Keyword: «the english language»
ART 241134
The relevance of the problem under study is dictated by the conditions of humanizing the educational sphere at the current stage of societal development. The professional career of foreign language teachers goes beyond the key competences in the fields of pedagogy and linguistics, prioritizing the comprehensive development of students' personalities and unleashing their potential. The humanistic orientation of the educational process reflects the close interaction in the "teacher-student" relationship, which implies mutual respect and creating a positive learning environment. Accordingly, empathy is one of the important teachers' professional qualities that contributes to the effectiveness of the learning process. The article aims to comprehensively outline the concept of teacher empathy, as well as the ways to implement it in teaching English at a non-linguistic university. The research draws on a humanistic approach to foreign language teaching which involves the development of human values in students, awareness of other people's needs and sensitivity to their emotions. Apart from that, the study has been carried out in line with Stephen Krashen's affective filter hypothesis which determines the influence of affective factors on the effectiveness of material acquisition. Furthermore, we consider the theory of social constructivism highlighting the social nature of cognitive development. Study of the theoretical aspects of empathy has allowed us to identify the nature of teacher empathy and define it as one of the components of a teacher's social-emotional competence. Thus, teacher empathy is defined as a complex structure consisting of cognitive (based on observation), affective (based on experience), and behavioral empathy (reflected in actions). The theoretical significance of the research lies in the possibility of expanding knowledge in the study of the concept of empathy in teaching career allowing for a deeper understanding of its essence. The practical significance of the work is that some strategies for demonstrating teacher empathy in teaching English at a non-linguistic university can be applied in teaching other disciplines. Additionally, the outlined theoretical aspects of empathy can form the basis for both professional development courses for faculty members and programs aimed at optimizing learning in the context of secondary and higher education taking into account the diverse students' needs.