Development of communicative competence and communicative self-efficacy as "soft skills" of future specialists

Problem and purpose. Many researchers connect competence with being educated, possessing necessary knowledge and experience, with effectiveness and correctness of fulfilling some activity. However, in fact, it is not knowledge itself or skills, or personal qualities and abilities but first of all the assuredness of one’s own competence that is the most powerful motivational condition which determines the behavior of a person in a concrete situation, particularly, in a situation uncertainty. In this connection it is very important for a person nowadays to develop the ability to independently determine his or her chances for coping with specific and complex tasks and influence the effectiveness of activity as a whole (self-efficacy of a future specialist) as well as to effect it in the process of communication (communicative self-efficacy of a future specialist. The purpose of the article is to discuss the interrelation of the notions “communicative self-efficacy” and “communicative competence”, and to study the pedagogical conditions that are necessary for their development in university students. Methodology of the study is based on analysis and generalization of research works by foreign and Russian scientists recognized by scientific community, the experience of university students’ professional training in its communicative aspect. Results. The interrelation of communicative competence and communicative self-efficacy is revealed. The author’s position in understanding the essence of communicative self-efficacy and its substantial characteristics is designated. Some results allowing to speak about the relevance of students’ communicative self-efficacy formation are presented. The pedagogical conditions for the formation of students’ communicative self-efficacy are also indicated. Conclusion. The ideas presented in the article make it possible to consider the communicative aspect of students’ professional training under a particular angle. The author is convinced that the work on the development of communicative competence and communicative selfefficacy is very important for a contemporary specialist because these skills help a person to be successful in his or her profession [Kovchina et al., 2017, p.44 -46]. In addition, at contemporary students’ excessive dedication to virtual communication to the detriment of real communication is obvious. It leads to interpersonal alienation, to a kind of “social self-isolation,” to inability of effectively interacting with others in various situations, particularly in solving professional tasks.