Teaching Languages Online (TLO)

Introduction

As the demand for online learning grows, teachers are being asked to teach or create online courses, but many of these teachers have little or no experience with online learning, either as teachers or as online learners themselves. Wood (2005) maintains that even for veteran teachers in the classroom, the transition to online teaching is difficult; teachers who are comfortable in the classroom are not necessarily good online teachers (Sidebar section). A completely online course has special issues and differences that teachers of traditional or even hybrid courses (where teachers have added some online components to their face-to-face courses) will not encounter (Conrad, 2004; Davis & Roblyer, 2005; Kassop, 2003). Teachers need additional faculty development to learn new teaching methods and techniques for online courses and to learn about the needs of the online learner (Palloff & Pratt, 2000, 2001, 2003). "It has been well documented that faculty need training and assistance to make the transition" to online teaching (Taylor & McQuiggan, 2008, para. 1).

The Challenges for Language Teaching

In addition to the challenges mentioned above, teaching a language online comes with some specific challenges.  Here are some thoughts from a number of authors.

Hampel & Stickler (2005): language teachers in an online teaching situation need different skills than those they use in the face-to-face classroom and also compared to skills needed in other content areas.

Compton (2009): "despite a multitude of research-based publications and best practices relating to computer assisted language learning (CALL), including online language learning, there is a dearth of resources on how to prepare teachers for online language teaching and the skills needed for this new teaching environment" (p. 74).

Lowes (2008): second languages are described as one of the "particularly difficult subjects to adapt to the online environment and so require a lot of rethinking" (What Changed section).

Blake (2008): many language teachers "harbor deep-seated doubts as to whether a hybrid course, much less a completely virtual learning experience, could ever provide [second language] learners with an accepted way to gain linguistic proficiency, especially when oral language skills are in question" (p. 102).

Sánchez-Serrano (2008): "one of the greatest challenges is presented by courses that are skill based, such as foreign language courses" where "the oral component presents an array of complex issues" (p. 153).

Hampel and Stickler (2005): "the asynchronicity of communication in written conferencing and the lack of non-verbal clues in audio-conferencing are examples of new challenges for online language tutors" (p. 312).

Abras and Sunshine (2008): online language teachers would need to understand how to provide "opportunity for conversation, practice, input, and negotiation of meaning among learners," which is much more easily accomplished in a traditional classroom (p. 189).

Teaching Languages Online Project

To address the needs of online language teachers, the following are being put into action:

1. The CARLA technology project will study the results of a survey that addresses the preparation and support that language teachers receive in order to teach online.
   
   
2. A resource bibliography has been collected with almost 600 resources to search for information on the preparation of teachers to teach online, both general and language-specific, along with guidelines, best practices, and dissertations about teaching online. There are also a variety of information on technology that would be helpful for online teaching.
   
   
3. Workshops for experienced and new online language teachers and support staff will discuss challenges and successes with teaching online at international conferences (IALLT and CALICO) that focus on languages and technology. As a result of the first workshop at IALLT 2011, a ning has been established to create a community of practice for online language teachers - a place where they can share their experiences, ask questions, and offer support to each other as well as those who are just starting with online teaching.
   
   
4. A first step towards training teachers to teach online is the completely online technology summer institute on social networking. Social networking applications are useful to both online and face-to-face teachers, in their classes as well as for professional development. Offered in 2011, it will be offered again in 2012.