The quality of pre-service English language teacher education depends largely on how effectively linguistic competence and methodological competence are developed in an integrated manner. This article examines the theoretical foundations for improving the linguistic and methodological training of pre-service English language teachers. Drawing on the scholarship of Shulman, Freeman, Borg, Johnson, Burns and Richards, Farrell, and Darling-Hammond, the paper argues that teacher preparation should move beyond the traditional separation of language knowledge and teaching methodology. Instead, it should be grounded in an integrated, reflective, practice-oriented, and context-sensitive model of teacher education. The discussion highlights pedagogical content knowledge, teacher cognition, sociocultural learning, reflective practice, and practicum-based professional development as key theoretical pillars of effective pre-service preparation. The article concludes that the improvement of pre-service English language teacher education requires a coherent framework in which knowledge about language, knowledge about teaching, school-based experience, and reflective inquiry are systematically connected.

Pre-service English language teachers, linguistic training, methodological training

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