单选题 The term "formal learning" refers to all learning which takes place in the classroom regardless of whether such learning is informed by conservative or progressive ideologies. "Informal learning", on the other hand, is used to refer to learning which takes place outside the classroom.
These definitions provide the essential difference between the two modes of learning. Formal learning is separated from daily life and may actually promote ways of learning and thinking which often run counter to those obtained from practical daily life. A characteristic feature of formal learning is the centrality of activities which can prepare for the challenges of adult life outside the classroom, but it cannot, by its nature, consist of these challenges.
In doing this, language plays a critical role as the major channel for information exchange. The language of the classroom is more similar to the language used by middle-class families than that used by working-class families. Middle-class children thus find it easier to acquire the language of the classroom than their working-class classmates.
Informal learning, in contrast, occurs in the setting to which it relates, making learning immediately relevant. In this context, language does not occupy such an important role. the child"s experience of learning is more direct, involving sight, touch, taste, and smell—senses that are under-utilised in the classroom.
Whereas formal learning is transmitted by teachers selected to perform this role, informal learning is acquired as a natural part of a child"s socialization. Adults or older children who are proficient in the skill or activity provide—sometimes unintentionally—target models of behaviour in the course of everyday activity. Informal learning, therefore, can take place at any time and place.
The motivation of the learner provides another critical difference between the two models of learning. The formal learner is generally motivated by some kind of external goal such as parental approval, social status, and potential financial reward. The informal learner, however, tends to be motivated by successful completion of the task itself and the partial acquisition of adult status.
Given that learning systems develop as a response to the social and economic contexts in which they are embedded, it is understandable that modern, highly urbanized societies have concentrated almost exclusively on the establishment of formal education systems. What these societies have failed to recognize are the ways in which formal learning inhibits the child"s multi-sensory acquisition of practical skills. The failure to provide a child with a direct education may in part account for many of the social problems which trouble our societies.
单选题 Formal learning and informal learning are mainly distinguished by ______
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 从第一段对“正规学习”与“非正规学习”的定义来看,二者的主要区别是学习的场所:正规学习指学校学习,而非正规学习则指校外(即:社会的、家庭内的)学习。文章其他段落所列举的二者的不同特征,都是这一差别的延伸或结果。
单选题 The language used in classroom instruction explains ______
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 第三段谈了语言在教学中的作用。在课堂教学中,教师使用的语言更接近于中产阶级家庭中(middle-class families)交流时使用的语言,因此,就语言来讲,来自中产阶级家庭的学生不会有什么障碍。他们习惯于老师的词汇、解释问题的方式,所做的作业迎合老师所要求的风格。来自工人家庭(下层社会)的孩子则要在语言方面重新适应课堂的教育,因为他们的语言在词汇、风格、口音等方面和课堂语言有差别。这一语言现象解释了为什么来自下层社会家庭的孩子经常学习不好。
单选题 In informal learning, ______
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第五段指出,在非正规学习中,学习成了孩子社会成长过程(socialization)中一个自然部分,成年人或稍大一些孩子的某些优良行为,有意无意地成了孩子们模仿的对象(target model of behaviour),因此,A表达的内容与原文相符。
原文第四段指出,在非正规学习中,孩子学习的内容是可见可感的,更加直接。这与脱离现实(separated from daily life)的学校教育形成鲜明对比(见第二段),因此,B所表达的内容与原文也是相符的。
第六段谈了二者在学习动机(motivation)方面的差别。该段指出,在非正规学习中,学习者的学习动机产生于完成工作后的成就感和意识到自己“已长大”的感觉,因此,C也与原文相符。
单选题 Compared with informal learning, formal learning is ______
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 参阅第1、3、5小题题解。
单选题 The author"s attitude towards the present state of formal learning is one of ______
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 其实,从本文对两种学习特征的描述中,我们也可以了解到作者的态度,如:他认为正规学习脱离实际(第二段)、来自下层社会家庭的孩子处于不利地位(第三段)、用学习活动以外的手段来促学(第六段),等等。在结论全文的第七段,作者的观点表达得更为清楚。他指出,大城市过于强调正规教育,忽视了学生多感觉、多渠道地获取知识(非正规学习)的方式,这部分解释了我们目前一些社会问题的存在。可见,作者对学校教育的现状持一种批评态度。