This study investigated the experience of learners enrolled on an Open University (UK) French course, and included personality factors, motivation, and tutor and student roles. The data gathered from multiple elicitation methods gave useful insights into issues of special relevance to distance language education, in particular the lack of fit between an inherently social discipline such as language learning and the distance context whose main characterizing feature is remoteness from others.Motivation was seen to play a crucial role in success, along with tutor feedback, and personal responsibility for learning. Increased confidence and self-regulation were beneficial outcomes of the process of learning at a distance, and numerous suggestions for learning approaches, based on personal experience, were offered for language learners new to the distance setting. The study concluded that the task for distance practitioners is to build on the insights shown by learners themselves, in order to target support where it is most needed.
IntroductionWhile distance education in general has attracted a great deal of research over many years (Gibson, 1998, Holmberg, 1986Keegan, 1990;Lockwood, 1998;Moore, 1977;White, 2005), investigation into the distance learning of languages has really only taken off in the last decade. This could be attributed to the fact that languages were slow to join other subjects provided in distance settings. The Open University (UK), for example, did not present its first language course until 1995, some 25 years after it opened its doors to learners of other subjects. The recognition that languages are considered more difficult to learn in distance mode than other subjects (Sussex, 1991) and that distance language learners require a greater degree of self-regulation than learners of other subjects (White, 1994) contributed to a cautious approach. It is also true that learning in distance mode has always been seen as problematic for the acquisition, practice and assessment of foreign language speaking skills, given the physical absence of a teacher, the isolated context, and reduced opportunities for interacting in the target language.Studies with distance language learners to date have investigated factors such as beliefs and expectations, learner support, feedback, critical reflection, autonomy and learning strategies (Harris, 2003; Hurd, 2000Hurd, , 2003Hurd, , 2005Hurd et al., 2001;Murphy, 2005;Ros ì Solé & Truman, 2005;White, 1995White, , 1999. Virtual learning environments and technology-mediated language learning are increasingly the subject of more recent studies (Hampel & Hauck, 2004;Shield, 2002). However, variables such as personality and affect, and their link with other variables have received less attention. It is now generally acknowledged that affective factors, in particular motivation, are critical to effective learning and often convincing predictors of language success or failure (Dörnyei 2001a;Oxford & Shearin, 1994;Ushioda 1996). In relation to the distance language context, H...