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

Looking back and looking forward: setting the context

As we prepared this collection of papers from the 15th Association for Language Awareness Conference in 2020 for publication, we noted that this moment coincided with the three-year anniversary of the announcement of the call for conference papers. The ‘going live’ of the ALA 2020 Conference website—which was the first public-facing action in the usual logistics of conference organisation, and a step that would normally not be seen as something out of the ordinary—marked a special moment in the context of April 2020. As it had become increasingly obvious in the first half of 2020 that the COVID-19 pandemic would impact the world in unforeseen and unpredictable ways, the ALA 2020 organising committee was in frequent contact with the ALA executive committee to discuss the implications of the pandemic for its 15th bi-annual conference—which had been originally scheduled to be held in April as an in-person conference at Deakin University in Geelong, Australia. Key questions discussed were: Should the conference be postponed to the following year? Should it be cancelled altogether? Was running the conference in virtual mode a feasible alternative? If ‘yes’ to the last point, what infrastructure would be required?

Thanks to the existing expertise and infrastructure provided by Deakin University’s conference support team—early adopters of digital conference delivery—it was possible to go ahead with ALA 2020, albeit six months later than originally planned. It was the first conference in the history of ALA to be held fully online. The online conference format was organised in two session blocks per day to accommodate different time zones. This allowed for broad international participation ‘across time and space’, and also gave presenters the option of supplying pre-recorded conference presentations that could be played ‘live’ at the allocated session times.

While digital technologies afforded the means to adapt ‘the ways we teach, learn, and use languages [as they] are being redefined in our globalised, digital era, and are intricately connected to broader changes in society’ (from the ALA 2020 conference brief), the pivot to online teaching in schools and universities—as well as online academic conferencing—presented new challenges. In hindsight, we agreed that ‘going online’ with the ALA 2020 Conference had been the most authentic and consistent way of enacting the intended conference theme—even if this decision was initially triggered by the ‘many complex dynamics’ (from the ALA 2020 conference brief) of a global pandemic. Other factors—such as better conference affordability and inclusivity, and a reduced event carbon footprint (for example, Porwol et al., 2022; Schmidt-Crawford et al., 2021) resulting from the cancellation of long-distance international air travel and ease of access to digital conference presentations—put the ‘Plan B’ of running ALA 2020 as a virtual conference in a new light.

Participation in ALA 2020 presented a twofold engagement with the conference theme. It meant intellectual engagement with the debates of ‘[language] learning [which] now increasingly takes place in virtual spaces’. And ‘as distance has collapsed [and] these virtual spaces have become new sites for languaging’, it also meant hands-on engagement with this ‘dynamic, never-ending process of using language to make meaning’ (ALA 2020 conference page) in a conference mode that was new for most participants. The questions we asked to frame the conference theme on the website also gained extra poignancy: while we were asking about reconceptualising the learning and teaching of languages, and about new ways of engaging with language awareness in the digital age, events accelerated the process of acclimatising to new digital paradigms.

The production of a special conference collection of papers during a global pandemic has resulted in a lengthier process than usual, which is congruent with and reflective of the many challenges for research and scholarship overall during this time, including the transition to remote work, work intensification, the gendered impact of COVID-19 on research productivity and culture, social isolation and burnout (for example, King & Frederickson, 2021; Pyhältö et al., 2023; Shankar et al., 2021). As the editors of the 2020 ALA Conference special collection, we would like to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to all our colleagues who have contributed to this endeavour, despite having their time, energy and research significantly compromised. To the authors, reviewers, and the Editor-in-Chief, a massive thank you for your commitment, flexibility, support, and hard work during a strange and challenging time.

Introducing the papers in this collection

The 2020 ALA Conference drew from its conference theme Languaging and Language Awareness in the Global Age, and aimed to spark discussion around how languaging across cultures has been shaped by digital technologies, and how these technologies influence the ways we interact with each other; how stories and information are shared, distributed and engaged with; and how languages are seen, learnt, taught, and used. Digital technologies have assisted with supporting language work with indigenous and minoritised languages (for example, Anderson & Daigneault, 2022; Bow & Hepworth, 2019), while also contributing to language death (for example, Pasikowska-Schnass, 2020; Roche, 2022). Presently, finding solutions for, and addressing or countering such developments has become an even more urgent task, as highlighted by studies that have documented the language challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic (for example, De Cia & Villa, 2022; Piller et al., 2020; Sengupta, 2022).

Specifically, the ALA 2020 Conference aimed to explore how the teaching and learning of languages is being redefined in the digital age, and how new global paradigms and technologies might inform principles of language awareness, such as reflection on language and encouraging learners to gain insights into how languages work. The special collection of papers brought together in this issue of Language Awareness engages with these questions from a diverse range of educational contexts, perspectives, and methodologies, providing insight into how language awareness could be reconceptualised, engaged with, and given renewed relevance in the current times.

The first two papers, Fostering teacher language awareness in a primary English-language immersion school in France: Supporting teachers on the road to engaging students’ bilingual competencies (Mary, Lemoine-Bresson and Choffat-Dürr) and Do societal and individual multilingualism lead to positive perceptions of multilingualism and language learning? A comparative study with Australian and German pre-service teachers (Chik and Melo-Pfeifer) examine the beliefs of English language teachers and pre-service English teachers to show how the complex entanglement of individual language attitudes and language-learning experiences—along with discourses of linguistic diversity and normative education systems—can reinforce and reproduce monolingual pedagogy and practice.

In Fostering teacher language awareness in a primary English-language immersion school in France: Supporting teachers on the road to engaging students’ bilingual competencies, Mary, Lemoine-Bresson, and Choffat-Dürr report on a collaborative project with English language teachers undertaken in the context of a bilingual English-language immersion program at a primary school in eastern France. Engaging a participatory methodology, the research sought to investigate the impact of the monolingual approaches that continue to underpin language education, and which are still often prevalent in bilingual programs that seek to foster best practice in language teaching and learning (see for example, Safont, 2022). The study highlights how teachers’ reflections on their beliefs about language and on what constitutes ‘good’ language teaching can empower language teachers ‘to distance themselves from their practices and gain new insights from the theoretical input and the discovery of more flexible bi/multilingual pedagogies’ (Mary, Lemoine-Bresson & Choffat-Dürr, this collection). The paper emphasises that the development of critical language awareness (Taylor et al., 2018) requires ongoing scrutiny of knowledge and perceptions of language and language use by language educators and provides a new impetus for a contemporary reconceptualisation of language awareness that is informed by an intentional interrogation of the philosophy of multilingualism and its affordances.

In their comparative study of Australian and German education contexts, Chik and Melo-Pfeifer surveyed the views of over 400 pre-service teachers in Sydney and Hamburg about the multicultural and multilingual environments of the two cities (Chik et al., 2019), and the role and value of proficiency in more than one language, as well as the provision of language education in schools. The paper focuses on the key question of whether societal and individual multilingualism leads to positive perceptions of multilingualism and language learning. The study shows that individual experiences and established societal perceptions of linguistic diversity and language learning—along with the discourses of language education provision in the two countries—are key factors in shaping pre-service teachers’ beliefs and views about multilingualism and the linguistic and cultural diversity of students in their classrooms (for example, Bonar et al., 2022; Schotte et al., 2022; Weinmann et al., 2020). Across both contexts, the view of English as a lingua franca (Gnutzmann et al., 2014; Jenkins, 2015) was prevalent in pre-service teachers’ perceptions of other languages and how they were valorised (Grin, 2015). The paper argues that engagement with pre-service teachers’ beliefs on languages and cultures, and the inclusion of multilingual theory and pedagogy in current teacher education (Wernicke et al., 2021) are essential to ensure pre-service teachers develop a foundation in pedagogical knowledge of the linguistic and cultural diversity evident in classrooms in their respective countries.

The next two papers in the collection explore the effects of linguistic interaction on language and cultural awareness. Finkbeiner, Olson, Ost, and Shonfeld report on an online collaboration project involving (mostly) pre-service teachers in Germany and Israel. In their paper Language awareness and cultural awareness in an international online cooperation project: A mixed-method approach, the authors investigated the effects of a 10-week cooperation project focusing on the development of Language Awareness (LA) and Cultural Awareness (CA), as well as effects on perceived language proficiency. Diverse multilingual student groups worked with instructors from the two countries, drawing on their multilingual funds of knowledge to co-construct multilingual websites that focused on educational initiatives. The researchers found clear gains in LA and CA deriving from the online cooperative activities. LA was evident in the cognitive, affective, social, and power domains. Building common ground and sharing personal experiences allowed the student participants to make unanticipated connections and develop multiple perspectives on language and cultural concepts. Furthermore, the authentic setting and negotiation of language and meaning practice had positive effects on their perceived language proficiency in English as the lingua franca in the study. The study highlights the importance of international online cooperation for teacher education, and its powerful role in preparing for diversity in classrooms.

Continuing the theme of additional language development through interaction, He and Lin suggest innovative ways of engaging with language awareness through the lenses of translanguaging and flows (Lemke & Lin, 2022) and New Materiality perspectives (Canagarajah, 2021a, 2021b), which situate humans, minds, and communicative language practices within social and environmental ecologies. In their paper Dynamic flows of translanguaging/trans-semiotizing in CLIL eco-social systems, they illustrate these perspectives by examining how meaning-making developed in a CLIL/English-medium-instruction integrated science course in Hong Kong, in classes that involved a Cantonese-speaking science teacher and her Urdu-speaking students. He and Lin point out that in a ‘mediums and flows’ view of reality that incorporates dynamic interactions between bodies, feelings and environments, meaning and thinking can be considered as continuously ‘emergent’ from the distributed practices of human and non-human agents in social and material ecosystems. They give closely analysed examples of how translanguaging and trans-semiotizing practices during the science lessons were realised within CLIL ecosystems. He and Lin demonstrate in their analysis that translanguaging is more than a scaffolding strategy for language pedagogy; they argue that it is a crucial language theory that transcends structuralist orientations of language and has the potential to offer more powerful understandings of how meaning-making is facilitated through pedagogical practices.

The final paper in this collection also draws on learner interaction, with a focus on digital tools that aim to enhance writing skills through automated feedback. Ralf Gießler examines digital approaches to writing support in the second language classroom—specifically via the use of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) tools. In EFL writers’ cognitive engagement with AWE feedback, Gießler reports on a pilot study in which secondary school students engaged with ProWritingAid (PWA) for a composition task, with the aim of exploring the relationships between AWE feedback, cognitive engagement with feedback, and language awareness. The complex interplay between learner, task, and feedback is conceptualised as a feedback ecology (see Chong, 2022). Gießler highlights the importance of AWE, considering that most writing today takes place in digital or online environments. Benefits of AWE are discussed, along with issues such as accuracy, engagement, effects on language acquisition, and comparisons with peer and teacher feedback. Gießler’s findings indicate the presence and complex interactions of three types of engagement: behavioural, affective, and cognitive. Language awareness enhancement as an outcome of engagement occurred regardless of whether learners adopted or rejected the AWE suggestions. Although the study focused on final written products, Gießler argues that processes of engagement with AWE tools can inform pedagogical practice, and that learners need guidance and support on how to engage with AWE feedback.

Implications for languages teaching and learning during COVID-19 and beyond in the Australasian region

The papers in this collection contribute to contemporary debates about how language awareness, related conceptualisations such as critical multilingual awareness (García, 2016; Lindahl et al., 2020), and language-aware pedagogies can support critical multilingual (teacher) education (Pfeiffer, 2023). Further, they contribute to new knowledge about the opportunities and effects of collaborative online learning, and the engagement of digital tools, resources and pedagogies in language education. Digital practices were accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, when language teachers and learners around the world experienced a sudden shift to online instruction (for example, Neilsen et al., 2020). Teachers and learners faced unanticipated challenges but often demonstrated resilience, perseverance, and creativity while working with limited resources and preparation (for example, Tao & Gao, 2022). These challenges have become the focus of a considerable and growing body of research on the critical lessons learned from the pandemic.

For our contribution to these debates, within the framing of the current collection of empirical studies, we were interested in keeping the focus on the region where the 15th ALA Conference was hosted: the ‘Australasian’ region (for example, Johnson et al., 2022; Walker, 2013). This is also the region where the authors of this paper are located, as we all live and work in Melbourne, Australia. Australia did not adopt a comprehensive ‘go hard and early’ (Cumming, 2022) response to the COVID-19 pandemic, unlike neighbouring Aotearoa New Zealand, which was completely locked down (Greyling et al., 2021). However, the approach taken by the Victorian Government in particular, alongside Western Australia and South Australia, was considered exceptionally strict compared to other response standards in Australia (Kampmark & Christie, 2021). As a result, metropolitan Melbourne was considered the world’s most locked-down city, with six lockdowns totalling 262 days across 2020 and 2021 (Macreadie, 2022).

Therefore, we were interested in finding out how research on languages teaching and learning in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand had pivoted during this time. Specifically, we were interested in developing an understanding about what questions regarding languages teaching and learning in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand during the pandemic years were being explored through research, and whether these studies focused only on Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, or were carried out as collaborative or comparative projects that examined Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand alongside other contexts in the Australasian region. Another question that we sought to explore was whether, and how, existing projects might have had to adapt in response to the challenges and constraints for research thrown up by the pandemic.

Methodology

In order to investigate these questions, a scoping review approach (Munn et al., 2018) was engaged to conduct a systematic search into the research literatures published in the field of language education. The rationale of our scoping review is twofold; it seeks ‘to describe in more detail the findings and range of research in particular areas of study, thereby providing a mechanism for summarising and disseminating research findings’ and ‘to draw conclusions from existing literature regarding the overall state of research activity’ (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005’, p. 21). As a scoping study, this review activity is exploratory in nature, and has three overarching aims: to provide an overview of the relevant literatures in relation to the key research questions; to document current debates in the literature in relation to the research questions; and to identify and map the key issues in current debates.

A key aim of the scoping review was to capture relevant research literature published between 2020 and the first half of 2023. This time frame coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period from 2020 to 2022, which significantly affected education and research. The review was set up to include a range of research literature, such as peer-reviewed academic papers, chapters published in research education handbooks and edited research volumes, and papers published in teacher professional journals. Considering the dominant language of academic research and writing in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand is English (Piller, 2016; Singh, 2018), the scoping review included papers written in English only.

Searches were conducted using the databases ERIC, Scopus, and Ebook Collection. Title and Abstract fields were searched using these key search terms: language teaching, language learning, language teachers, EFL, ESL, EAL, pandemic, COVID-19, and Australia or New Zealand. Further, forward citation-searching with Google Scholar was engaged for articles citing key references. All searches were synthesised, and then exported into a Zotero referencing library.

The first stage of the selection process involved removing all duplicates. Second, all titles and abstracts were screened, followed by full-text screening according to the inclusion criteria:

• Focus on language (including EAL/ESL) teaching and learning.

• Location of the research was Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand, or a collaborative study including Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand and another context.

• The research was undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This screening resulted in 11 publications (published in 2021 and 2022) that addressed all the above criteria. Out of the 11 publications, six reported on research based in New Zealand; four reported on research based in Australia; and one reported on research with teachers from six countries, including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Russia, and Taiwan.

The research emerging from New Zealand (Ashton, 2022; Kleinsorge, 2022; Li, 2022; Olsen-Reeder, 2022; Wimalasiri & Seals, 2022; Xu & Buckingham, 2021) offers contrasting views of the challenges that teachers of different languages (Chinese, English, Spanish, Māori) in different types of educational settings (public, private, primary, tertiary, and adult education) faced during the pandemic. Xu and Buckingham (2021) examine the adaptation of an English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL) course to Emergency Response Teaching (ERT) in a private English-language school in New Zealand. They report on findings from interviews and the analysis of learner diaries to elucidate the experience of the school manager and teachers, and the strategies used by older Chinese migrant learners, in relation to online instruction. Ashton (2022) uses a case-study approach to examine the agency of four language teachers (three English, one Spanish), and discusses the affordances and constraints in their bid for agency as their routines were disrupted by the shift to online teaching during the pandemic. Kleinsorge (2022) surveyed and interviewed three EAL/ESL teachers from three different public and private education institutes (primary to tertiary) to examine online English-teaching practices via Zoom. Olsen-Reeder (2022) offers insight into the author’s experience of dual-mode teaching for a Māori-language class at the intermediate level. He discusses the innovation employed, and the advantages and disadvantages of this modality and its possible relation to tertiary student engagement. Wimalasiri and Seals (2022) explore how a language teacher employs translanguaging in an online English language classroom teaching multilingual adult students from migrant and refugee backgrounds. This study shows that translanguaging is an effective pedagogical approach in online spaces such as Zoom breakout rooms. Li (2022) provides a detailed account of how a new online learning environment was developed for the delivery of a university course in Chinese language in response to pandemic conditions, how the teaching was carried out using the new environment, and how students experienced the new mode of teaching and learning.

The papers that focused on Australia (Ducasse, 2022; Durbidge & McClelland, 2022; Dutton, 2021; Jiang, 2022; Kwee, 2022) present insights into the dynamics of language teaching and learning of various languages, including French, Italian, English, and Chinese. Dutton (2021) provides a critical autoethnographic account of teaching French and learning Italian online in COVID-19 confinement during 2020. Ducasse (2022) reports on the findings of a study that examined reflective learning from oral reflections recorded after multimodal e-assessment tasks of 25 students from the teacher/researcher’s Spanish B2 level course, in the context of ERT. Durbidge and McClelland (2022) draw on their own experiences of developing, adapting, and delivering Japanese language courses throughout 2020 in three different university contexts. They highlight the difficulty of replicating the conditions of face-to-face instruction during the pandemic and reflect on the importance of building learning communities online. In a similar vein, Jiang’s (2022) paper reports on the process of adapting the existing blended-learning delivery of Chinese language courses to entirely Zoom-based delivery during specific phases across 2020. The study analysed student feedback provided by online evaluations and short interviews to examine the student experience with these shifts. Kwee (2022) investigates the factors influencing language teachers’ motivations and decisions about online teaching, with participants from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Russia, and Taiwan.

Findings of the review

Overall, the literatures included in this review provide a snapshot-in-time overview of the shift towards online language education, and specifically the abrupt transition of emergency remote language teaching and learning (ERLTL) as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ERLTL refers to the temporary adoption of online instruction in contexts where delivery would be normally face to face (F2F), or in hybrid or blended modes (Jin et al., 2022; Moser et al., 2021). Each publication included in this review offers insights into the experiences of language teachers and learners around the world. As a corpus, they elucidate common themes and emerging trends in language curricula, pedagogies and assessment. Following is an overview of five key themes that we identified.

1. Navigating the transition to emergency remote language teaching and learning

The conditions that shaped the transition towards ERLTL were marked by global trends and accentuated by the national, sociopolitical, and economic realities of each educational context. The research also suggests how institutional decisions and the stakeholders’ personal circumstances added nuance to their experience (Durbidge & McClelland, 2022; Dutton, 2021; Kleinsorge, 2022; Kwee, 2022; Olsen-Reeder, 2022; Wimalasiri & Seals, 2022). Kwee (2022) highlights how, despite the urgent constraints and challenges encountered, language teachers found the transition from onsite to online was abrupt, yet they were able to manage the sudden shift with varying degrees of success. Some aspects that contributed to the teachers’ and learners’ sense of control and overall satisfaction with online teaching and learning were their previous pedagogical and technical skills, their efforts to maintain as much continuity as possible, and decisions to minimise changes (Jiang, 2022; Jin et al., 2022; Kwee, 2022; Wimalasiri & Seals, 2022). Wimalasiri and Seals (2022) report on an example of the resourcefulness and difficulties teachers encountered during these times of transition, as one teacher explains: ‘Before I started Zoom sessions, I started with teaching through Messenger, and if I share the screen while teaching they could also see, but it is difficult if they are using a mobile, they could see only one student’(p. 9). Despite such technical issues, teachers and students acknowledged the value of online language education (Jiang, 2022), reporting on various benefits of switching to fully online courses. For instance, they pointed to the:

• reduction in commuting and travel time (Moser et al., 2021);

• comfort and convenience of staying at home and spending more time with family (Kwee, 2022);

• more flexible times and access to content (Jin et al., 2022);

• new learning possibilities (Kleinsorge, 2022);

• accelerated innovation of language education (Jiang, 2022).

The research included in this review suggests a positive disposition to adopt ERLTL and the teachers’ and students’ proactive efforts to adapt to online language education. However, the literature also points to the difficulty of replicating face-to-face curriculum in an online environment. The authors emphasise how the shift to online language teaching requires a reorientation of curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment that carefully consider a variety of delivery modes and instruction modalities (Durbidge & McClelland, 2022; Li, 2022; Olsen-Reeder, 2022; Xu & Buckingham, 2021). As Olsen-Reeder (2022) explains:

Simply reduplicating in-person classes and pedagogies for online learners is unlikely to succeed. Conversely, that is exactly what dual-mode seems to demand—everything must be delivered to the same extent, in an equitable manner, at the same time. (p. 340)

In the context of ERLTL, decisions about the use of written and spoken communication, the choice of software and channels of interaction, and decisions about synchronous, asynchronous or hybrid approaches are fundamental aspects of the success or failure of online language teaching and learning (Durbidge & McClelland, 2022; Olsen-Reeder, 2022; Wimalasiri & Seals, 2022). The authors illuminate how synchronous approaches can be more conducive to better student engagement, higher levels of learner satisfaction, access to immediate communication and interactions, real-time discussion/clarification of the content, better understanding of the content, and higher teacher and student motivation and satisfaction (Dutton, 2021; Jiang, 2022; Kwee, 2022; Olsen-Reeder, 2022). According to Olsen-Reeder (2022):

The difficulty of asynchronous learning provisions, and correspondence, are also a key concern. For languages there is no replacement for hours spent engaging in the language, and it is so important that students are encouraged to understand this fact as they enrol. It is also important instructors have the ability to signal these pedagogical necessities, and make these decisions, for the achievement and learning of their students. (p. 347)

However, some drawbacks and issues also came to light, as evidenced by feedback reported by students. Areas requiring closer attention included, for example:

• More face-to-face time, particularly in order to consolidate oral and aural proficiency in the language, better-structured assessment timing, and more technical support. (Li, 2022)

• Summative assessment in particular could provide an aspect of online course redesign, which often required further trialling and adaptation. (Liu, 2022)

• The shift from administering supervised written exams to online exams, including the logistics of online open-book exams. (Liu, 2022)

• Managing technical issues that would inevitably occur when students complete online tests and quizzes. (Li, 2022)

These curricular and pedagogical decisions are an opportunity for language teachers and students alike to adopt ‘mastery-based, student-led approaches’ (Durbidge & McClelland, 2022, p. 11) by developing relevant materials and strategies that fully cater for an online audience. It is also necessary to build up digital literacy and time management skills, and to exercise leadership, innovation, and creativity when crafting curricula and pedagogies that meet the educational needs of language learners (Ducasse, 2022; Durbidge & McClelland, 2022; Olsen-Reeder, 2022). Wimalasiri and Seals (2022) emphasise the importance of successful interactions between the teacher and students, as well as among students. For instance, their case study shows how a participating teacher needed to invest additional time and to reframe their pedagogy to ensure that every student was on board with the use of new teaching and learning technologies. They highlight the learning curve in terms of generating and maintaining student engagement (Wimalasiri & Seals, 2022). Overall, the authors report widespread optimism, curiosity, and proactivity during the transition to ERLTL, as well as the inevitable and ongoing transformation of (online) language teaching and learning.

1. Meeting language students’ needs in disruptive times

ERLTL had a profound impact on the ways that teachers and learners could connect, interact, and communicate. The abrupt transition from face-to-face to online instruction brought about curriculum and pedagogical challenges that compelled teachers to reassess their approaches to student engagement, collaboration, and classroom management (Durbidge & McClelland, 2022). A salient theme emerging from the literature was the effort and dedication put in by teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to meet language students’ needs based on their individual language experiences and proficiencies (Jiang, 2022; Li, 2022).

The literatures discuss the various adaptations to curriculum and pedagogy that teachers implemented to best respond to the needs of students in their different contexts. For instance, Olsen-Reeder (2022) highlights the importance of synchronous communication and live interaction in language teaching and learning:

Language tuition … has its own unique pedagogical needs, and some of these options are less possible for equity or quality. Firstly, recorded lectures cannot teach two-way communication. While certain parts of a course can be recorded (such as grammar explanations), … communicative competency is not theoretical, cannot be assessed through any means except real-life interaction, and cannot be taught without mostly real-life interaction, with the currently enrolled students. Live interaction is a necessity of the pedagogy. (p. 341)

This was a common concern among language teachers as the shift to online instruction altered their ability to communicate, to interact and, ultimately, to teach a language in meaningful ways. Kleinsorge (2022) also emphasises how ‘the elephant in the (virtual) room is SOL’s lack of non-verbal cues’ (p. 10). The teachers’ inability to rely on body language, eye contact, gestures, or trace sounds limited the ways in which teachers could support students’ participation and learning (Kleinsorge, 2022).

This raises important questions about how teachers might adapt their curriculum and practice to generate and sustain students’ engagement, build trusting relationships with and between students, and create language-learning environments that are enriching and motivating (Durbidge & McClelland, 2022; Jiang, 2022). Dutton (2021) discusses how successful online teaching and learning requires a balance between autonomy and community. She suggests this can be achieved through the creation of online interactions that support the establishment of ongoing connections and deeper relationships, both online and face-to-face. Similarly, Xu and Buckingham (2021) point out how the opportunity for insight into each other’s work prompted some learners to contact peers and display interested concern in their progress.

The use of collaborative decision-making and collaborative pedagogies also emerged as a significant approach to successful ERLTL. The authors point to collaborative forms of leadership and teaching that are sensitive to learners’ cultural backgrounds, and how they can generate opportunities for cooperation and co-development of the curriculum (Durbidge & McClelland, 2022; Kleinsorge, 2022; Olsen-Reeder, 2022; Xu & Buckingham, 2021). Fostering meaningful connections, responsive interactions, and respectful relationships in the online language classroom (Jiang, 2022) contributed to more engaged and reciprocal language teaching and learning.

Also, by acknowledging and responding to the socio-affective needs of language learners, teachers facilitated the transition to ERLTL, and supported their students through the collective fears and anxieties that characterised the pandemic. Xu and Buckingham (2021) describe how teachers regularly scheduled synchronous communication, private corrective feedback on homework, and the visibility of other learners’ activities, all of which contributed to reducing feelings of isolation and boosting learners’ confidence in their ability to learn English online. Dutton (2021) also highlights how:

emphasizing a compassionate and vulnerable approach in their teaching style, they [language teachers] co-opted the students into an intimate community of trust, which is a fundamental advantage in building confidence in language learning and one that is harder to achieve in the online classroom than in on-campus classes. (p. 8)

The use of affective strategies became central in creating safe online environments where teachers and learners could establish social and emotional connections, as well as develop a sense of community (Liu, 2022). One of the participants in Ashton’s (2022) research on teachers’ agency described the changes in her practice:

It was a lot more one on one. I became much more worried about their emotional health and well-being than what they’re learning … I was more asking how they’re doing, what’s happening? what time are you waking up? how’s your family? what are you eating? are you getting out for a walk? … it became a lot more pastoral … I had to actively seek it out to make sure that they were safe, emotionally safe. (p. 7)

This ‘pastoral’ layer of teaching and learning suggests a foundational aspect for successful connection, communication, and interactions between teachers and students. Olsen-Reeder (2022) also highlights how affective concerns are particularly significant in the teaching and learning of indigenous languages. He points to how language trauma is significant in Māori language contexts and needs to be considered for each individual student personally, and in real-life terms. Overall, the emphasis on affective factors in language education requires careful attention and needs to be considered as a foundational aspect of language teaching and learning, especially in online and hybrid modes.

1. Student engagement, participation, and learning

After synthesising the reported strategies that language teachers used to meet and support students’ needs, this section provides insight into how students responded to the transition to ERLTL. The authors point to a variety of issues affecting students’ engagement, participation, and learning in online language courses. These include:

• online learning fatigue and loss of attention, difficulties with digital technologies (Liu, 2022)

• technical glitches and other distractions, Internet distractions, background noise (Kleinsorge, 2022; Moser et al., 2021)

• anxiety that onlining brings to the language classroom (Olsen-Reeder, 2022; Xu & Buckingham, 2021)

• loss of collective sensory educational activities (Dutton, 2021)

• lack of confidence or knowledge making students reluctant to speak and more likely to disengage, choose not to turn on their camera or microphone, or leave classes prematurely (Ashton, 2022; Durbidge & McClelland, 2022; Wimalasiri & Seals, 2022).

When considering the ways in which students overcame these challenges, the authors highlight the importance of students’ agency in their ability to engage, participate, and self-direct their learning. Online language education requires students to be more independent, more willing to engage in learning outside of class, more proactive in their involvement with the language, its use, and cultural aspects (Dutton, 2021; Jin et al., 2022; Olsen-Reeder, 2022). For example, Dutton (2021) highlights the value of ‘sensory education’ as part of the language-learning experience, pointing to the value of embodied enculturation in both individual and collective contexts. This form of learning complements traditional pedagogical practices by allowing for the exploration of, for example, gastronomy and music (Dutton, 2021). In an online context, students can engage in sensory experiences by engaging in autonomous learning, or asynchronous forms of online teaching and learning (Dutton, 2021).

Wimalasiri and Seals (2022) report on the use of translanguaging in the online language classroom. The teacher in their study used translanguaging as a way of facilitating the teaching and learning of English. However, the teacher limited her use of this strategy to occasions when she could monitor the students, as she believed that spontaneous translanguaging is not as pedagogically effective as when it is teacher-led. This and other cases presented in the literature emphasise the importance of student participation by engaging in active listening and discussion during class (Ducasse, 2022).

1. Ensuring online accessibility, inclusion, and equity

Issues of accessibility, inclusion, and equity are at the heart of ongoing developments in language teaching and learning. These issues become increasingly relevant as the field shifts to online language education/ERLTL. As mentioned earlier, issues of accessibility are intricately connected with broader economic, sociopolitical, and cultural realities. This is evident in the disparities documented more broadly in situations where students’ ability to participate in online teaching and learning was impacted by issues such as age, disability, economic disadvantage, or cultural background (Durbidge & McClelland, 2022; Li, 2022; Olsen-Reeder, 2022; Xu & Buckingham, 2021). The authors suggest that issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion need to be addressed on an individual basis with meaningful resources, relevant adaptations to curriculum, and innovative approaches to pedagogy and assessment (Kwee, 2022; Moser et al., 2021; Olsen-Reeder, 2022). In their study mentioned above, Wimalasiri and Seals (2022) discuss the value of translanguaging pedagogies as a way of addressing social in/justice in the language classroom. Despite the beliefs of the teacher in the study regarding effective pedagogy, their findings show how limiting the use of translanguaging to teacher-led approaches prevents students from enacting their agency and autonomy, as well as preventing them from seizing the benefits of using their full linguistic repertoires via spontaneous translanguaging (Wimalasiri & Seals, 2022). Further research into accessible, inclusive, and equitable forms of online language teaching and learning is necessary and overdue.

1. Managing language teachers’ workload and time

Another common theme emerging from the selected literature relates to how language teachers managed their workload and time in the transition to ERLTL during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research shows that planning and implementing online language-learning curricula requires different knowledge, resources, and time frames from planning and implementing language-learning curricula face to face (Dutton, 2021; Kleinsorge, 2022; Olsen-Reeder, 2022; Wimalasiri & Seals, 2022). Olsen-Reeder (2022) suggests that if:

we are to establish quality online, or dual taught language courses that are resilient, equitable and quality-based, we will need that time. If not time, perhaps additional staff with permanent, long-term roles could be available, and those positions available before a course has to run. Those staff could be part of that planning, before they are present in the classroom to help cater to multi-mode delivery. Perhaps too, courses could be hybridised, with a staff member allocated to each format. (p. 348)

The consideration of time availability and management in ERLTL affects both teachers and learners. If the shift towards online language teaching and learning holds the pursuit of quality, accessibility, and equity as valuable and desirable, it is imperative to reassess what that means in terms of teachers’ workload and time allocation in both planning and delivery.

Conclusion: looking ahead

This section offers a summary of what the authors of the current review regard as the key insights that could be derived from the surveyed literatures, which could provide key areas for consideration for current and future design, development, and delivery of online and digital language teaching and learning. Successful ERLTL—and online language education in general—requires administrative flexibility and dedicated planning, resourcing, and teaching (Durbidge & McClelland, 2022; Kleinsorge, 2022; Olsen-Reeder, 2022; Xu & Buckingham, 2021). Xu and Buckingham (2021) point to the development of specific resources, team-teaching and focus on online learning and logistics as foundational for subsequent course delivery. Olsen-Reeder (2022) highlights the importance of a full range of access measures, pedagogical planning, and support measures to ensure quality teaching. On a similar note, Jin et al. (2022) assert that language learning can be facilitated by ‘the effective use of technology, and that improved training in online language education is an important and even imperative step to take in preparing for future crises’ (p. vii). Making full use of the resources and modalities available for online language teaching and learning can contribute to exciting innovations, and alternative forms of teaching, professional learning, and assessment (Ducasse, 2022; Durbidge & McClelland, 2022). Additional in technology and online teaching methods may help educators feel more confident in providing meaningful and effective instruction (Moser et al., 2021).

From a pedagogical perspective, the literature suggests that enabling both autonomy and collaboration among students is key for their successful participation and engagement with the language-learning curriculum. Wimalasiri and Seals (2022) affirm the use of translanguaging as a generative approach that offers students autonomy, agency and power to engage and guide their own learning. They encourage teachers to adopt translanguaging pedagogies and to cultivate a critical understanding of how these approaches can be used online or face to face to promote participation, collaboration and, ultimately, social justice (Wimalasiri & Seals, 2022). Jiang (2022) and Dutton (2021) highlight that: ‘the best balance of autonomy and community can be achieved through creating a harmonious and trusting community within the formal class, and informal smaller groups for increased levels of exchange outside the formal class’ (Dutton, 2021, p. 10). Planning and implementing successful online language teaching and programs requires a thorough and flexible understanding of synchronous and asynchronous strategies that encourage students to engage, guide, and extend their own language learning (Li, 2022; Olsen-Reeder, 2022).

This literature review has provided a snapshot of the ERLTL experiences of language teachers and learners in the Australasian region during the COVID-19 pandemic. The studies included in this review have highlighted the importance of affective factors, autonomy and community-building, accessibility, equity, and inclusion as salient themes in the effective conceptualisation, planning, and implementation of online language education. Moreover, they point to the need for specialised knowledge and resources for curriculum planning and delivery, as well as more flexible time allocation.

Recent conversations that we have had with colleagues in schools and higher education suggest that there is a strong sense that student engagement in their learning has shifted since the pandemic, as indicated, for example, by changes in attendance, engagement with learning activities, and communication patterns with their peers and teachers. There is an emerging body of research that examines the changing dynamics of student engagement and learning, and the implications of these shifts for the development of post-pandemic pedagogies (for example, Hews et al., 2022; Hollister et al., 2022; Hughes, 2023). As educators in schools and higher education continue to develop their pedagogy and practice in blended or online learning and draw on new approaches to curriculum design and assessment, it appears necessary to comprehensively engage with the complexity of student needs, along with the influences and outcomes of student engagement. The experiences, reflections and new skills that educators and students developed during COVID-19, as well as the challenges they experienced, can be expected to shape digital pedagogies and practices (Foreman-Brown et al., 2023; Markelj & Sundvall, 2023) going forward. The emerging new approaches will raise new questions regarding teacher competence, professional learning needs and pre-service teacher education—but can also be expected to create opportunities to support the development of critical language awareness in new material, digital, and virtual contexts.

Correction Statement

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