Given the increasing number of learners in massive open online courses (MOOCs), students' self-directed learning (SDL) skills are necessary for their success. The purpose of this study was to explore learners' motivation for enrolling in MOOCs and their SDL strategies, as well as instructional elements that support SDL from learners' perspectives.…

Taking the European Credit and Transfer System as its departure point, this article describes the (mis)fortunes of the figure of the independent learner. This figure is conceptualized by analyzing the expectations of the European learning space that is enacted in discourses, instruments and practices. The independent learner is a…

Speaking skills had always been the most challenging skill among the pupils in language learning. The flipped learning approach is an innovative teaching and learning pedagogy that creates better learning experiences in order to improve pupils' speaking skills. Therefore, this systematic literature review focuses on flipped learning approach in…

As research into online informal language learning (OILL) develops as a field, the impact on such practices for a wide variety of contexts can be considered. In the case of this publication, the study abroad (SA) context is of particular interest. Indeed the study abroad student may interact with a range of online learning resources in formal,…

Transformational trends of the modern social and political-economic space determine the modernization of the educational sphere, in particular, the system and methods of teaching highly skilled foreign language teachers. Deficiencies in existing technologies for development professional skills, the lack of innovative, modernized techniques for…

The aim of this study was to investigate deaf and severely hard-of-hearing students' foreign language learning characteristics. In order to provide a better understanding of the challenges this group of learners face, a mixed methods study was designed including a questionnaire survey to provide generalizable results for our context and an…

The growing number of internationally mobile students who present Italian L2 language certificates on entry has led the University of Padua Language Centre (CLA) to reflect on whether it should maintain an online placement testing as a means of placing students in the relevant classes (Fratter, Ivana & Altinier. Micol 2015. Gli apprendenti di…

Despite the uncertainty in the rapidly changing world, many countries expect their educational institutions to be ready for the future. To meet these expectations, educational policymakers bring in new changes. One of these transformational changes is the "Future Classroom Lab (FCL)," coordinated by the European Schoolnet with 15…

The increasing number of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe places new demands on European education systems. In this context, the role that free digital learning (FDL) could play in fostering inclusion has attracted renewed interest. While the existing literature highlights some general design principles for developing FDL for migrants and…

In 2011 the Language Centre of the University of Parma introduced a self-study programme aimed at creating an autonomy-inspired language learning environment. Students are actively engaged in the management of their own learning and co-directed by advisors and teachers in the phases of planning, monitoring and assessment. Reflective diary writing…

Blended design of teaching/learning foreign languages, in this case English grammar, has become widely spread within the higher education. The main objective of the article is to discover whether blended approach enhances the process of acquiring new knowledge in the field. The research was conducted at two institutions: faculty of informatics and…

This article offers an overview of research strategies currently in use at the Language Centre of the University of Calabria and aimed at observing university students' learning habits when they are asked to use the European Language Portfolio during language courses. We present evidence of how experimental groups of students belonging to…

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) requires students to engage in more autonomous work. This autonomy is an outcome of the self-regulated learning process. Self-regulation involves a self-management skill set that can cope with any adverse contingency and requires both knowledge of the available abilities and personal control to put these…

The European Language Portfolio (ELP) was designed as a tool that "supports reflective learning and fosters the development of learner autonomy" (Little 2009, "The European Language Portfolio: Where pedagogy and assessment meet". Strasbourg: Council of Europe.…

This paper, fundamentally a procedural paper, outlines pedagogical practices which others may want to adapt for their own purposes. We demonstrate how a strong form of task-based language learning and teaching (TBLT), classroom implementation of the CEFR, cyclical learning, and assessment fulfilling roles, such as informing the next learning…