Evaluation of foreign language courses by language instructors in liberal adult education institutions
Nyckelord:
adult education, adult learning, foreign language teachersAbstract
Many language teachers who enter adult education have no qualification in the education of adults – their teaching qualifications focus on the education of children. The aim of this study is to examine language teachers’ evaluation of foreign language courses given at adult education centers (AEC) in Finland. The main issues addressed in this paper are: a) language teachers’ attitude toward teaching adults, b) AEC language classroom practices, c) success factors and obstacles in an AEC’s language class. Ten AEC language teachers participated in the survey. The collected interview data suggested that autonomy of language teachers at AECs create positive and negative effects. On the one hand, the teachers who had favorable environment for experimentation had a better course delivery. On the other hand, teachers who lacked pedagogical qualifications could have a superficial approach to language teaching, resulting in negative classroom practices.
