Teenagers learning languages out of school: What, why and how do they learn? How can school help them?

Abstract

Due to the shortage of language teachers in France, some schools are no longer able to promote the development of multilingual and multicultural competences that society and individuals value. Meanwhile, the traditional extensive1 group language teaching model favoured in French schools is being challenged by increasing access to means of learning foreign languages beyond the school, due for instance to the development of international exchanges and new communication media. The globalized world provides a variety of resources for satisfying language learning needs when school is not enough. Thanks to the internet, resources for learning are easily accessible to almost anyone, including to school students, who can nowadays learn school subjects, including foreign languages, almost without going to class or being taught.