Language acquisition by distance education: an Australian survey

Distance learning of foreign languages

“…Between these two landmarks, second generation course models were developed in the 1970s with first broadcast technologies and then audio-and video-based multiple media language courses. The literature of the 1970s and 1980s includes descriptions of language courses via radio and television (Innes 1982;Byrnes 1986;Kataoka 1987), examples and discussion of materials and techniques (Selman 1988), identification of general issues in distance language teaching (Davies 1977;Holmberg 1985), and surveys of language courses offered through distance education in North America and Australia (Stringer, Shale & Abrioux 1982;Williams & Sharma 1988). Innes (1982) describes the first BBC television language course in German called Kontakte broadcast in 1975 as a milestone in broadcast language teaching.…”

“…In terms of research approaches to exploring distance language learning, there has been a heavy predominance of descriptive studies (e.g. Rothenberg 1998;Rogers & Wolff 2000), with surveys (Williams & Sharma 1988;Abrioux 1991), case studies (Crooks & Lamy 1995;Jennings 1995), pilot studies (Glisan, Dudt & Howe 1998) and multiple-method qualitative studies (White 1999a) also used in research design. Within the descriptive studies a prominent approach is to describe the process of course development CYNTHIA WHITE is Associate Professor in the School of Language Studies, Massey University, New Zealand.…”

Characteristics of Adult Education Students and Factors Which Determine Course Completion: A Review

“…Motives for studying at a distance as opposed to studying conventionally relate to both the impracticality of attending a conventional institution and preference for the distance education system itself. For example, Australian students said they chose distance education over conventional education because of remoteness from a conventional university (Williams & Sharma, 1988; Stanford and others, 1980); the cost of commuting to a conventional university was also a factor influencing choice (Stanford and others, 1980). Both Australian and U.S. students cited scheduling conflicts between conventional classes and other activities as a reason for choosing distance education (Brey & Grigsby, 1984; Stanford & others, 1980; Williams & Sharma, 1988).…”

“…For example, Australian students said they chose distance education over conventional education because of remoteness from a conventional university (Williams & Sharma, 1988; Stanford and others, 1980); the cost of commuting to a conventional university was also a factor influencing choice (Stanford and others, 1980). Both Australian and U.S. students cited scheduling conflicts between conventional classes and other activities as a reason for choosing distance education (Brey & Grigsby, 1984; Stanford & others, 1980; Williams & Sharma, 1988). Other factors that may account for the choice of distance education over conventional education include reference for distance education (Stanford & others, 1980; Williams & Sharma, 1988) and more liberal admission policies of distance institutions as opposed to conventional institutions (Stanford & others, 1980).…”

“…Both Australian and U.S. students cited scheduling conflicts between conventional classes and other activities as a reason for choosing distance education (Brey & Grigsby, 1984; Stanford & others, 1980; Williams & Sharma, 1988). Other factors that may account for the choice of distance education over conventional education include reference for distance education (Stanford & others, 1980; Williams & Sharma, 1988) and more liberal admission policies of distance institutions as opposed to conventional institutions (Stanford & others, 1980).…”