Abstract
During COVID-19 confinement in 2020, there has been a massive increase in learning languages online via a variety of apps, short courses, and as part of higher education on-campus degrees converted to online learning. This study argues that attention to the balance of autonomy and community is vital to successful language learning online. An initial exploration of recent scholarship on autonomy and community in learning languages online validates this approach to evaluating the situation. The specific phenomenon of online language teaching and learning during 2020 at the University of Melbourne is then presented as an autoethnographic case study and analyzed in the context of this research. In 2020, the author participated in online language learning experiences from several different perspectives. As Head of Languages, she led development of a new undergraduate certificate in languages in response to an Australian Federal Government initiative to offer significant subsidies for online language certificates in 2020. As a keen language learner, she enrolled in one of these certificates to study Italian. As a French lecturer, she converted Matters of Taste—French Eating Cultures, a highly interactive and sensory oriented on-campus subject for advanced French students, to online delivery. The autoethnographic work undertaken in this article aims to examine critically the author’s experiences of teaching and learning in 2020, assessing the advantages and disadvantages of learning languages online from positions of both teacher and learner. These experiences are triangulated with the academic and administrative leadership and coordination required to produce a schema that relates intentions to outcomes in this particularly challenging context. This study is intended to offer insights that may help language educators reflect on their various roles during COVID-19 confinement. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that negotiating the balance between autonomy and community is (still) the key to learning languages online during COVID-19 confinement in 2020.
Highlights
During COVID-19 confinement in 2020, there has been a massive increase in learning languages online via a variety of apps, short courses, and as part of higher education on-campus degrees converted to online learning (Andress et al, 2020; Dutton, 2020; Rosenbloom, 2020; Sandle, 2020; Silva, 2020; Whitebloom, 2020)
By January 23, 2020, domestic and international travel bans were imposed on Wuhan, and Australia registered its first case of COVID-19 on January 25, a man in his 50s who returned to Melbourne from Wuhan on January 19
On March 2, Australia recorded its first case of community transmission, provoking bans on foreign nationals entering from other countries (Iran, South Korea and Italy) during the first half of March
Summary
During COVID-19 confinement in 2020, there has been a massive increase in learning languages online via a variety of apps, short courses, and as part of higher education on-campus degrees converted to online learning (Andress et al, 2020; Dutton, 2020; Rosenbloom, 2020; Sandle, 2020; Silva, 2020; Whitebloom, 2020). This study argues that attention to the balance of autonomy and community is vital to successful language learning online, whether in COVID-19 confinement or not. Scholarship on autonomy and community in learning languages online validates this approach to evaluating the situation. The internet has provided more opportunities for autonomous exploration to find language learning communities with shared interests, a desirable adventure that has been likened to “Chasing the Butterfly Effect” (Godwin-Jones, 2018)
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