Abstract:

The article is devoted to the analysis of informal language education. It is obvious, that nowadays the knowledge of foreign languages is an integral part of a modern individual’s success. A foreign language can become an indispensable tool in the context of personal communication and the achievement of professional goals. Despite the popularity and significance of learning foreign languages, modern graduates of comprehensive school do not always know the foreign they studied. The tendency is determined by different reasons. To improve the situation and provide the effectiveness of learning foreign languages at various age stages, innovative linguodidactic models are created, among which an informal education is gaining popularity. This direction, on the one hand, is acknowledged as an effective one, on the other hand, it is also criticized. In spite of being controversial, informal language education can bring high results in the formation of different structural components of communicative competence.

Within the frame of the article, the author revealed the essential characteristics of informal education, defined its major principles, provided a comparative analysis with the other existing models of teaching foreign languages, brought out the conditions of effectiveness. The most appropriate stages for the organization of informal education are preschool and junior school age, although the other stages also have all the opportunities for the direction realization. The conclusions were also made that informal language education has several disadvantages. To confirm the findings, experimental research on the organization of informal language education was conducted. The possible ways of the research development were defined.

Keywords:

Informal language education, edutainment, junior school age.