Profiling language learners in hybrid learning contexts: Learners’ perceptions

Abstract

This article discusses formal and informal foreign language learning before university level. The focus is on beginning university students' perceptions of their earlier learning experiences, especially in digital contexts. Language learners' digital competence is a part of their everyday lives, but its relationship to learning in and outside educational settings is still relatively seldom studied. The article discusses learning in formal and informal (i.e., hybrid) contexts and digital learning profiles −that is, a learner's own personalized style in acquiring language competence by creating affordances in personalized digital or mobile learning environments− in primary and secondary education identified in a language learning survey. The results are based on an online survey sent to all beginning university students majoring in languages at a Finnish university (N= 87/192), which was complemented by a short narrative task (N=47) a few months later focusing on earlier education and the use of language learning technologies. The results suggest that the use of technologies seems to differ between extramural and in-school language learning. The learners were well aware of various possibilities to create affordances for learning, and their own involvement increased with age. Most participants had positive attitudes towards the use of technologies to enhance language learning, but critical views emphasized the importance of inspiring contact teaching. Three different digital learning profiles were identified: a digiage learner, a hybrid learner, and an in-school learner. These can be useful when planning differentiated foreign language instruction.

Learners’ Experiences in Integrating Digital Technology in their Foreign Language Learning

“…However, not all young learners who were born in the digital age could be categorized as digital native due to their skills which might not match to the concept of implications. For an example, they may not transfer their knowledge and skills of social media to support language learning (Lintunen, 2017).…”

Mobile learning for professional development: Significant factors, attitudes, behaviours and engagement patterns

“…In the last few years, however, there have been a number of studies presenting favourable attitudes towards mobile learning (Briz-Ponce, Pereira, Carvalho, Juanes-Méndez, & García-Penalvo, 2017;Busulwa & Bbuye, 2018;Iqbal, Khan, & Malik, 2017;Lintunen, Mutta, & Pelttari, 2017;Thi Thanh Thuy Nguyen & Yukawa, 2019;Quan, 2019;Steel, 2017). A 2019 literature review on MALL in higher education contexts revealed that while mobile learning "seems to have secured its place in teaching and learning foreign languages" (Metruk, 2019, p. 5), attitudes still played an important role in its adoption.…”

“…While most studies on learner profiling, both person-oriented and technology-based, took a quantitative approach (Csizer & Dornyei, 2005), there were a few studies that collected data qualitatively (Fearon et al, 2017;Takahashi, 2015) and those employed an empirical mixedmethods approach (S. B. Dias & Diniz, 2014;Lintunen et al, 2017;Tsuda & Nakata, 2013).…”

“…the "digiage" (heavy users of social media, but not always for learning), the hybrid (have used technologies, but with a critical mindset, for in-and out-of-school learning) and in-school learner (have used technologies, but do not believe that they facilitate the learning process) (Lintunen et al, 2017). While the authors suggested these profiles should be further validated with both quantitative and qualitative data in future studies, these results laid important foundation for language learner profiling regarding their attitudes, behaviours and engagement with technologies.…”

“…Karlen's study, however, only profiled self-directed learners based on motivation and strategies. The current project investigated a wider range of factors and involved self-directed learning with technologies, therefore its results added to the breadth of studies on learner profiles regarding MALL for PD, an emerging area of research interests (Chon & Shin, 2019;Karlen, 2016;Lintunen et al, 2017).…”