The phenomenon of autodidactism as a subject of psychological research

Abstract

Introduction. The article is devoted to the study of the psychological features of the phenomenon of self-learning based on the self-study of foreign languages.Purpose setting. The aim of the study was to clarify the issue of psychological aspects of self-learning of foreign languages in the context of autodidactic communication.Methodology and methods of the study. The methodological basis of the work was the domestic approach, which considers self-learning activities as a full-fledged specific activity, involving the development of subjectivity and semantic attitudes of its participants. Variants of correlation and partial coupling of the processes of didactic and autodidactic communication are considered. The empirical basis of the study was the survey method. Data on motivational and operational aspects of autodidactic communication were obtained from a sample of respondents who were self-taught in a foreign language. The study touched upon the external, socially-oriented aspects of autodidactic communication, the goals, motives and meanings of self-learning reflected by autodidacts, as well as their preferred self-learning strategies.Results. The study states the communicative selectivity and self-sufficiency of autodidacts, the internal inconsistency of their motives that encourage self-learning, which is associated with the difficulties of becoming subjectivity in the conditions of autodidactic communication. It can be stated that the autodidacts studied by us act more as «teachers for themselves» than as «subjects of autodidactic communication». The external, socio-psychological aspect of autodidactic communication, as the results of the study show, is not leading in making a subjective decision to start self-study. Its influence is mediated by a system of personal meanings and individual preferences of autodidacts. Conclusion. The self-learning strategies preferred by autodidacts are mainly based on communication with texts and other media, while the interpersonal aspect of learning is significantly reduced and is found only in an indirect, «filmed form» as an extension of the possibilities of upcoming, probable communication in the language being studied. Further research on this problem will contribute to strengthening the psychological resources of autodidactic communication, their more competent use in the process of self-study. The psychological patterns and conditions of autodidactic communication studied on the material of self-study of foreign languages can be applied to a wider range of academic subjects in the future.