Language Education in Digital Spaces: Perspectives on Autonomy and Interaction

This book explores the role of technology in supporting language learner autonomy and its implications for social and educational equality. It highlights practice-oriented research on technology-mediated learner autonomy and addresses how technology can support learners in self-directed and collaborative learning. The chapters consider the digital affordances of virtual exchange, gaming, and apps in various language learning contexts and emphasize the importance of critical digital literacy and social justice in promoting language learner and teacher autonomy.

Format: Hardback
Length: 230 pages
Publication date: 10 September 2021
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The significance of technology in language learning has grown exponentially in recent years, leading to a renewed interest in the concept of learner and teacher autonomy. This book brings together a diverse range of contributions from experts in the field, exploring the potential of digital tools to enhance language learning and teaching.

The individual chapters in the book showcase practice-oriented, empirically-based research on technology-mediated learner autonomy and its pedagogical implications. They examine how technology can support learner autonomy as a process by leveraging the affordances available in social media, virtual exchange, self-access, and learning in the wild (Hutchins, 1995).

The book addresses emergent challenges from different perspectives and diverse learning ecologies, with a particular focus on social and educational (in)equality. The chapters consider the digital affordances of virtual exchange, gaming, and apps in technology-mediated language learning and teaching, ranging from instructed and semi-instructed to self-instructed contexts.

Critical digital literacy and social justice are emphasized as key concepts in relation to language learner and teacher autonomy, and the book illustrates how this approach can contribute to institutional objectives for equality, diversity, and inclusion in higher education around the world.

The book is valuable for researchers and teachers alike, providing insights into the latest developments in the field and offering practical strategies for integrating technology into language learning and teaching.

Weight: 530g
Dimension: 235 x 155 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030749576
Edition number: 1st ed. 2021