TEACHING ENGLISH AND EFL METHODOLOGY TO KINDERGARTEN AND PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS: A BLENDED MODEL

The paper examines the blended learning model implemented in the online Master degree course "LIM, lingua e didattica dell'inglese per maestri" at the Faculty of Modern Languages of the University of Urbino, Italy. The course is targeted at teaching foreign language teaching methodology and English as a Foreign Language to kindergarten and primary school teachers. The assets and drawbacks of Foreign Language (FL) distance education are first evaluated. The blended learning model implemented at the University of Urbino is then explored. Furthermore, the new instructional design of the course scheduled to be implemented in the 2012-2013 Academic Year is introduced. Web 2.0 technology-enhanced tasks aimed to foster both user-generated content and foreign language acquisition in collaborative social spaces are thus described. This study may provide some support for future implementations of online collaborative foreign language learning environments in higher education.