This paper aims to study how heutagogy relates to multilingualism and distance education regarding augmenting learner autonomy, meta-linguistic awareness, and overall learning objectives. As such, in our modern age, pedagogical models have shifted their focus and promote self-regulation and flexible learning of students, focusing on broad principles such as andragogy and heutagogy. This means that the weight is shifted over the trainee to the trainer to actively co-create knowledge that aligns with his/her objectives while using modern tools and processes such as distance learning environments and other digital resources. Our article reviews international publications from 2020 to 2025 to provide a more recent and modern approach and highlights findings from approximately 40 key publications that explore the application of heutagogical and self-determining core values in multilingual online learning. The results of our study were generated based on some preset criteria that aimed to measure the degrees of autonomy and intrinsic motivation, evaluate metacognitive and metalinguistic development, and assess the contribution of technological advancements such as MALL tools, AI, and digital learning ecosystems. Finally, the challenges faced in our study suggested limitations in terms of digital inequality, learning readiness, and difficulties in educators’ training. All the above can be tackled by the heutagogy model in distance multilanguage education when and if supported by the necessary cultural awareness, pedagogical strategies, and most importantly, technological training and infrastructure of all participating parties.
Vavouras et al. (Wed,) studied this question.