Podrobný výpis o publikaci

Being an educator and a language lecturer for about a quarter of a century, the author has come across a wide variety of styles, approaches, tools and platforms enhancing foreign language acquisition, English in particular. Achieving outstanding results is a challenging issue for EFL teachers all the more that technologies, materials, aids and even the content supporting EFL acquisition face obsolescence after certain period; their lifecycles inexorably come to their end. Apart from stimulating background and intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of students, customization of EFL materials can offer a partial solution to the problem. Here, educational concepts and goals may merge with theoretical marketing concepts. The objective of this paper is to identify, explore and evaluate the educational potentials of state-of-the-art methods of changing an English class into a more intellectually stimulating and more engaging place where students are willing to immerse into learning due to meaningful customization of EFL materials. Simultaneously, the necessary skills of teachers for successful customization of EFL materials are explored as well, especially in view of dynamic technological advances. The paper is complemented by the results of an exploratory probe focused on the university teachers and their current practice and experience in EFL materials' customization. In this survey, a special attention is given to customization of learning materials with the help of new technologies, especially mobile video and audio formats, communication platforms of social media, incorporation of mobile apps, and blogging/vlogging. It is the aim of the author to open a discussion on EFL customization methods and suggest professional sharing platforms varying from international conferences and seminars to information sharing platforms. A dynamic approach to EFL materials' customization represents a significant contribution aiming at boosting genuine interests of students in learning English while acquiring real life English language communication skills.