On the issue of professional development of philology students

Modern higher philological education is related to the level of readiness for philological knowledge acquisition by ex-schoolchildren and philology students’ preparation for future professional activity. Students need to develop professional communication skills, learn to think, speak and write in the language of modern science, employ professional terminology, understand the concept of philological tools when working with fiction. Meanwhile, the paradigm of linear perception of objects widely-accepted in school education, encumbers philologists’ professional development. Novice philologists’ self-image is clearly visible through their answers in questionnaires conducted among second-year students regarding the first year of study within the framework of the academic program “Philology” (profile “Russian Philology”). The answers allow us to understand how and when young students begin to realize their belonging to the “philological corporation”, take pride in their future degree, which is perceived by most as a sign of professional identity. Our study has shown that philology students consider familiarization with scientific publications to be the most important stage of mastering philological competencies. Working with scientific texts allowes them to sense the scale of philological science and experience the works of the leading scientists as well. Students assign the main role in their philological development to professors, in whose work they value the ability to overstep the boundaries of their academic subject and use the materials from related areas of science as an argument. Philologists’ development is associated with acquiring and expanding terminology, as well as with reconsidering it. At the same time, not only very specific philological definitions turn out to have unfamiliar connotations for students, but also general philological or even general scientific concepts have become new for students. Philology students’ reflection on their professional development begins during the first days of study and is perceived as slow, painstaking and thorough work where students and professors are united by a common goal.