Cynthia White

Expectations and emergent beliefs of self-instructed language learners

Abstract This article reports on findings from a longitudinal study tracking the expectations, shifts in expectations and emergent beliefs of ‘novice’ self-instructed language learners. An iterative data collection cycle was used through five phases to investigate how the learners experienced and articulated their experience of a solo distance language learning context. The discussion here focuses on the learner-context interface, tolerance of ambiguity and locus of control; these constructs emerged from the reports as central to an understanding of how learners conceptualised the initial stages of the process of self-instructed language learning.

Distance learning of foreign languages

This article provides a critical overview of the field of distance language learning, challenging the way in which the field is often narrowly conceptualised as the development of technology-mediated language learning opportunities. Early sections focus on issues of concept and definition and both theoretical and pedagogical perspectives on the field. Emphasis is placed on evident shifts from a concern with structural and organisational issues to a focus on transactional issues associated with teaching/learning opportunities within emerging paradigms for distance language learning. The next section reviews choices and challenges in incorporating technology into distance language learning environments, foregrounding decisions about technology made in particular sociocultural contexts, the contribution of ‘low-end’ technologies and research directions in developing new learning spaces and in using online technologies. The investigation of learner contributions to distance language learning is an important avenue of enquiry in the field, given the preoccupation with technology and virtual learning environments, and this is the subject of section six. The two final sections identify future research directions and provide a series of conclusions about research and practice in distance language learning as technology-mediated interactions increasingly come to influence the way we think about the processes of language learning and teaching.

Contribution of Distance Education to the Development of Individual Learners

An important touchstone of distance education has been to contribute to the development of individual learners whatever their life circumstances. The first half of the article provides an overview of this contribution and of the understanding and awareness that has been developed about distance learners in their individual learning contexts. The overview is based around five themes: access to education, adjustment to new learning environments, individual development, knowledge and awareness of learners in context, and the importance of understanding the learner’s perspective of distance education. In the latter part of the article it is argued that the way ahead for distance education requires attention to more than technological approaches to learning, and that the field is well placed to provide an informed critique of current trends and developments, to focus on the student experience, and to contribute to learner development and practitioner development.

Innovation and identity in distance language learning and teaching

Innovation in distance language learning and teaching has largely focused on developments in technology and the increased opportunities they provide for negotiation and control of learning experiences, for participating in collaborative learning environments and the development of interactive competence in the target language. Much less attention has been paid to pedagogical innovation and still less to how congruence develops between particular pedagogical approaches, various technologies and the skills, practices, actions and identities of language learners and teachers. In this paper I explore the process of innovation in distance language teaching from the point of view of key participants in the process, the teachers, and the ways in which their identities are disrupted and challenged as they enter new distance teaching environments. Innovative approaches to distance language teaching are analysed for the insights they provide into the sites of conflict and struggle experienced by teachers, experiences that have a major impact on their selves as distance teachers and on the course of innovation. To conclude I argue that attention to issues of identity can deepen our understanding of innovation, of the tensions that are played out in the experiences and responses of teachers, and of the ways they accept or resist the identity shifts required of them.

Effects of mode of study on foreign language learning

(1997). Effects of mode of study on foreign language learning. Distance Education: Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 178-196.

The distance learning of foreign languages: A research agenda

Research into the distance learning of languages is now established as a significant avenue of enquiry in language teaching, with evident research trajectories in several domains. This article selects and analyses significant areas of investigation in distance language learning and teaching to identify new and emerging gaps, along with research questions, methodologies and research tools. Taken together these define a research agenda focusing on theory, pedagogy, technology use, learner contributions, innovation and less commonly taught languages. Within those broad areas, the scope of proposed research tasks includes the distinctive features and practices of distance language teaching, task design for synchronous settings, mentoring, multimodal learning environments, the transfer of speaking skills, and learners’ affective experiences. To conclude, a number of guidelines are given for future enquiry addressing the distinctive nature of research into distance language teaching and learning and the need for a rich evidence base in both theory and practice.

Tutor and Student Perceptions of What Makes an Effective Distance Language Teacher

This collaborative research project sought to determine the attributes, skills and expertise/knowledge needed by distance language teachers. The first phase of the project explored tutor perspectives using discussion groups, questionnaires, interviews and a yoked-subject technique. Statements and categories of expertise were identified, elaborated on and refined to produce a taxonomy of teaching expertise. The second phase explored how distance language students viewed the domains of teaching expertise put forward by tutors, and attempted to identify any gaps, differences and points of convergence. Tutor and student views were generally aligned, but differed in emphasis. Issues related to articulation of non-verbal communication, differentiation and empathy with the learner were highlighted. This article argues for the value of enquiring into student and tutor perspectives on teaching expertise, and concludes with implications for linking research and practice and for teacher professional development.

Getting the Big Picture: A Longitudinal Study of Adaptation and Identity in a New Zealand University

In the early years of this decade, certain sections of New Zealand universities were taken by surprise by the unprecedented demand for places from a new cohort of students of which they had very limited experience, and whose previous educational experience had been within a markedly different academic culture: Chinese international students. The presence of international students was not a novelty. New Zealand had a history of providing university education for international students as part of its close relationship with Pacific Island nations, and through participation in the Colombo Plan, a British Commonwealth initiative to promote influence on developing Asian countries (which for historical reasons did not include the People’s Republic of China). By the end of the last century, however, self-interested altruism had been replaced by a business model of recruiting full-fee-paying students, and the primary sources of such students were changing. National statistics provide something of the story: in 1998, 89 university students came from China to New Zealand; by 2002, that number had jumped to 11,700, more than half the full-fee students at public tertiary institutions (Tarling, 2004: 223). What these statistics do not show, however, is their concentration in particular subjects, such as undergraduate business studies.

Making User-Generated Content Communities Work in Higher Education – The Importance of Setting Incentives

The concept of User-Generated Content (UGC) offers impressive potential for innovative learning and teaching scenarios in higher education. Examples like Wikipedia and Facebook illustrate the enormous effects of multiple users world-wide contributing to a pool of shared resources, such as videos and pictures and also lexicographical descriptions. Apart from single examples, however, the systematic use of these virtual technologies in higher education still needs further exploration. Only few examples display the successful application of UGC Communities at university scenarios. We argue that a major reason for this can be seen in the fact that the organizational dimension of setting up UGC Communities has widely been neglected so far. In particular, we indicate the need for incentive setting to actively involve students and achieve specific pedagogical objectives. We base our study on organizational theories and derive strategies for incentive setting that have been applied in a practical e-Learning scenario involving students from Germany and New Zealand.

Note-Taking Strategies and Traces of Cognition in Language Learning:

Recent investigations into language learning behaviours have revealed that note-taking is one of the most frequently used strategies, particularly at elementary and intermediate stages. This paper reports on a study which attempts to find out the kinds of note-taking strategies language learners use, why they use them, and the nature of the mental processes which underlie note-taking behaviours. It uses verbal reports obtained from learners about their strategy use as they work on a range of language tasks as the basis for analysing instances of note-taking strategies. Results indicate that learners use five distinctive kinds of note-taking strategies, and that each of these is deployed for different purposes in acquiring the target language. It is argued that note-taking behaviours in language learning are best viewed as traces of cognition and that the functions of such traces warrant further investigation.