Languaging and language awareness in the global age 2020–2023: digital engagement and practice in language teaching and learning in (post-)pandemic times

Abstract

This paper discusses key themes of the 15th biennial conference of the Association for Language Awareness (2020), with a focus on increasing digital engagement in language education. The COVID-19 pandemic occasioned an abrupt transition to emergency remote language teaching and learning (ERLTL) worldwide. The ALA 2020 conference was also affected by this transition; originally planned as a located conference in Geelong, Australia, it was eventually held online, a first in ALA’s conference history. The current paper engages with contemporary debates of language teaching and learning in two ways. Firstly, it traces recent discussions by presenting key findings from five papers given at the conference, and secondly, via a scoping review of literature focusing on critical lessons from the pandemic regarding language teaching and learning. The review captures recent research from the Australasian region. Key debates identified in the literature include the needs of teachers and learners during the transition to online learning, and how student engagement was affected. The literatures highlight that both educators and students have been developing new practices in teaching and learning resulting from the shift to online and blended modes, which may continue to shape language education and new pedagogies in the future.

Resumen

Este artículo analiza los temas clave de la 15a conferencia bienal de la Association for Language Awareness (2020), enfocándose en la creciente interacción digital en la enseñanza de idiomas. La pandemia de COVID-19 provocó una transición abrupta hacia la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de idiomas a distancia en situaciones de emergencia (ERLTL) en todo el mundo. La conferencia ALA 2020 también se vio afectada por esta transición; originalmente fue planificada para llevarse a cabo en Geelong, Australia, pero finalmente se realizó en línea, por primera vez en la historia de las conferencias de ALA. Nuestro artículo aborda debates actuales sobre la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de idiomas de dos maneras. En primer lugar, hace un seguimiento de los debates actuales y expone las conclusiones principales de cinco ponencias realizadas en la conferencia. También presenta una revisión exhaustiva de la literatura que centra las lecciones críticas aprendidas de la pandemia en relación a la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de idiomas. La revisión recoge investigaciones recientes enfocadas en la región de Australasia. Los debates claves identificados en la literatura incluyen las exigencias de profesores y alumnos durante la transición al aprendizaje en línea, y cómo el compromiso de los estudiantes se vio afectado. La bibliografía destaca que tanto educadores como estudiantes desarrollaron nuevas prácticas de enseñanza y aprendizaje a raíz del cambio a modos en línea y combinados, las cuales pueden contribuir a la enseñanza de idiomas y nuevas pedagogías.

PLAIN LANGUAGE STATEMENT

The 15th Conference of the Association for Language Awareness (ALA) was hosted online in late 2020 from Melbourne, Australia after the global pandemic had disrupted travel. In this paper, we present five papers from the conference and a literature review. The conference theme addressed how language teaching and learning are changing because of digital practices. The papers included focus on two main themes. The first theme relates to current beliefs and perceptions of educators about languages and language teaching. A second theme considers how the development of language awareness can be supported in the classroom, and with digital tools. The scoping review of literature contributes to these debates by examining findings from recent studies investigating the effects of the pandemic on language teaching and learning. This research snapshot focuses on the Australasian region where the conference was remotely hosted and where the authors of the current paper live and work. The Australasian region is also considered as one of the regions where the strictest lockdowns in the world were imposed, with far-reaching effects on teaching, learning, and research. We conclude with implications of the changes for language teaching and learning after the pandemic, and for the development of critical language awareness.

Keywords:

• Emergency remote language teaching and learning (ERLTL)
• Australasia
• COVID-19 pandemic
• student engagement
• online and digital instruction

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.