadian province Quebec in particular. The authors analyze and compare the structure, organization and duration of academic programmes in the departments of psychology and pedagogy and faculties of education in detail. They also cover such issues as multilingualism, cross-cultural education, the teacher competence, the process of certification, assessment and self-assessment, the quality of education.

Methods:
This study was based upon an extensive literature scientific review and analysis of Belgian and Canadian scholars focused on various factors related to professional growth in language educators. Moreover, the article reflects an internet-based survey of the academic courses that are provided by the well-known and highly recognized universities of the mentioned countries.

Results:
The study reveal that vocational and educational training of future English language teachers in both countries represents a multi-level system consisting of the general professional knowledge, psychological and educational content, pedagogical practice. But at the same time the components of programmes are varied in curricula, organization and duration of the practicum, variety of elective courses, certification process and implementation of innovative techniques.

Conclusions:
These countries represent a model of decentralized education management. It is primarily based on their political structure - there are several linguistic regions, which autonomously regulate cultural and educational issues.

Keywords:

Initial education of English language teachers, academic programmes, multilingualism, cross-cultural education, teacher competence, quality of education.