The coming of age of LMOOC research. A systematic review (2019-21)

ABSTRACT

There has been an increasing interest in Language Massive Open Online Courses (LMOOCs) in terms of research and number of courses offered, shown by the monographic volumes and systematic reviews that have been published so far. This study aims to consolidate this emerging field by exploring research from 2019 to 2021. The origin of scientific contributions, methodologies used, and the most discussed topics have been considered. Results show that the distribution of papers remain concentrated in a few countries and universities -such as Spain, UK and China, which are producing progressively more high-impact research. Also, the consistent use of mixed methods has implied the optimisation of available data and allowed for more fine-grained conclusions. Lastly, it has been proved that LMOOC publications are evolving to a more mature phase, with an increase of conceptual papers that has contributed to consolidate core theoretical foundations. It can be then said that LMOOC research has reached its coming of age and is now considered a well-established sub-field of Computer Assisted Language Learning, with substantial practice and high-quality scholarly publications.

KEYWORDS:

• MOOC
• Language MOOC
• systematic review
• research
• Computer Assisted Language Learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paz Díez-Arcón

Paz Díez-Arcónis a PhD candidate at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Spain, and currently hired as research staff in training. In 2021 she was hired as an Part-time Lecturer in the same university. She is writing and presenting on issues of Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Open Learning, and Applied Methodologies for Innovation in Education. She has participated in national and international projects such as Erasmus +, Teaching Innovation, and R + D + I, and she has also been speaker in national and international conferences.

Elena Martín-Monje

Elena Martín-Monje is a Senior Lecturer in the areas of English for Specific Purposes and CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning) at UNED (Spain). She has participated in several international, funded projects on the use of technology in language learning. Her current area of research is Language MOOCs and she has coordinated the first monographic volume in this field, Language MOOCs: Providing Learning, Transcending Boundaries (2014) and the ReCALL Journal special issue on LMOOCs (2021), apart from numerous of published papers. Regular speaker at international conferences in the area, she is the founder and current coordinator of the LMOOC Special Interest Group at EuroCALL. In terms of awards and distinctions, the following stand out: Extraordinary Doctorate Award (2011), Finalist in the “Enrique Alcaraz” Research Award organised by the European Association of Languages for Specific Purposes (2017), and Best Innovation Research Project at UNED (2021).