Researching massive open online courses for language teaching and learning

• Published in: ReCALL (Cambridge, England) Vol. 33; no. 2; pp. 107 - 110
• Main Authors: Martín-Monje, Elena, Borthwick, Kate
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.05.2021
• Subjects: Behavioral Objectives; Computer assisted language learning; Course Content; Distinctive features; Educational Resources; Informal Education; Instructional design; Language; Language instruction; Languages; Learner Engagement; Learning Processes; MOOCs; Motivation; Online Courses; Online instruction; Open learning; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Trends
• ISSN: 0958-3440; 1474-0109
• DOI: 10.1017/S0958344021000094

There has been an increasing interest in open educational resources, open practices, and open learning spaces in language teaching and learning in the last decade (Comas-Quinn & Borthwick, 2015; Gimeno-Sanz, 2016) in which language massive open online courses (LMOOCs) have played a relevant role. Defined by Bárcena and Martín-Monje (2014: 1) as “dedicated Web-based online courses for second languages with unrestricted access and potentially unlimited participation”, LMOOCs have experienced an exponential growth since their appearance in 2012 (Jitpaisarnwattana, Reinders & Darasawang, 2019), with an unexpected boost due to the recent pandemic, which has led language learning to be in the top 10 subjects of interest in MOOCs (Shah, 2020). Despite this lack of published research, Gillespie notes that “EUROCALL [the European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning] has an LMOOC Special Interest Group, so there is clearly interest in this area” (p. 135) and advises researchers to pursue this endeavour. The following research trends or directions for LMOOC research have been identified (Sallam et al., 2020): (1) conceptualisation of LMOOCs and their distinctive features, (2) attempts to find the most suitable model for language teaching and learning beyond the xMOOC/cMOOC dichotomy, 1 (3) suitability of LMOOCs for languages for specific purposes courses, (4) focus on the learners and their motivation and experience throughout the course, (5) reflection on the new role of the teacher, (6) instructional design and how it affects participants’ learning and possible attrition, and (7) the importance of social learning in LMOOCs.