.jpg)

Department of Methodology of
Foreign Language Teaching
Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology
Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"
Classroom observation, current pedagogical practice and internship

The practical part of foreign language teacher training is developing simultaneously with the emergence of new trends in the theory of foreign language teaching. The replacement of the structural approach (audiolingual, audiovisual approach) with communicatively oriented foreign language teaching has a direct impact on practical work with students during their pedagogical practice and internship. Various scales are being developed for objective evaluation of the delivered lesson and the degree of pedagogical mastery, schemes for plan-summaries of the main types of lessons, educational films are being produced to illustrate some pedagogical teaching techniques, etc. Teachers are applying a new methodology for discussing the lessons delivered by students, subject to the principle of reflection (a system of reasoning, analysis and self-assessment). The communicative approach is implemented through a communicatively oriented methodology for organizing pedagogical practice and internship. During the internship, which is an educational and practical activity, students observe a certain number of lessons delivered by basic teachers and discuss them under the guidance of a methodologist and in the presence of the entire administrative group. This gives them the opportunity to follow how the communicative theoretical model of foreign language teaching is applied in the teaching practice of different types of Bulgarian educational institutions and to develop their ability to theoretically summarize the observed pedagogical practice. After this passive stage, students have ongoing pedagogical practice. They deliver trial lessons that allow them to gain confidence in their own abilities and overcome difficulties related to the specifics of the school environment. The trial lessons are prepared with the help of a basic teacher. The internship aims to provide conditions for students to apply the acquired theoretical knowledge in the learning process in order to develop pedagogical skills for their future professional activity as teachers. In the practice, the theoretical knowledge obtained from lectures, seminars and independent training of the students is verified, deepened and made meaningful, which is implemented in the overall development of the teacher as a specialist. Each student takes a class and performs the functions of a regular teacher. He independently plans his work for the entire internship, prepares his lessons himself, checks and evaluates homework and control works. The internship ends with a state practical-applied exam before a commission.