A Case Study of Adult English Conversation Club in Riga, Latvia

Abstract

Developing the speaking skill is one of the critical aspects of foreign language learning/teaching. Few researchers have addressed the issue of adult English learning in conversation clubs. This paper is a preliminary attempt to describe Adult English Conversation Club (AECC) practice in non-formal educational context. In order to study AECC, we interviewed a teacher and four adult learners and observed speaking sessions at an Adult English Conversation Club in Riga, Latvia. The responses revealed the strong points and disadvantages of AECC, crucial factors in organizing the conversation sessions, the reasons why adults attend a conversation club and how the sessions could be improved. As only one conversation club was researched in our paper, further studies are needed to develop a proper methodology for AECC.