About learning: challenges for contemporary language teaching (psychological and sociological aspects) 3304-2D1W-SM-20

The following issues, among others, will be analysed:
- cultural factors influencing language learning: the status of the language in the region, the connotations attributed to different foreign languages, the teaching/learning model prevalent in a given culture, etc,
- social factors influencing language learning: the influence of the environment on cognitive preferences, social mobility, etc., etc,
- psychological factors influencing language learning: personality, psychological blockages, the role of beliefs, etc., etc,
- contextual factors influencing language learning: age of target group, needs of learners, type of education (formal vs. informal), etc.
- issues related to the methodology of glottodidactic research: definition of the research area, formulation of the research problem, purposefulness/non-purposefulness and principles of formulating a research hypothesis, definition of variables and their indicators, awareness of the existence and definition of the role of mediating (intervening) variables, principles concerning the application of different research methods and techniques (observation, interview, survey, sociometry).
The specific topics of the course will also depend on the scientific interests of the master's students.