Reimagining Language Learning in Higher Education: Key-Roles for Technology

Abstract

The COVID-19 emergency lockdown in 2020 presented an unprecedented challenge that brought technology to the foreground. This chapter discusses the role of technology in language learning at higher education in the aftermath of the abrupt shift to emergency remote teaching due to the pandemic crisis. The chapter briefly introduces the area of language learning, including current trends in pedagogical approaches, focus points and learning objectives as well as the state of the art in computer-assisted language learning. Thereafter, three different but complementary strands for digital tools in language learning at higher education are discussed: digital tools as communication channels, as channels for delivering instruction and as ‘cognitive partners’. We argue that language education can advance the use of technologies in education in general and the acquisition of twenty-first century skills by higher education students, but we also discuss the need of redefining what it means to be a proficient speaker of a language in light of the numerous tools available.