Abstract:

During the last decades, distance learning has quickly seeped into most, if not all, settings, especially institutions of higher education. While this new mainstay of teaching and learning poses numerous benefits, it all too often is based on an asynchronous format and, therefore, lacks in opportunities for authentic exchange in real time. This missing element, an essential component of human interaction and learning, is particularly critical when it comes to second language learning and teaching. How do learners develop target language speaking ability when there is minimal if any spontaneous auditory language? How do we address second language phonology? How do we capture those teachable moments and maximize on them if there is no spoken language? More importantly perhaps, how do we adequately prepare budding educators for the challenges of a language classroom comprised mostly of receptive auditory language, one-way exchange, and textual interactions? Successful second language acquisition and foreign/second language teaching hinges on the answers to these questions.

This pedagogical paper brings forth these issues as well as others related to where online education and language education need to intersect in order to bolster effectiveness. It goes on to discuss practical strategies for implementing best practices when language teaching and learning occur in an online setting, and it exposes creative ways for filling the gap of asynchronous online learning with authentic, rich interactions. These practices are currently being implemented and have shown positive effects for pre-service language teachers in terms of increased knowledge and abilities as well as development of a professional identity and self-efficacy. By exploring ways that technology can support current best practices in language teaching and learning, we can not only enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of current online language education, but we can also provide pre-service language teachers with the usable tools they will need if they hope to develop professional competences in their field.

Keywords:

Online Learning, Synchronous Online Learning, Second/foreign Language Learning, Second/foreign Language Teaching, Language Teacher Education.