DEVELOPING EFL TEACHER’S PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE: OPEN COURSES POTENTIAL

Abstract

The issue of EFL teacher’s professional competence has been and still is topical in pedagogy and methodology of teaching English as a foreign language. It is closely connected with the effective ways of its development. The latter comprises Open Professional English Network (OPEN) courses.
The purpose of the article is to identify OPEN courses potential in developing EFL teacher’s professional competence.
Methodology. Achieving the purpose required applying such research methods as modelling the structure of the EFL teacher’s professional competence, analysis of OPEN courses’ objectives, content and implementation peculiarities, data systematization and generalization.
Scientific novelty. On the basis of OPEN courses’ objectives, content and implementation peculiarities analysis, their potential in developing EFL teacher’s professional competence has been identified.
Conclusions. As a result of the research a number of OPEN courses’ benefits in developing EFL teacher’s professional competence have been singled out. Learning in the authentic academic English educational context facilitates the development of the teacher’s professionally oriented intercultural communicative competence. The courses content reflects current approaches, trends and strategies of forming learners’ professionally oriented intercultural communicative competence. Consequently, the courses enhance EFL teacher’s methodological competence. Doing the online course on Canvas assists in developing the teacher’s information and communication competence.