Informal language learning beyond the classroom plays an important and growing role in language learning and teaching. This Handbook brings together the existing body of research and unites the various disciplines that have explored this area, in order to present the current state of knowledge in one accessible resource.
Much of adult learning takes place outside of formal education and for language learning, it is likely that out-of-class experiences play an equally important role. It is therefore surprising that the role of informal language learning has received little attention over the years, with the vast majority of research instead focusing on the classroom. Researchers from a range of backgrounds, however, have started to realise the important contribution of informal language learning, both in its own right, and in its relationship with classroom learning. Studies in the areas of learner autonomy, learning strategies, study abroad, language support, learners’ voices, computer-mediated communication, mobile-assisted language learning, digital gaming, and many others, all add to our understanding of the complex and intersecting ways in which learners construct their own language learning experiences, drawing from a wide range of resources, including materials, teachers, self-study, technology, other learners and native speakers.
This Handbook provides a sound and comprehensive basis for researchers and graduate students to build upon in their own research of language learning and teaching beyond the classroom.
Hayo Reinders (www.innovationinteaching.org) is TESOL Professor and Director of Research at Anaheim University, USA, and Professor of Applied Linguistics at KMUTT in Thailand. He is founder of the global Institute for Teacher Leadership and editor of Innovation in Language Learning & Teaching.
Chun Lai is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include self-directed language learning with technology beyond the classroom, technology-enhanced language learning and teacher technology integration.
Pia Sundqvist is Associate Professor of English Language Education at the University of Oslo, Norway. Her main research interests are in the field of applied English linguistics, with a focus on informal language learning, especially Extramural English and gaming, the assessment of L2 oral proficiency and English language teaching.
