Keyword: «self-concept development»

The article is devoted to the actual problem of developing students’ self-concept within a foreign language course at university. Self-concept determines all aspects of human behavior and is crucial for one’s self-actualization and self-fulfillment. Life in modern society requires constant professional development and personal growth which makes developing students’ self-concept one of the goals of education in general and teachers training in particular. The purpose of the article is to analyze and systematize the practices at Russian and international institutions of higher education aimed at developing students’ self-concepts, determine the main approaches to self-concept development, ascertain the effective means for self-concept development. The leading method of theoretical research was analysis of Russian and international works in the fields of education and psychology, studying and systematizing educational practice of Russian and international universities in developing students’ self-concepts. The empirical methods included observation in the framework of internships in the USA and Germany (2006-2019) and surveys. The key result of the article is the layout description of the program for complex development of education major students’ self-concepts within a foreign language course at university, that uses the positive experience of Russian and foreign universities in this field. The proposed program consists of five parts: theoretical, diagnostic, planning, formative and transferring. The program can be implemented as a separate course or can be incorporated into a traditional course of a foreign language at a university. The theoretical value of the research consists in the review of scientific literature in the areas of research, overview of the approaches to representing the structure of self-concept in education. The practical significance consists in the proposal of the author’s layout of the program for developing education major students’ self-concepts within a foreign language course at university.