As active student participation in classroom interaction is widely accepted as a central component of foreign language learning, prompting student contributions becomes consequential in L2 educational settings including synchronous remote classrooms. When there is a lack of response following teacher questions, teachers resort to a variety of…

This exploratory review brings together research that investigates computer-assisted language learning (CALL), and research in the field of learning design, paying particular attention to the theoretical frameworks and approaches of "design for learning." The attempts of connecting the two fields stem from two critical foci and…

Learning analytics (LA) has emerged as a field that offers promising new ways to prevent drop-out and aid retention. However, other research suggests that large datasets of learner activity can be used to understand online learning behaviour and improve pedagogy. While the use of LA in language learning has received little attention to date,…

This paper examines a sample of online discussion data from the course forum for the large-scale beginners' Chinese course offered by the UK Open University. This forum is open to all registered students, their participation is completely voluntary and they (rather than tutors) initiate communications. The aim of this study is (i) to seek to…

Technology enhanced learning (TEL) has shaped the way we teach and learn nowadays. Web 2.0 interactivity capacities have played a major role in providing a virtual space where learning can take place outside the classroom. Digital environments challenge the traditional educational establishment by blurring the boundaries between the recipient of…

This article describes the rationale for pedagogical, technological and organisational choices in the design of a virtual learning environment (VLE) for an upper-intermediate Spanish course with regard to the roles of participants (tutors, moderators and learners). We report on findings from a preliminary evaluation of the interaction between the…

This case study paves the way for a research and development project aiming to design a desktop videoconferencing platform specifically dedicated to synchronous language teaching. It starts by defining a model of language pedagogy adapted to distance and taking into account the affordances of videoconferencing for language teaching. It then…

Describes the Language Learning Network, a course for distance second-language learning that attempts to bridge the gap between autonomous distance study and traditional face-to-face location-restricted classes. Underlying pedagogical principles, course structure, and the course pilot project are examined. (MSE)

In this article, we set out to assess QuADEM (Quality Assessment of Digital Educational Material), one of the latest methods for evaluating online language learning courseware. What is special about QuADEM is that the evaluation is based on observing the actual usage of the online courseware and that, from a checklist of 12 different components,…