The structure of information and communication competency of a foreign language teacher
The objective of the article is to consider the structure of information and communication competency (ICT-competency) of a foreign language teacher. Nowadays this issue arises a lot of discussions among researchers and teachers since the integration of information and communication technologies is becoming a necessity for a contemporary foreign language teacher. In this respect, the consideration of the notion of ICT-competency, its definition and the aspects are ones of the primary tasks which are set in this article. Undoubtedly, after defining ICT-competency of a foreign language teacher it is important to comprehend that the structure of this competency consists of, since it helps to outline the components of it and thus, it could lead to evaluate better how well teachers possess such a competency while teaching foreign languages. Then, on the basis of the analysis carried out by Russian and foreign researchers there were highlighted the following components of ICT-competency: conceptual, organizational and content, technological, evaluative. In the article there is a characteristic of each of the components and the value of them is considered in terms of professional development of a foreign language teacher. Conceptual component implies positive attitude and motivation to implement information and communication technologies in foreign language teaching; organizational and content component includes skills to systematize educational material in order to deal with the set tasks, the skill to use ICT to realize the educational process in traditional, distance or blended format; technological component consists of the knowledg and skills to use the technological potential and functions of ICT in didactic purposes; evaluative component includes the skill to evaluate technical and educational potential as well as the skill to use didactically expedient digital resources in educational purposes. Thus, the structure of ICT-competency makes it possible to understand this competency better and consider its constituents. As a result, this can help in the process of forming the needed professional competences among teachers while integrating digital instruments in foreign language teaching.