Video: Benefits of non-formal education for language teaching

 

 


To download the script (pdf), please click here


Here are the key elements of the video:

Non-formal education has 3 advantages for language teaching. 

  • Non-formal education is active: we can do practical activities instead of reading lots of pages of grammar. There is an English expression that teachers use to talk about practical activities. This expression is 'learning by doing'.
For example, you can ask two students to imagine a conversation between a customer and the manager in a clothes shop. With this activity, the students practise the language and simulate (=reconstruct) a real communicative situation, i.e. a moment in everyday life when they have to communicate with others. This makes it easier to be ready to use the language in real life!

  • Non-formal education is flexible: it means that the learning content (= the things we learn) changes according to the interests and needs of the learners.

In non-formal education, teachers and students must have a good relationship. To do this, teachers must listen to students' needs and interests. For example, you can use your student's favourite song to increase his interest, to help him study a grammar rule or to make him learn some words.

  • Non-formal education is accessible: it means that it is open to everyone. Non-formal education is open to people big and small, rich and poor, Italian and foreign. In this way, non-formal education allows intercultural exchanges (= exchanges between different cultures) between students, who work together.

For example, you can ask your students to talk about a typical dish from their country. That way everyone learns something new!


To sum up, we can make 4 statements about the link between language teaching and non-formal education:

  1. Students are more motivated ( = are happy to learn) because they are at the centre of the course;
  2. The teacher can help the students learn new topics through practical activities that the students enjoy;
  3. Through practical activities, students are prepared to use the foreign language in real life;
  4. The teacher listens to the students' interests and needs, so the course programme can change.

Do the activity. Then, in the next video, we take a look at how TBLT works.


Do you want to download these key-elements in pdf format? Click here