From the special issue editor

Welcome to the LLT Special Issue on Distance Learning. I am pleased to introduce this special issue which focuses on the important and timely topic of distance language learning. Few topics have received more discussion and attention recently among educators, administrators, and funding agencies than distance learning. At a time when technology is developing at a rapid pace, educators are struggling with the best ways to integrate technology into the learning experience. Distance learning has been impacted tremendously by recent developments in computer and Internet technology. Rapid technological development of media such as interactive Web pages, live chats, MOOs, and discussion boards, have transformed distance learning into a unique mode of instruction with its own emerging methodology. As a result of this tremendous influx of technological resources, researchers, administrators, and instructors are struggling with how to make the best use of the plethora of choices available to them for the delivery of distance education. For language teachers, this has been an especially challenging struggle given the special needs of language learners. In the first article in this special issue, Optimal Psycholinguistic Environments for Distance Foreign Language Learning, Doughty and Long directly address the problem of identifying the best uses of technology for the distance learner of language. The authors point out that all language instruction, distance or otherwise, needs to provide an environment that best facilitates the acquisition of language based on what has been learned from SLA research. What we know about how language is learned and how language learning can best be supported in the classroom should be a guiding force in our decisions regarding how to choose the best technological options for an optimal learning environment. In the second article, Flexibility and Interaction at a Distance: A Mixed-Mode Environment for Language Learning, Strambi and Bouvet discuss the development and implementation of two beginning-level university language courses in French and Italian. Using the psycholinguistic, affective, and logistical needs of distance learners as guiding principles, course developers sought to create a distance course that best supports language learning. Using a CD-ROM for interactive course materials as well as the course management and communication tools available through WebCT, the course developers designed a course that sought to better address the needs of the learners than the previous, low-tech, version of the courses. Despite problems with WebCT that prevented the course instructors from making use of this component of the course, students reported positive attitudes about their experiences in the distance course. While the psycholinguistic impact of this course was not investigated in terms of language proficiency gains, the positive attitudes expressed by the students indicate that their affective and logistical challenges were addressed with the design and implementation of the courses. In the next article, Meeting the Needs of Distance Learners, Sampson explores the specific needs and attitudes of multinational and multilingual students enrolled in a Masters of Education hybrid distance learning program. The students were situated in Hong Kong and participated in courses offered by a British University. In addition to their distance learning and self study of the material, students participated in face-toface seminars at their home site of Hong Kong, used local resources, and were assigned a local tutor with whom they interacted about their progress. …