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SUPPORTING LEARNING ROMANIAN BEYOND THE CLASSROOM – ROMANIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, A CASE STUDY
Abstract
Before the pandemic that burst out in 2019, most language teachers noticed that students learn more efficiently when they combine classroom learning with learning outside the classroom. In Romania, this concept is quite new when we think of higher education, where students have been accustomed to learning in more formal environments, such as labs or classrooms. As for learning a foreign language outside the classroom, there are no studies that report on the effectiveness of learning outside this so-called safe environment. This idea occurred due to the restrictions imposed during Covid-19 when I thought of ways to take students out of the virtual environment and bring them into a safer scenario where they could feel comfortable and interact with each other. Most language teachers have noticed that students learn more efficiently when they combine classroom leaning with learning outside the conventional environment. In Romania, this concept is quite new when we think about higher education. In this context, students believe that learning is more efficient in a more formal environment, e.g. labs, classrooms. As for learning out of the classroom, there are no studies that report on the effectiveness of learning outside the classroom. Having very few options, I did not even think that out-of-class learning might be less effective than classroom learning, and I could gladly observe the positive aspects of learning beyond the classroom. This present paper will be focused mainly on the benefits of learning outside the classroom and the importance of learner autonomy. The examples provided come from the Preparatory Year of Romanian Language, where Romanian is taught as a foreign language.
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