Title:	SEARCHING FOR BRIDGES BETWEEN FORMAL AND INFORMAL LANGUAGE EDUCATION
Author(s):	Pavel Brebera, Jitka Hlouskova
ISBN:	978-989-8533-12-8
Editors:	Demetrios G Sampson, J. Michael Spector, Dirk Ifenthaler and Pedro Isaías
Year:	2012
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	Higher education, foreign language teaching, lifelong learning, e-learning, formal learning, informal learning
Type:	Short Paper
First Page:	274
Last Page:	277
Language:	English
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Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	Life in the contemporary society and ongoing globalisation processes result in growing demands on educators, including language teachers in higher education. The frequently accentuated so-called postmethod approach to foreign language teaching gives teachers a lot of freedom and flexibility but also creates a large space for various types of challenges and dilemmas. These are related to issues ranging from the inevitability to perceive teaching in a broader educational context to the necessity to internalise the lifelong learning concept, bringing along the categories of formal, non-formal and informal learning. Besides, there is no doubt that language learning/teaching processes are to a great extent facilitated by the rapid development of ICT. This paper is aimed at explaining the authors’ beliefs related to the role of the teacher in curriculum development and the level of his/her control over the content of learning within the above specified context. The central part of the paper relies on examples illustrating the teaching and research activities carried out at the Language Centre of the University of Pardubice, Czech Republic, that are powered by the efforts to use elements of e-learning for bridging the gaps between formal and informal language education.
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