Questões

Until a few years ago, learning a foreign language took place largely in the classroom, within an education system. It usually meant learning grammar rules and vocabulary, doing written exercises, reading specially written texts and answering comprehension questions and - possibly - listening to recorded texts (and answering further comprehension questions about these, too). A lot of people learned the language this way; in fact, you may have done so yourself.

However, some adults who first experienced a foreign language at school in the past did not have much success with it. This was often because they could only see the difficulties, such as the differences between the L1 and the target language (L2). They often became demotivated and decided that English was too difficult, that it had no real use for them, and many of them gave it up as soon as they could. They joined the large worldwide community of unsuccessful foreign language learners.

Today, however, because English is so widely available on the web, and in social media, as well as in many workplaces, it has become a reality - and even a requirement - for a great many people. As a result, it is much easier to see the connection between what is done in the classroom and the use of the language in the outside world, and to ensure that the first can be seen to be a practical preparation for the second.

Excerpt extracted and adapted from: HOLDEN, Susan; NOBRE, Vinícius. Teaching English today: Contexts and objectives. São Paulo: HUB Editorial, 2028 p. 3-4.