18 декабря 2016г.
Today learning a foreign language is a wide-spread activity into which people of all ages and occupations are engaged. That is why an English language teacher faces some difficulties finding an individual approach to every student in a group (especially, if there are students of different ages in one group, e.g. during language courses). In this paper we try to consider major differences in students of several age groups, considering such criteria as principle driving force, motivation, exposure to the language, attitude to homework, independent learning.
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Teenagers 14-19
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Adults 20-30s
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Adults 40+
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academic training
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in-service training
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Principle driving
force
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Language is on the
curriculum
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Language is on the curriculum
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Career/ employment
prospects Travelling Immigration
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Travelling Immigration Hobby
Career/ employment prospects
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Motivation
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Getting a school certificate
 Application for
college/ university
Varied, mostly high
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Getting a degree
Post-graduate studies
Varied, mostly middle (if not a linguistic major)
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Getting a certificate (CEFR
levels)
Language for specific purposes (ESP)
Rather high
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Getting a certificate
(CEFR levels)
Language for
specific purposes (ESP)
Usually high, but
very quickly get tired and give up
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Exposure to the language
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Computer/online/
mobile games Social networks Lyrics
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Academic corpora
Online resources Social networks
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Business contacts
Online resources Social networks
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Business contacts
Online resources
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Attitude to
homework
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In general, neutral to a
bit negative, a kind of duty
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Homework is regarded as a part
of academic work, especially essential for successful graduation
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Homework is regarded as a
means to improve skills, a greater interest in practical tasks. However, don't often have time to complete it.
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Homework is
regarded as a means to improve skills, a greater interest in practical tasks. Usually are responsible about doing it.
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Independent
learning
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Accumulate the
language that serves particular interests. Still, can be at a loss facing too much information
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Accumulate the language that is
necessary for a certain fluency for both general and professional purposes .
Usually are good at selecting proper sources.
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Accumulate the language
essential for business purposes as well as general communication skills. Usually are glad to have practice.
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Accumulate the
language essential for business purposes as well as general communication skills.
Can feel shy when facing the need of practical usage.
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As the table above shows there are more differences in teaching English to different age and professional groups than similarities. So, special attention should be made to these aspects in teacher training.
Список литературы
1. Кузьмина Л.Г. О качестве учебной литературы для профильно-ориентированного обучения английскому языку [Текст] / Л.Г. Кузьмина // Английский для нефилологов. Проблемы ESP – 2012. М.: Истоки, 2012. С. 7–14.
2. Ларионова М.В. О проблеме профильно-ориентированного обучения иностранному языку студентов неязыковых специальностей [Текст] / М.В. Ларионова // Филологические науки. Вопросы теории и практики. Тамбов, 2013. № 9, ч. 1. С. 94–96.
3. Andrea R. English. Discontinuity in Learning. Dewey, Herbart and Education as Transformation. University of Edinburgh, 2014.
4. Assessment for Teaching. Edited by Patrick Griffin. University of Melbourne, 2014.
