Development of Active Listening Skills of Future Foreign-Language Teachers

Abstract

Listening skills are an inherent part of a foreign-language teacher’s communicative competency. Effective listening involves the use of special techniques, one of which is active listening technique. A teacher using active listening creates trusting atmosphere in the classroom and motivates students to communicate actively in the target language. As a result, the effectiveness of the educational process increases significantly. In order for the students of pedagogical university to master this technique, it is necessary to pay special attention to its development during their professional training at the university. At the same time, the methodological features of the skill development have not been sufficiently covered in the scientific literature, which calls for scientific research on the field. The study aims to explore the methods of teaching the active listening technique to future foreign-language teachers during their university training. The research is based on methods of observation and analysis of scientific literature and builds on the following approaches characteristic of modern education, including language education and pedagogical education: competence approach, communicative approach, integrative approach, reflexive approach, person-centered approach. As a result of the study, the main types of active listening techniques were highlighted and the steps of teaching active listening were revealed. In addition, some examples of tasks were provided. The described method involves both theoretical and practical training and is designed to qualify future foreign-language teachers to apply the active listening technique in their classes. This, in turn, will provide a higher level of the pedagogical listening competence, which is part of the teacher's communicative competence. As a result, the teacher's performance will significantly improve. In this regard, the development of reliable scientific and methodological support is an urgent problem, which opens up a promising line of further research.