Contrasting Two Approaches to Distance Language Learning

Abstract

In this article we contrast two distance foreign language programs developed at two European institutions of higher education (the Modern Languages Program at the Open University, UK; and the English Program at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain) as instances of two pedagogical models used to address the many challenges posed by teaching languages at a distance. A detailed analysis of both approaches reveals that the pedagogical choices made by both universities are in great measure determined by the historical and cultural contexts in which both institutions are embedded. In addition, we discuss the similarities and differences between the two and draw several conclusions regarding the appropriateness of the two distance universities' general educational, administrative, and technological models for distance language learning.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Marie‐Noëlle Lamy for her useful comments in an earlier version of this article and to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.

Notes

1. It should be noted that Spain has a national distance university, the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, which has been in operation since 1972. Courses, however, are offered only in Spanish and not in any of the other languages commonly spoken in Spain (i.e., Catalan, Basque, and Galician).

2. It should be noted that these materials were introduced in the courses in 2004. Prior to that time, tutors designed their own language learning activities, which they sent to their students each week via the virtual classrooms.