Pixel International Conferences

The inevitable shift to online learning in higher education institutions is increasing the need to understand the learner from the other side of the screen. Kessler claims that "we live in a time of unprecedented opportunities to communicate with the others authentically… Language teachers are faced with a variety of fascinating options for using technology to improve language learning" (Kessler, 2018). Melamed and Goldstein (2017) note that, the digital revolution not only changes the physical, social, and cultural space, but also the person himself. Together with these understandings and the attempts to integrate the classroom with the online space, attention must be directed to what is happening in the learner’s world and what creates different experiences for different learners (Bozna & Yüzer, 2020). According to Pichette (2009), in the last two decades, distance language learning research has dealt with motivation for learning, learning styles, the learner's autonomy, flexibility and tolerance for ambiguity, but few dealt with the language anxiety that accompanies language learning from a distance. Young and Quadir (2018) are asking if the language learners who were born and live in today's digital world experience less anxiety in this space? (174). Russell (2020) indicates that COVID 19 is a major cause of anxiety in the transition to remote language learning. She speculates that the global pandemic has forced the learner and the educator to move to the online space without giving another option. Russell questions if we are witnessing a dramatic change taking place in the world of education. What is happening among language learners who study today under conditions of stress and physical anxiety, socially and economically?” (338). Would some pedagogical ways, such as the Socratic seminar, provide an answer?

Keywords: Language anxiety, distance language learning

References:

Bozna, Harun and Tevfik Volkan Yüzer. 2020. “Digital Natives’ Use of Web 2.0 Tools in Learning Foreign Language: A Case Study.” Language and Technology 2, no. 1, 26–43

Kessler, Gregg. 2018. Technology and the future of language teaching. Foreign Language Annals, 51(1), 205–218.

Melamed, Uzi and Goldstein, Olsen. 2017. Teaching and learning in the digital age. Tel Aviv

Inspectorate Institute

Pichette, François. 2009. Second Language Anxiety and Distance Language Learning. Foreign Language Annals, 42(1), 77–93.

Russell, Victoria. 2020. Language anxiety and the online learner. Foreign Language Annals, 53(2), 338–352.

Yang, Jie Che & Quadir, Benazir. 2018. Individual differences in an English learning achievement system: gaming flow experience, gender differences and learning motivation. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 27(3), 351–366.