FORMAL, NON-FORMAL AND INFORMAL CONTENT DOMAIN OF BLENDED LEARNING FOR PROSPECTIVE ENGLISH UNIVERSITY TEACHERS

Abstract

Learning today takes place in various mixed forms - through practice, and personal connections, extending beyond the boundaries of traditional educational institutions. Many students navigate in different fields of knowledge throughout their lives. The specifics of non-formal and informal education are an important aspect of future professionals’ learning since formal education cannot encompass all such experiences. Blended learning combines formal and non-formal learning, face-to-face and online communication, guided actions and independent choice of path to achieve personal and social learning goals. Considering the pertinence of developing professionally oriented communicative competence among prospective English university teachers, the purpose of the study is to theoretically substantiate the content domain of blended learning (BL), including formal, non-formal and informal aspects. It is stated that in the narrow sense, the BL of prospective English university teachers is a purposeful process of transferring and assimilating knowledge, improving linguistic, speech, socio-cultural, educational and strategic competencies, enhancing students’ cognitive activities. BL should be a flexible synthesis of distance learning, complemented by direct interaction with the teacher and other students during traditional learning, which will significantly intensify the learning process, fostering independent learning and the individual learning trajectory of each student. In a broad sense, the BL of prospective English university teachers is a system of formal and non-formal learning that integrates with informal learning that is characterized by social experience and defined as a self-organized, individually cognitive activity. The study has used a set of theoretical research methods including analysis, systematization and generalization of the results from the scientific and pedagogical experience of Ukrainian and foreign scientists. The webinar is distinguished as an interactive form of organizing non-formal learning, incorporating a mixture of formal learning through practical exercises such as debates, the flipped learning model, the project method, the discussion method, the presentation method, etc.