TRAINING ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN THE CONTEXT OF EMPATHY: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Abstract
This article examines the development of empathic competence as a means of enhancing the professional training of future English language teachers. In the context of the modern educational paradigm, focused on humanization and intercultural dialogue, empathy is analyzed not only as a psychological phenomenon but also as a fundamental linguodidactic tool of professional mediation. The author emphasizes that in foreign language education, the teacher acts as a "cultural mediator," whose professional activity requires theability to decenter, interpret culturally conditioned behavior, and adequately decode the emotional state of the communication partner. The theoretical framework of the study is based on communicative-activity and humanistic approaches, as well as the principles of the Affective Filter Hypothesis (Krashen, 1982), which justify the systemic role of empathy in the structure of intercultural communicative competence. The study also identifies key difficulties in developing empathic competence, including the predominance of a cognitive-informational approach, insufficient development of interpretive-reflective skills, and the limited authentic communicative experience of learners. Special attention is given to the description of methodological strategies presented in the author's instructional course "Intercultural Communication in the Context of Empathy" (2026), such as analysis of critical incidents, empathic reframing, and the use of TED platform videos as cognitively and emotionally meaningful learning support. The proposed approaches aim to develop learners' interpretive and empathic skills and to foster their readiness for effective intercultural interaction.
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