The Formation of the Professional Value Orientations in the Pupils of the 5-9th Grades in the Process of Organizing the Independent Work in the System of Additional Foreign Language Education

The formation of the professional value orientations is of great importance in the process of students' training in the system of AFLE [4, 15]. The scientific literature defines the concept of "value orientation" in different ways: as "a person’s orientation to the certain values" [1, p. 112], as a subjective attitude of an individual to the social values [1, p. 112], as a subjective attitude of an individual to the social values [2; 5]. Their content basis are the values that serve as a guide for the human behavior. In the process of the learning activities, the students develop not only cognitive processes, but also a value-sense, the motivational sphere, form a belonging to a certain professional group, the assimilation and internalisation of its values, develop a set of the professionally significant qualities. The problem of the formation of the professional value orientations is presented in various philosophical, sociological, psychological and pedagogical studies. However, despite the extensive theoretical material and in-depth analysis of the problem under consideration, it seems to the question of the formation of the professional-value orientations in the students of the 5-9th grades that insufficiently developed in foreign language classes in the conditions of AFLE. The subject "Foreign language" with its potential educational, developing resource, which, unfortunately, is often underestimated by students, has great opportunities for the formation of the professional-value orientations. The aim of our study is to analyse and prioritise the key organisational and methodological provisions for the design of work programmes in AFLE for the formation of the professional-value orientations in students of the grades 5-9th in FL classes.

The educational process is a flexible system reflecting global cultural, social and political trends. This is primarily due to the fact that the main task of school as an educational organisation is to prepare students for the independent adult life. Consequently, the educational process should be aimed at the formation of those skills and the abilities that are the most relevant and in demand in the modern world, as well as useful for the future professional activities [1].

Today, the following skills and abilities that are most relevant in today's society can be identified as such skills and abilities: the ability to find the necessary information, the skill of working in a team, the ability to think creatively, the ability to use online resources, the skill of self-regulation and many others.

The relevance of this research is explained by the fact that teachers today face a difficult task of forming a large number of pupils’ skills and abilities that are extremely important for the future adult life of schoolchildren. However, it should be noted that the modern education process is characterised not only by the special requirements for the development of students, but also by new roles of the teacher. Thus, the teacher today is not the main source of information for students, which can be easily explained by the multitude of the information resources and their availability, but to a greater extent a mentor [14, p. 245].

The aim is to consider all these peculiarities of the modern educational process, which confirm the importance of developing such a skill as independent work in students in AFLE, especially in high school students, which will allow to form further in the students all the competences necessary for their successful future adult life.

In order to achieve the set goal it is necessary to solve the following tasks: to substantiate the importance of the development of the oral speech activities in teaching a FL both in AFLE and in a high school: to consider a number of potential opportunities of the innovative pedagogical technologies in order to develop the basic skills of speaking, reading, writing and listening in high school students; to reveal the main characteristics of the information and learning environment in AFLE; to evaluate how effective teaching a FL in a high school using the new information technology. The novelty of our study is due to the new linguistic authentic material. We tried to conduct our research on the basis of the available linguo-country texts.

Methods and organisation of the research

The methodology is based on the axiological, personal-activity and the professional-oriented approaches to students' training in the conditions of AFLE. The main research methods are the theoretical and methodological analysis (the study and analysis of the normative documents, the innovative pedagogical experience), the diagnostic method (a question- naire survey). The research was carried out on the basis of the secondary schools of Elets: "Lyceum Ns 5 of Elets”, "Gymnasium № 11 of Elets", "Gymnasium Ns 97 of Elets" in 2022 - 2024 academic years. A total of 115 students of the system AFLE participated in the experiment.

Results and their discussion

The professional-value orientations of the basic school students are understood by us as a relatively stable professionally conditioned orientation of the personality to the universal human dominants that make sense for the future profession of the student, orientation to the professionally defined models of behavior, the ways of their achievement, expressed in the form of the personal qualities and competencies that ensure the students' future professional success.

The study and analysis of the normative documents [4, 6] showed that a high school graduate should be able to join certain life the values related to health, family, and study. The Federal State Education Standard of Education requires from students both theoretical and physical preparedness, as well as a clear assimilation of production and social norms of behaviour, the presence of business and personal qualities necessary to perform labour functions subsequently [6]. The standard dictates the need for the students to master the ability to establish the appropriate relationships with other students, teachers, legal representatives, to organize a value-meaning dialogue communication.

Research results

The judgement about a different role of a teacher in the educational process and the importance of students' independent activity is not new for the pedagogical science. Thus, K.D. Ushinsky, the founder of the scientific pedagogy in Russia, argued that "children should work independently as much as possible, and the teacher should lead this independent work and give material for it" [13, p. 112]. In its turn, students' independent activity is defined by another prominent Soviet teacher and the scientist I.A. Zimnya as a certain result of the properly organised learning activity at the language classes in AFLE, which further serves as a motivation for the independent expansion, deepening and continuation in free time. According to the scientist, independent work is the highest form of a student's learning activity, a form of self-education related to his/her work at the language classes [16, p. 54]. Thus, LA. Zimnyaya also stresses the importance of the teacher's organisational activity in AFLE classes to create the necessary conditions for forming the skills of the independent work in students (high school students).

Professor P.l. Pidkasisty states that “the independent work can be considered neither as a form of organising classes nor as a method of teaching. In his opinion, the independent work of students should be considered as some means of involving students in the independent cognitive activity, means of its logical and psychological organisation" [9, p. 54]. Thus, we can conclude that a FL teacher in AFLE should use the independent work as a tool to stimulate students' cognitive activity and the interest in learning a FL, including self-study.

E.V. Shcherbakova and T.N. Shcherbakova in their work on the history of the development of the independent work as a type of schoolchildren's activity, having analysed the scientific pedagogical literature, distinguish the following approaches to the problem of students' independent activity: psychological, didactic-methodological and psychological-didactic. The authors consider the psychological approach from the point of view of the concept of the Soviet psychologist and pedagogue A.N. Leontiev, who defines the independent activity as a "microsystem of learning". Thus, this approach is defined by the independence of students' thinking. In turn, the didactic-methodological approach to the problem of students' independent activity is described in detail in the works of J.A. Kamensky, who describes the types of the methods of independent activity. Finally, the psychological and the didactic approach aims, first of all, to reveal the essence of the independent activity, its subject and goals [10]. Thus, E.V. Shcherbakova personally defines independent activity as the activity of students aimed at mastering knowledge and self-education. Note that E.V. Shcherbakova and T.N. Shcherbakova emphasise the importance of separating such concepts as "independent activity" and "independent work". They believe that the independent activity J is a certain type of the cognitive activity, which gives pupils an opportunity to obtain knowledge and skills in any school subject and not only. In turn, the independent work is described by the authors as a form of students’ cognitive activity. The

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main difference between them is that the organisation of the independent work is characterised by the absence of the teacher's direct participation, but the teacher still directs and controls the process [10].

Taking into account all the above-mentioned, we believe that the independent work can be defined as an activity of students, stimulated by a teacher in AFLE and aimed at achieving the set educational goals. In the conditions of organising and conducting the independent work, the teacher takes the place of a mentor, someone who controls and directs, but does not directly participate in the activity of students. This approach allows to get the maximum benefit from the process of the independent work, because it is in the situation where the teacher is a mentor and students have the opportunity to make the independent decisions. It is possible to form and improve all the important skills for success in the future adult life of students.

Thus, the value of using such a tool as independent work in the process of language learning is primarily due to the fact that within the framework of such work it is possible to form and develop a great number of AFLE skills and abilities. Pupils not only work on the topics studied in the classes, but also develop the individual and teamwork skills, develop the creative abilities, creative thinking, learn to take a responsibility for their choices, analyse the situations, and much more. But, in addition, the independent work allows you to see the true level of the language competence, because the student in this format remains "one on one" with the task and at the same time is under the supervision of the teacher, who allows a more objective assessment of his success in the study of the subject, as well as to pay attention to the personal characteristics. This information, if properly applied, will help to make the process of learning the language in AFLE for high school students as effective as possible.

It should also be noted that some researchers emphasise the different functions of the independent work. For example, A.Yu. Gorchev considers the following: teaching, educating, developing [3]. In his opinion, the fundamental function of the independent work is educational. It is thanks to it that students learn the educational material and then transform it into the necessary skills and abilities, while in parallel with this process there is a systematisation of the studied material. The educational function allows to form in pupils the skill, of independence, and, in addition, influences the formation of life position and some personal qualities. Students develop responsibility, organisation, solidarity and responsiveness. Finally, the developmental function, which affects the emotional and intellectual development of students. Thus, the use of this tool in the language classes has a favourable effect on the cognitive abilities: on the development of memory, attention and speech. In addition, students of AFLE are actively involved in the exploratory, creative and research activities.

Given the importance of using such a tool, it is worth noting the peculiarities of the process of organising its use. For this purpose, a language teacher needs to understand the purpose of using the independent work in the language classes, and how, in accordance with the objectives of the language teaching, to make this use most effective for both the teacher and the students. Thus, the independent work as an activity can be divided into the types classified according to various features: by the didactic goal, by the nature of students' learning activities, by the content of work, by the degree of independence, by the presence or absence of students' creativity, etc. Consequently, in a situation where it is necessary to form, in addition work out the independent skills, creative skills, the teacher has the right to offer work that also contains the elements of creativity, or, on the contrary, if necessary, to choose a type of work that lacks a creative component, if the purpose of the work is to follow a rule strictly or work out an algorithm.

At the beginning of 2022-2024 academic years, we surveyed students of AFLE of the above-mentioned schools regarding their understanding of the importance of forming the professional value orientations and their determination of the significance of the above-mentioned business and personal qualities for their successful future professional activity. The pupils were asked to indicate the leading motives for entering higher education institutions, as well as to choose, in their opinion, the most significant knowledge, skills, abilities and the qualities for their future profession. The analysis of the questionnaire results of the basic school pupils showed us that "the realisation of social significance of the chosen profession" is far from being the most important motive for their further enrolment in an institute. The main motive for choosing a future profession among 43 schoolchildren was "an interest in learning activities" and "the aspiration to improve further foreign language training" (41.7%). The next most important motive for choosing a future profession was "achieving material well-being" (23 people, 22.3%); "working as a translator is prestigious and well-paid, especially in large cities". The "convenient location of the university" (in the native city or nearby in the region) was also of great importance for the students of AFLE (17.5%, 19 people); a relatively small competition among the applicants when entering the university "could not enter another direction" (15%). Only 19 interviewees (18.5%) showed the interest in the profession, formed as a result of the acquaintance with the teachers of this profession, which served as a reason for entering this direction of training. 10.5% of the respondents chose the profession due to the family traditions. As for the identification of the professionally significant skills and qualities, the students most highly assessed the importance of the cognitive component of their future profession: a high level of education, a competence in a wide range of the modern problems (82 people, 69.9 per cent); the desire to improve constantly the professional knowledge (80 people, 77.3 per cent), and special foreign language training (74 people, 71.6 per cent). Many schoolchildren emphasised the ability of self-education (35 people, 34%). Most of the interviewees underestimated the socio-be-havioural components of their future profession. The emotional and positive attitude to people was highlighted by only 35 pupils. Also, such characteristics of the model of the successful professional behavior of the future students as "tolerance", "empathy", "delicacy and tactfulness", "sensitivity" did not find a wide response among the interviewees. "Humanity, mercy" was noted by 31 people (30.4%); social intelligence (the ability to perceive adequately and analyse the social situations and other people) was not highly evaluated (20 people, 10.7%). One seventh of the respondents mentioned the qualities of unselfishness, honesty, integrity, responsibility, and high morality as important for the future profession. The communication skills and teamwork skills were among the lowest priorities (10%).

Taking into account the results of the survey of the students in the grades of 5-9th of AFLE system, we believed that when designing work programmes of AFLE, it is important to focus on the students' mastering and understanding of the value of their future profession, understanding of the educational inclusion, the development of tolerance, the abilities to communicate and organise teamwork. We developed the following organisational and methodological provisions that formed the basis for the development of language programmes in the system of AFLE.

Position one: creating a psychologically comfortable microclimate in the classroom for the development of the learner as a moral person with the clear life principles. The atmosphere in the classroom creates an idea of a healthy lifestyle. Switching the students in the class to another type of activity (somewhat entertaining) helps to restore their physical and spiritual strength.

Position two: the axiological approach to the selection of FL content, taking into account the principles of the humanistic orientation, the professional orientation and educational intension. The selection of language and the textual material is aimed at the optimal development of the certain qualities in students (demanding, sensitive, polite, tactful, friendly, collected, principled, energetic and humane). These are videos, dialogues and texts related to the future profession, to the new realities in the modern life, to the spiritual and humanistic education of students. The materials containing the basics of the social prevention, education of students in the unacceptability of the antisocial manifestations are of particular importance.

Position three: the activation of the communicative interaction (a teacher-a group, a pupil - a pupil) in the classroom through the use of the project method, providing a high degree of a dialogue communication, corresponding in the form and content to the future professional interaction. The ability to work in a team in their development provides the interdependent positive qualitative dynamics in the development of the value orientations of the schoolchildren's personality.

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Position four: the use of the modem technologies of the effective thinking and the productive activity. In the process of studying FL content, it is important to form in students the ability to analyse, reason, compare, generalise, evaluate critically: the readiness to master new information. In terms of studying each lexical topic, the teacher of AFLE should create the conditions for achieving the positive behavioural changes in the personality, which is facilitated by the humanistically oriented communicative tasks aimed at solving socially significant problems of society.

Position five: the acquisition of own experience of the value-conscious professionally oriented activity. For this purpose it is supposed to establish the coordination of the educational process with the inclusive volunteer activities of students. As social partners of "Lyceum No. 5 of Elets", "Gymnasium No. 11 of Elets", "Gymnasium No. 97 of Elets", participating in the implementation of the educational programme, are the State Budgetary Educational Institution "Special Boarding School of Elets", Eletsky Social Rehabilitation Centre for the Minors "Kovcheg", non-profit organisation (the Centre "We Together"). The classes practice the discussion of the results of pupils' volunteering activities within the framework of the study of the lexical topics: My future profession. Famous people. Business communication, etc. Teaching students the skills of the reflective analysis leads to the positive dynamics in solving the specific pedagogical situations. The classes actualise the students' reflexion and self-reflection, contributing to their awareness of their own real practical activity, which ensures further their professional success.

Conclusion

The process of the formation of the professional value orientations in the students of the system of the professional and value orientations at the classes of the FL can be interpreted as the development, self-improvement and self-actualisation of the student, aimed at stimulating the strengthening of their interests in the profession, the correction of their qualitative characteristics, the acquisition of new the personal qualities and value orientations. The implementation of the work programmes in AFLE makes it possible to ensure the increase of students' competitiveness in the labor market. The practice of teaching English in AFLE shows that the formation of the qualities and skills, the professional and value orientations can be continued in the process of studying other disciplines.

The modern education process is characterised not only by the desire to train the future specialists, but also by the active introduction of the information technology and digitalisation. In addition to the need to train students so that they are successful in their future professional activities, modern education is also characterised by digitalisation. In the conditions of the technological progress, a new format of schools has been formed, a kind of digital environment. Today, it is not surprising to see the use of computers in class, the use of the interactive whiteboards and online resources, or keeping an electronicjournal and filling in an electronic diary. However, the digitalisation of education is not limited to the use of the personal computers and the storage of learning data in a cloud storage. Today the learning process is becoming broader and more involved with students, offering more effective tools and the models of interaction. Moreover, online resources today are the main source of information for students; it is much easier for students to enter their enquiry into a search box than to flip through a multi-page textbook. Thus, the modern education offers the electronic media that allow to find the necessary information quickly from the proposed curriculum.

It is also important to note the new role of the language teacher. As it was mentioned earlier, the teacher today is not a carrier or a source of information. He/she is more of a guide, someone who directs and controls, but the emphasis in the education process is on students' independence. That is why it is important to teach the skills of independent work, the most relevant type of the activity today both in learning and in the life of students, in their future professional activities.

Thus, in the conditions of the digitalisation and taking into account the importance of forming the skills of independence, teachers of language in AFLE more and more often organise independent work using the information and communication technology (ICT). Thanks to this application, students not only solve the learning task, but also acquire the computer skills necessary in the modern world [12]. In its turn, the activity of this method is determined, first of all, by the goal,

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which in the independent activity is realised by the student, becomes relevant and significant for him/her, and the motives of the activity appear

• -    the need to expand their knowledge, to learn new things;

• -    to master the skills of working with a computer;

• -    willingness to be independent, to complete a task without help;

• -    the need to test their knowledge;

• -    the opportunity to present the results of their activities publicly.

Note that each of these motives is extremely important. As the independent realisation of these aspects by the student is especially valuable due to the fact that in the future, in the professional activity and in the personal life, the ability to understand and voice their needs, desires and opportunities is not only important in terms of the professional skills, but also in terms of the quality of life in general. This is due to the fact that understanding one’s wants and needs, striving to master the new skills - all this is a characteristic of a psychologically mature person who understands himself/herself and his/her peculiarities, which makes him/her stronger as a professional and happier as a person.

In addition, it is important to note the most important advantage of using ICT in classes of AFLE, in particular, in organising the independent work - increasing the level of the motivation and interest of high school students. This aspect is sometimes overlooked by teachers. This is due to the fact that some teachers believe that the process of creating something special that could interest and motivate students is long and complicated and they simply cannot find the energy and time in their busy schedules to do it. However, this is a big misconception. Today, there is a huge number of websites that offer to create the interactive exercises in a matter of minutes, which would meet the learning objectives, but at the same time would be interesting for children in terms of colourful and interactive forms. Therefore, it is only a mistaken judgement about the difficulty of creating such the interactive materials in the language due to the lack of awareness in the field of the modern information technologies.