Revista Brasileira de Educação do Campo

Brazilian Journal of Rural Education

ARTIGO/ARTICLE/ARTÍCULO

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

Este conteúdo utiliza a Licença Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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A study of the level of professional image of future foreign

language teachers in Ukrainian universities

Yuliia Nenko

, Tetiana Sytnik

, Olena Orlova

National University of Civil Defence of Ukraine. Head of Foreign Languages Department. Chernyshevska Str., 94, Kharkiv,

Ukraine, 61000.

Cherkasy Medical Academy. Head of Humanities Department. Khreshchatyk Str., 215, Cherkasy, Ukraine,

18001.

Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs. Head of Department of Foreign Languages. L. Landau avenue, 27,

Kharkiv, Ukraine, 61080.

Author for correspondence: julia18016@ukr.net

ABSTRACT. The article addresses the problem of development

of the professional image of a foreign language teacher in

Ukraine. The present study was contemplated to ascertain the

attitude of university students in Ukraine towards the studied

notion and reveal the level of its formation. The structure of the

professional image of future foreign language teachers consist of

several underlying constructs which have been described in the

paper: cognitive, axiological and operational components.

Results show that Ukrainian teachers-to-be held different

perceptions to the notion of professional image of a foreign

language teacher. The purpose of this survey is to provide

suggestion of organizational, personal and pedagogical

conditions to facilitate the development of professional image of

future foreign language teachers in Ukrainian higher education

institutions.

Keywords: Professional Image, Foreign Language Teacher,

Student, Teacher’s Professional Image Component, Level.

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

Un estudio del nivel de imagen profesional de futuros

profesores de idiomas extranjeros en universidades de

Ucrania

RESUMEN. El artículo aborda el problema del desarrollo de la

imagen profesional de un profesor de lenguas extranjeras en

Ucrania. El propósito de este estudio fue determinar la actitud de

los estudiantes de las universidades ucranianas hacia el concepto

estudiado e identificar el nivel de su formación. La estructura de

la imagen profesional de los futuros profesores de lenguas

extranjeras consta de varios constructos subyacentes que se han

descrito en el artículo: componentes cognitivos, axiológicos y

operativos. Los resultados muestran que los futuros profesores

de Ucrania tenían diferentes percepciones de la noción de

imagen profesional de un profesor de lengua extranjera. El

propósito de esta encuesta es proporcionar sugerencias sobre las

condiciones organizativas, personales y pedagógicas para

facilitar el desarrollo de la imagen profesional de los futuros

profesores de lenguas extranjeras en las instituciones de

educación superior de Ucrania.

Palabras clave: Imagen Profesional, Profesor de Lengua

Extranjera, Alumno, Componente de Imagen Profesional del

Profesor, Nivel.

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

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Tocantinópolis/Brasil

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10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

Pesquisa do nível de imagem profissional de futuros

professores de língua estrangeira em universidades

ucranianas

RESUMO. O artigo aborda o problema do desenvolvimento da

imagem profissional de um professor de línguas estrangeiras na

Ucrânia. O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar a atitude de

estudantes de universidades ucranianas em relação ao conceito

estudado e identificar o nível de sua formação. A estrutura da

imagem profissional dos futuros professores de línguas

estrangeiras consiste em vários construtos subjacentes que foram

descritos no artigo: componentes cognitivos, axiológicos e

operacionais. Os resultados mostram que os futuros professores

ucranianos têm percepções diferentes quanto à noção de imagem

profissional do professor de línguas estrangeiras. O objetivo

deste inquérito é fornecer sugestões de condições

organizacionais, pessoais e pedagógicas para facilitar o

desenvolvimento da imagem profissional dos futuros

professores de línguas estrangeiras em instituições de ensino

superior ucranianas.

Palavras-chave: Imagem Profissional, Professor de Língua

Estrangeira, Aluno, Componente da Imagem Profissional do

Professor, Nível.

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

Introduction

Fundamental changes that happen at

an unprecedented speed in the education

system put the improvement of higher

professional education, in particular in the

aspect of ensuring high requirements of

society to the teacher’s personality in the

forefront of current educational practice.

The social demand for a future foreign

language teacher in higher education

institutions - a competent, tolerant

specialist in the field of intercultural

communication, competitive in the labor

market, striving for personal and

professional self-improvement -

emphasizes the importance of a teachers’

personal potential and formation of his/her

professional image.

The notion of image has different

interpretations, since “image” is an

interdisciplinary notion and is implied in

various fields of knowledge, including

professional pedagogy. Despite the

growing interest in pedagogical

imageology, various issues of professional

image formation of future foreign language

teachers still need more in-depth research.

Design/methodology

The research was carried out using a

quantitative methodology, based on the

authors’ experimental questionnaire

“Teacher’s professional image”, filled in

by 346 students – future teachers of foreign

language, personal interviews and direct

and indirect observations of faculty

members as data collection tools. During

the survey, anonymity and traditional

written filling technique were provided.

The research methodology is non-

experimental, as we did not explore the

causes of the revealed levels of a foreign

language teacher’s professional image and

factors that impact on the process of its

formation, but only made a comparative

analysis of the specific perceptions of the

studied phenomenon by the teachers-to-be

and the levels of its formation; from this

point of view, our research is a

comparative study. The statistical analysis

was performed.

Research sample

A total sample of 346 respondents

(n=346) were questioned in three higher

education institutions in Ukraine: Bohdan

Khmelnytsky Cherkasy National

University (Educational and Scientific

Institute of Foreign Languages), Oleksandr

Dovzhenko Hlukhiv National Pedagogical

University (Faculty of Philology and

History), Cherkasy State Technological

University (Department of Romano-

Germanic Philology and Translation). The

majority of respondents 237 (66.49%)

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

comprised of female students, the

remaining 109 (31.5%) were male

students. The age of respondents ranged

from 18 to 23 years. Out of total 346

bachelor program students, 76 (21.96%)

were freshmen, 94 (27.17%) – the second

year of study students, 85 (24.57%) – the

third year of study students, 91 (26.3%) –

undergraduates. The sample reproduces the

general set of the studied phenomenon by

the main qualitative characteristics and

control features and meets the basic

requirements: representativeness,

reliability and randomness.

Theoretical foundation

In imageology image is interpreted

as a certain synthetic image, which is

formed in the minds of people in relation

to a particular person, contains a large

amount of emotionally colored information

about the object of perception and

encourages certain social behavior (Nenko,

2018).

According to Greilich (2010)

professional image of a teacher is an

emotionally colored stereotype of

perception of a teacher in the minds of

students, colleagues, social environment

and mass consciousness.

Much of the research conducted

associates image with stereotypes, ideas,

traditions that exist in mass consciousness.

It combines generic invariants like

personal characteristics, social

characteristics, signs of a certain ideology,

patterns of behavior, appearance, etc.

Image expresses the voluntary willingness

of a person to join the system of group

roles, as well as the spontaneous

orientation of roles and strengthening of

such readiness, communication “rules of

the game”.

Based on findings of the surveys by

Bourgoin and Harvey (2018),

Jónasson (2014), Lin Ch'ing-jiang (1994),

Mynbayeva and Yessenova (2016);

Serman (2019) it is concluded that the

professional image of a teacher is an

emotional image, which consists of many

formative components. Thus, in the context

of current research, the concept of “image”

will be interpreted as a complex formation

that contains semiotic, cognitive, figurative

components and has a number of

properties: comparable constancy,

dynamism, associativity, schematicity,

openness (incompleteness).

Considering the uniqueness of

foreign language education in terms of

subject matter knowledge, pedagogical

knowledge, and socio/affective skills

(Ramazani, 2014), professional image of a

foreign language teacher needs to be

investigated in-depth.

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

The professional image of a future

foreign language teacher is a multifaceted

phenomenon that arises in the social

environment and functions as a regulator

of social relations. It is a set of external

visual characteristics and behavioral acts,

integration of culturological,

linguodidactic, psychological and

pedagogical knowledge, skills and abilities

of the teacher, individual ability to

synthesize external charm and spirituality,

for successful social adaptation to

professional success.

The professional image has the

character of a professional stereotype, the

image of a representative of the profession;

it is less complicated and should not

contain numerous different characteristics.

This image can change depending on

society, since each social group has its own

attitudes and specifics of perception

(Yevtushenko, Baboshko & Bushlya,

2016). The efficiency of professional and

personal development of a teacher, success

of all pedagogical activities as a whole

depends on the level of formation of

professional image.

By professional image, a teacher

demonstrates his/her willingness to join the

system of public relations through the

acquisition of social roles that meet the

social needs and desires; seeks to approach

a professionally attractive image and take a

worthy place in the social structure.

The next step of the survey is to

characterize in more detail the structure of

professional image of future foreign

language teachers by its structural

elements: cognitive, axiological and

operational components.

Cognitive component (knowledge of

theory and practice of imageology: the

concept of “image” and its functions,

“professional image” and theoretical

approaches to its formation, structure and

types of image; image formation

technologies, verbal and nonverbal image,

skills of effective communication, image

diagnostics; aesthetics of appearance,

etiquette, formation of visual appearance,

etc.).

Knowledge about the professional

image of a teacher of foreign languages,

forms of its manifestation in the

professional sphere, ways of management

of professional image is of paramount

importance and allows to optimize the

program of self-development of a student's

personality aimed at formation of

professional image. This component acts

as an information base.

The axiological component

(manifestation of components of

professional image of a teacher of foreign

languages in performance of educational

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

tasks; professional thinking, which helps to

overcome stereotypes that have developed

in the individual experience regarding

behavior in difficult situations of

professional pedagogical activities;

emotional intelligence, which reflects the

learner’s adequate self-esteem, self-

confidence, ability to manage various

emotional states, empathy, compassion,

openness, tolerance, ability to manage

relationships and one’s own mood; positive

attitude to self-realization in professional

pedagogical activity of a future teacher of

foreign languages, initiative, courage,

principledness in defending one's opinion

in interpersonal communication, defense of

personal interests and positions,

recognition of the importance of

professional self-development (Hoque,

2009) and self-regulation of professional

and value orientations, constructive “I-

concept”).

The axiological component performs

the function of a regulatory (motivational,

emotional, reflexive, volitional, existential)

basis for a constructive approach to the

professional image of a future teacher of

foreign languages.

The operational component

(developed image strategy, skills and

abilities that are components of

professional image of a future teacher of

foreign languages, namely: follow syllabus

tightly, stick to administrative rules and

regulations and teaching techniques, be

well-dressed, knowledgeable and sociable

(Ghasemi & Hashemi, 2011).

Data analysis and results

The cognitive component of the

professional image of a future foreign

language teacher

As findings of the authors’

questionnaire “Teacher’s professional

image” (Annex A) indicate, most future

teachers of foreign languages (71.6%) are

characterized by low motivation for the

teaching profession and low interest in

formation of their professional image. The

vast majority of respondents do not

associate their future with work at school;

the idea of professional image of a teacher

is at the level of indifference.

Only 21.3% of teachers-to-be are

satisfied with their image as the one that

meets parameters of a future teacher.

10.4% of respondents exposed a strong

motivation and desire to form or improve

their professional image during learning in

a higher education institution.

The medium level (motivation is

unstable) was recorded in 45.4% of the

learners. Instead, 41.2% of future teachers

negatively assess the need to form

professional image, do not attach

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

importance to their appearance, behavior,

expressive means, etc.

Furthermore, 13.5% of respondents

generally deny the possibility of self-

change, do not trust its effectiveness.

The students singled out the

following reasons complicating the

evolution of their professional image as a

foreign language teacher:

 insufficient level of necessary

knowledge and skills – 18.6%;

 psychological factors (self-doubt,

barriers to communication, shyness,

insufficient level of professionally

significant qualities, etc.) – 18.6%;

 difficulties of self-determination in

profession – 17.2%;

 ignorance of ways and means of

forming professional image – 14.4%;

 lack of time – 5.5%;

 uncertainty in the ability to change

oneself for the better – 4.8%.

15.8% of respondents stressed the

absence of problems with the formation of

their own professional image and did not

single it out as an independent quality of

the teacher’s personality, as it creates a

holistic view of the teacher.

Interpretation of responses gives

grounds to state that the majority of

respondents try to maintain their

professional image due to their

communication skills, namely: to be polite

to students, to be interested in their

problems, to be their partners.

Respondents were offered answer

options for the purposes of professional

image formation, in particular:

1) I strive to be an invincible woman

that all men fall in love with/I strive to be

an unsurpassed man that all women fall in

love with;

2) I want to have a successful career;

3) I seek to arouse sympathy in

others;

4) I aspire to become a high-class

professional;

5) I strive to become a confident and

independent person;

6) I need to like myself;

7) I strive to improve relationships

with loved ones.

The ranking of answer options is

distributed as follows: option 1 was chosen

by 26%, which is quite understandable

given the gender and age of the

respondent. Almost the same number of

learners (11.3% and 12.2% respectively)

preferred options 2 and 3. 19.1% felt

shortage of love for themselves (option 6),

which, in our opinion, showed a low self-

esteem of respondents. Significant is the

fact that only 16.5% preferred the 4th

position. This confirms the relevance of the

study and creates prospects for the

formation of this ability in future teachers.

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

Finally, the last positions were occupied by

options 5 (8.7% of respondents) and 7

(6.2%), which essentially form the

analyzed phenomena.

Processing of the survey findings

leads to the conclusion about the social

immaturity of the learners, their inability to

compare the purpose of an individual

professional image with the global goals of

professional and personal life, and,

consequently, about the obvious

underestimation of its role in future

professional activity.

The results of the diagnosis

demonstrated that 69.3% of respondents

have no idea of the notion of a foreign

language teacher's professional image,

ways of his/her self-development and self-

expression.

The students singled out the

following typical professional image

definitions:

 dress well (stylishly, elegantly,

etc.);

 behave in accordance with their

professional and personal functions;

 be an example for colleagues and/or

students.

As indicators of professional image,

future foreign language teachers point to

expensive, branded and stylish clothes,

modern hair, ability to behave confidently,

oratory skills. At the same time,

respondents showed interest in

communicating with tactful, erudite,

empathetic teachers, who have a number of

important qualities: competence, “sound

languages pedagogy and good curriculum

knowledge (depth of knowledge has an

impact not only on learning, but also on

disposition and attitude)” (Mohamed I

Abu-Rahmah, 2008), talent to teach in an

interesting manner, accessibly, strong

communication and organizational skills,

tolerance and reasonable demands, etc.

To sum up it should be mentioned

that the majority of the surveyed students

(82.5%) did not have a clear idea of the

essence of a professional image of a

foreign language teacher, the laws of social

perception, attached importance to external

attributes without linking the individual

image with the pedagogical culture of a

teacher.

The conversations revealed that

60.3% of Ukrainian learners have serious

problems with self-reflection and

visualization of themselves by other

participants of communicative interaction

(teachers, classmates, etc.): a lack of

attention or partial attention to the manner

of dressing and creating an attractive

image; difficulties in assessing and self-

assessing one’s own behavior. 25.8% of

respondents experience similar difficulties

from time to time. Only 13.9% had a high

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

level of self-esteem skills and

demonstrated the ability to reflect on the

situation of interaction, to see themselves

through the eyes of the interlocutor.

Only 22.6% of respondents were able

to distinguish the qualities necessary for

their future professional activity as a

teacher of foreign languages. In addition,

20.8% of teachers-to-be have never

practiced self-knowledge, 37.4% used tests

for self-knowledge, 14.8% kept diary

entries, and 40.8% tried to analyze their

actions for success in self-improvement

and self-realization.

The majority of future teachers

(77.2%) considered their teachers a role

model, sought to adopt their style

(communication, clothing, appearance,

smells of cosmetics, workplace, behavioral

manners) to identify the image of a

successful teacher. 6.9% of the learners,

choosing a model of professional image,

focused on cinema heroes or literary

characters.

The axiological component of

professional image of a future foreign

language teacher

The axiological component of the

professional image of future foreign

language teachers is analyzed by means of

personal interviews and faculty members

observations, which allowed to

characterize the level of formation of the

studied phenomenon from the standpoint

of imageology, namely: active life;

interesting job; cognition (the possibility of

expanding knowledge, worldview, general

culture, intellectual development);

financial security in life (absence of

financial complications); independence in

actions and deeds; presence of true friends;

love (spiritual and physical intimacy with a

loved one); happy family life, beauty of

nature and art; health (physical and

mental); self-confidence (absence of

internal doubts and contradictions);

creativity (possibility of creative activity).

These positions are evaluated for their

significance.

Based on the data obtained, it was

concluded that the majority of respondents

(89.6%) had an idea of socially and

personally significant values, were focused

on the values of personal life (marital

status, material and financial well-being,

health, will, attitude to employment).

Professional self-realization (interesting

work, professional self-development,

creativity, etc.) was in the focus of

attention of 10.4% of people.

Meanwhile, universal, humanistic

values (life, people, beauty, work,

homeland) were close to 96.6% of the

learners, however, they did not dominate

the hierarchy of personal values of

freshmen. Their choice of profession was

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

due to external motives: the need to obtain

higher education, coincidence or prestige

of studying in a particular institution

(11.4% and 2.5% respectively). Prestige

was seen in the opportunity to find a job

after graduation rather than in a

professional image.

The ability of future foreign

language teachers to form a professional

image, focusing on socially established

requirements of employers, personal and

professionally significant values, was

assessed in the process of pedagogical

observation. Faculty members were experts

who assessed the image of future teachers.

The following abilities and skills of

teachers-to-be were subjects to expert

assessment: ability to look elegantly

(clothes, hair, makeup, accessories), which

allows to maintain some status in the eyes

of students; ability to speak clearly, and

concisely, keep and maintain a dialogue,

discussion, possess means of non-verbal

communication (body language, gestures,

mime); ability to prevent conflict situations

and overcome them, establish dialogical

relationships, demonstrate such qualities as

sensitivity, tact, friendliness, demanding,

tolerance to the participants of interaction.

Assessing the communicative skills

of respondents (verbal and nonverbal

communication), the experts drew attention

to excessive rigidity (or, conversely,

impulsiveness), low communicative

activity, insufficient language culture

(small vocabulary, language defects,

insufficient intonation and emotional

expression).

The pedagogical observation allowed

us to conclude that only 45.2% of the

learners are able to model their behavior in

accordance with socially acceptable norms

and features of pedagogical activities of

teachers, taking into account individual

characteristics of communicative partners.

These skills were assessed as

underdeveloped in 54.8% of respondents.

49.6% of future teachers experienced

serious difficulties in establishing dialog

relationships, 20.8% of these difficulties

were situational (especially when solving

communicative and pedagogical

situations).

According to experts, creation of an

external image on the basis of individual

features and peculiarities of social

perception was difficult for 67.8% of

future foreign language teachers.

Respondents either did not pay attention to

the peculiarities of pedagogical activity, or

focused on building an external image on

the stereotypes that were engraved from

school, had insufficient motivation to form

an image, did not recognize the feasibility

of its establishment in the teaching

profession.

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

The ability of future foreign

language teachers to choose ways to create

a personal professional image (operational

component) is characterized by personal

interviews and faculty member’s

observations.

The researchers made an attempt to

figure out how important is professional

image as a tool of pedagogical activity in

the structure of motivation for educational

activity of future foreign language

teachers.

The obtained from the interview

results and evaluation by experts revealed

that 58.7% of respondents acknowledge

close connection between professional

image and the success of professional

activity of a foreign language teacher.

61.7% of respondents understand the

necessity of a professional image of a

teacher and are aware of the importance of

this phenomenon (question “Is it necessary

to form a professional image of a foreign

language teacher”?). At the same time,

38,3% of respondents do not attach

importance to this phenomenon.

Respondents also pointed to the need

to create a special educational environment

that encourages the formation of

professional image. The students, however,

note that neither in the process of teaching

psychological and pedagogical disciplines,

nor during various types of pedagogical

practice teachers do not pay appropriate

attention to the formation of professional

image of students. Hence, most of the

students do not recognize professional

image as a quality on which the teacher’s

success depends.

The answers to the question “Do you

enjoy the image of the person with whom

you start a subjective or multi-subject

interaction?” demonstrated that only 12.2%

of future teachers pay attention to

professional image. 53.0% were

characterized by situational positive

emotions, which depended on the students’

success, on motivation to self-change and

self-improvement. 34.8% of the learners

were indifferent to their appearance and

teaching.

“Who could I work for if I had a

good professional image?” Participants’

answers are grouped by areas of activity

(multiple choice was allowed): foreign

language teacher (75.2%); private teacher

(67.8%); high school teacher (35.01%);

translator (30.1%); guide (12.9%); work in

creative sphere (10.9%).

The information obtained shows that

future foreign language teachers are aware

that mastering basic and subject

competencies allows them to be in demand

in the educational market in various areas

of professional activity.

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

Continuation of the sentence “My

teacher’s image corresponds to the

established standards, because I…”

facilitated to assess the respondents’

perception of the professional image “here

and now”. Respondents identified

professional image as a synthesized image

of a professional, formed not only

individually but also due to surrounding

people - teachers, educators, politicians,

artists - real people whose image is

important for career growth or for self-

esteem. The obtained results expanded the

range of ideas about intellectual,

psychological, emotional-aesthetic, moral

qualities of future foreign language

teachers in the context of the studied

quality.

For self-reflection and understanding

of how other participants of interaction

perceive a person, each participant in the

experimental study had to write about 10

characteristics that he/she heard about

himself/herself from friends, relatives or

teachers.

Analysis of the data obtained proves

that the largest number of evaluative

characteristics concerns intellectual sphere

(63.7% of the total number of answers),

followed by characteristics of language

culture and behavior (23.4%) and finally

appearance (12.9%).

In the course of scientific research, it

is important to figure out how the students’

answers correlate with the structure of

professional image of a future foreign

language teacher (cognitive, axiological

and operational components). It becomes

obvious that respondents have no complete

idea the about professional image of a

foreign language teacher as a dynamic

model of self-improvement based on the

interdependence of all its components.

Implication of different approaches

to assessing basic ideas and knowledge

about the possibilities of individual

realization in profession, professional

image of a future foreign language teacher,

analysis of the learners’ understanding of

the importance of professional image for

successful professional activity leads to the

conclusion that such knowledge and ideas

are formed spontaneously and the level of

formation of a foreign language teacher’s

professional image is mostly low or

intermediate.

Characteristics of levels of formation of

professional image of future foreign

language teachers

Based on the obtained data, the

characteristics of high, sufficient,

intermediate and low levels of formation of

professional image of future teachers are

given.

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

High level: thorough knowledge of

the notion of professional image of a future

foreign language teacher and image-

forming components; high motivation to

develop professional image of a teacher,

signs of the formed desired professional

image – a set of personal qualities

(knowledge, skills, abilities, experience

and values that the specialist seeks to

have).

Sufficient level: incomplete

knowledge about professional image of a

future teacher of foreign languages,

available motivation to acquire necessary

skills to develop professional image of a

future teacher of a foreign language,

sufficient self-esteem, not formed personal

qualities to develop the desired

professional image.

Intermediate level: fragmentary

knowledge about the professional image of

the future foreign language teacher,

unstable motivation to develop

professional image of a future foreign

language teacher, average self-assessment

of knowledge about professional image;

ideas formation of professional image are

formed spontaneously.

Low level: general ideas about

professional image of a future teacher of

foreign language that were formed

spontaneously at the household level; low

motivation to develop professional image,

high self-esteem; intuitive behavior and

lack of ability to regulate one’s own

behavior in view of the patterns.

Recommendations

It was determined in the course of

research that the formation of professional

image of a foreign language teacher is a

conscious and purposeful process, which

requires strict self-discipline and self-

management and continuous self-

improvement.

However, findings brought to fore

the need for reasoning the external and

internal factors that exert influence on a

teacher’s professional image formation, as

well as to substantiate organizational,

personal and pedagogical conditions that

would contribute to the formation of future

foreign language teachers’ professional

image.

Based on generalization of

theoretical knowledge in general

pedagogy, psychology, philosophy,

external (objective) and internal

(subjective) groups of factors influencing

the formation of professional image were

differentiated.

External (objective) factors include:

socio-economic situation in a country;

general attitude to the profession in

society, its prestige (social significance);

social expectations (public demand for

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

certain professional and personal

qualities); educational potential of the

social environment; demand for the

profession; material living conditions of a

teacher; adequacy of the offered

educational services to the structure and

content of educational needs; professional

environment: content, organization,

technology of educational activities;

qualification level of faculty staff,

influence of various social groups

interested in providing quality educational

services (students, their parents, employees

that employ graduates, education

management).

Internal (subjective) factors include:

stability of students’ motivation to develop

one’s own professional image of a teacher;

positive attitude towards change,

development, quality, co-operation (Edge,

2002), readiness for systematic educational

activities and self-improvement; conscious

attitude to the need to improve professional

image; ability to self-diagnosis.

External factors determine the

following organizational conditions:

 permeability of all stages of

formation of multilevel professional image

of a future teacher of foreign languages;

 interrelation of methodological,

linguistic, special, general pedagogical,

psychological and methodological training

of a future teacher of a foreign language

with stages of formation of his/her

professional image;

 elaboration of the content of

educational process on mastering the

system of knowledge, skills, abilities of

pedagogical imageology;

 use of modern personality-oriented

educational technologies aimed at forming

the professional image of a future teacher

of foreign language;

 designing and planning ways to

move to a higher level of professional

image formation.

There are special organizational

conditions related to the specifics of a

future foreign language teacher

professional activity:

 favorable combination of individual

and group forms of work aimed at forming

a professional image, with preference to

group forms of education;

 selection of special learning

materials for students taking into account

the goals of pedagogical imageology and

stages of professional image formation;

 creation an educational

environment for the optimal formation of

structural components of professional

image;

 establishment of an organic

functional relationship of theoretical and

practical training of future teachers in

classes in higher education institutions and

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

during pedagogical practice for the

complete formation of the professional

image of the future teacher of foreign

languages.

Special organizational conditions

determine a number of personal

conditions:

 formation of the correct evaluative

attitude to oneself and to other persons;

 reflection of consciousness on

oneself as a subject of educational activity;

 creation of a student’s individual

model of professional image, model of

behavior, schemes of self-presentation;

 outlining the most significant

professional and personal qualities of a

teacher, which are part of the structural

components of professional image for

accentuated selective action on their

development.

The process of image formation is

long and depends on many factors and

conditions. It should be mobile, since

requires the teacher to make certain

changes and deviations from the usual

course of educational actions (Hurtenko,

2017).

An important place in this holistic

educational process is occupied by

pedagogical conditions:

 creation of an image-forming

educational environment for development

of students’ positive, motivational and

value attitude to the process of forming

professional image in order to deepen the

mechanisms of self-image;

 improvement of the content of

language and pedagogical training and

optimal combination of different learning

technologies within the effective

purposeful development of all components

of professional image of the future foreign

language teacher;

 development of pedagogical tools

for the implementation of self-educational

activities and self-presentation.

Conclusions

Based on the analysis of the obtained

information on the formation of

professional image of future foreign

language teachers, the following

conclusions were made:

 professional image of a foreign

language teacher is a set of external visual

characteristics and behavioral acts;

integration of culturological,

linguodidactic, psychological and

pedagogical knowledge, skills and abilities

of a teacher, individual ability to

synthesize external charm and spirituality,

for successful social adaptation to

professional success;

 teacher-to-be in Ukraine hold

different perceptions of the professional

image of a foreign language teacher;

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

 Ukrainian students’ knowledge

about professional image of a future

foreign language teacher is currently

formed spontaneously;

 level of formation of a foreign

language teacher’s professional image is

mostly low or intermediate;

 formation of the professional image

of a future teacher of a foreign language

requires specially organized activities in

the educational process of a higher

education institution;

 dynamics of development of

professional image of the future teacher of

a foreign language can be provided

through introduction of a certain complex

of organizational, personal and

pedagogical conditions.

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Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

ANNEX

QUESTIONNAIRE

"Teacher’s professional image"

Dear respondent!

We kindly ask you to take part in the study

of the professional image of a future

foreign language teacher.

Please, answer the questions honestly,

following the instructions!

Anonymity is guaranteed!!!

Year of study ____

1. What qualities, in your opinion, are the

most important for your future pedagogical

activity (mark the 5 most important).

1) external attractiveness;

2) demanding;

3) communicative culture;

4) artistry (facial expressions, gestures);

5) high morality;o

6) professional knowledge;

7) emotionality;

8) erudition;

9) friendliness;

10) self-confidence;

11) plasticity of behavior.

2. What are the indicators of professional

image of a foreign language teacher?

Please, specify. _____________________

3. Professional image in your

understanding is ...

1) one’s image in the eyes of other people;

2) external attractiveness of an individual;

3) professional requirement;

4) ability to present oneself in the best way

possible;

5) difficult to say;

6) other

4. Does a professional image of a teacher

depend on the status of an individual in

society?

1) yes;

2) no;

3) status does not matter;

4) other (please, specify) ______________

5. Is professional image important for

professional self-realization of a foreign

language teacher?

1) yes;

2) no;

3) difficult to say;

4) other (please, specify) ______________

6. What is the purpose of professional

image?

1) career growth;

2) the development of positive

relationships;

3) self-affirmation of the person

4) difficult to say;

5) other (please, specify) ______________

7. Does your current image correspond to

your future professional activity?

1) yes;

2) partially;

3) no;

4) difficult to say;

5) other (please, specify) ______________

8. When did you start thinking about the

problem of your image?

1) long ago;

2) during pedagogical practice;

3) now;

4) difficult to say;

5) did not think;

6) other (please, specify) ______________

9. Does your image affect your

professional development?

1) yes;

2) partially;

3) no;

4) difficult to say;

5) other (please, specify) ______________

10. Would you like to correct your

professional image?

1) yes;

2) no;

3) difficult to say;

4) other (please, specify) ______________

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the level of professional image of future foreign language teachers in

Ukrainian universities…

RBEC

Tocantinópolis/Brasil

v. 5

e10566

10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

2020

ISSN: 2525-4863

11. What would you like to change in

yourself?

1) appearance;

2) clothes;

3) communication skills (written, oral

communication);

4) manners of behavior;

5) difficult to say;

6) other (please, specify) ______________

12. How do you assess the level of

formation of your professional image?

1) low;

2) medium;

3) sufficient;

4) high;

5) unformed;

6) other (please, specify) ______________

The results of the questionnaire will be

used only for scientific purposes. Thank

you for your sincerity and trust.

Article Information

Received on September 21th, 2020

Accepted on October 19th, 2020

Published on October, 28th, 2020

Author Contributions: Yuliia Nenko designed the study,

supervised the survey process at Bohdan Khmelnytsky

Cherkasy National University and took the lead in writing

the manuscript. Tetiana Sytnik supervised the survey

process at Cherkasy State Technological University and

performed numerical calculations. Olena Orlova

supervised the survey process at Oleksandr Dovzhenko

Hlukhiv National Pedagogical University and worked out

almost all of the technical details. All authors helped shape

the research, questionnaires, data analysis and

manuscript, discussed the results and contributed to the

final manuscript, and approval of the final version

published.

Conflict of Interest: None reported.

Orcid

Yuliia Nenko

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7868-0155

Tetiana Sytnik

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0264-7196

Olena Orlova

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9956-9082

How to cite this article

APA

Nenko, Y., Sytnik, T., & Orlova, O. (2020). A study of the

level of professional image of future foreign language

teachers in Ukrainian universities. Rev. Bras. Educ.

Camp., 5, e10566.

http://dx.doi.org/10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566

ABNT

NENKO, Y.; SYTNIK, T.; ORLOVA, O. A study of the level

of professional image of future foreign language teachers

in Ukrainian universities. Rev. Bras. Educ. Camp.,

Tocantinópolis, v. 5, e10566, 2020.

http://dx.doi.org/10.20873/uft.rbec.e10566