Palgrave Macmillan has just agreed to publish the book below. We are very excited about this project and will post updates and samples here when they become available:

Benson, P. & Reinders, H. (2010) (Eds), Beyond the Language Classroom. The Theory and Practice of Informal Language Learning and Teaching. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (forthcoming). You can read more about this book by clicking on the link ‘beyond the classroom’ in the menu on the right.

An estimated 80% of adult learning takes place outside of formal education (Cross 1981). For language learning, it is likely that out-of-class experiences play an equally important role (cf. de Bot 2007). It is therefore surprising that the role of informal language learning has received very little attention over the years, with the vast majority of research instead focusing on classroom methods, materials and interaction.

Researchers from a range of backgrounds, however, have started to realise the important contribution of informal language learning, both in its own right, and in its relationship with classroom learning. Studies in the areas of learner autonomy, learning strategies, study abroad, language support, learners’ voices, computer-mediated communication, mobile-assisted language learning, and many others, all add to our understanding of the complex and intersecting ways in which learners construct their own language learning experiences, drawing from a wide range of resources, including materials, teachers, self-study, technology, other learners, and native speakers.

Because of the predominance of informal language learning, it is important that the existing body of research is solidified and that the various disciplines that have looked at this area are brought together to present the current state of knowledge in one, accessible volume. For this reason, the researchers below have been invited from different backgrounds to contribute individual chapters that together cover all the relevant areas.

Preliminary table of contents (subject to change):

Language learning and teaching outside the classroom: an overview
Phil Benson and Hayo Reinders

Experiences of learning English and Swedish: out-of-school contexts compared with school contexts
Paula Kalaja, Riika Alanen, Åsa Palviainen, and Hannele Dufva.

Investigating out-of-class language learning strategies among teenagers: linking school activities to social practices.
Sophie Bailly

Places for Learning: Technology-Mediated Learning Practices outside Classrooms.
Leena Kuure

Home tutor cognitions and the nature of tutor-learner relationships.
Gary Barkhuizen

The Language Café: A practical implementation of pedagogy outside the classroom
Loretta Qwarnström and BethAnne Yoxsimer Paulsrud, Dalarna University, Sweden

Affordances beyond the classroom
Vera Menezes

From Becoming to Being Multilingual: Ethnographic Insights into SLA Variation. David Divita

Talk about language use: I know a little about your language.
Erica Zimmerman

Structuring Out-of-Class Language Learning for Older Learners
Garold Murray

A possible path to progress: Out-of-school English among English language learners in Sweden.
Pia Sundqvist

Tandem learning in virtual spaces: Supporting the acquisition of key competences for lifelong learning.
Ursula Stickler, Martina Emke

Intercultural competence in practice through oral and written exchanges in telecollaboration: how does experience sustain intercultural learning?
Maud Ciekanski, Bechtel, M., Abendroth-Timmer, D., Chanier, T.

English learning through popular culture: consumption and participation.
Alice Chik

Beyond the classroom, in the family: Social resources, networks and capital in language learning.
David M. Palfreyman

Epilogue – Phil Benson and Hayo Reinders