Lucia-Mihaela Grosu-R?dulescu1 & Veronica-Maria Stan2
1The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania.ORCID: 0000-0001-8183-3263. Email: grosulucia@gmail.com,
2The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania. Email: stan.veronica01@gmail.com
Volume 10, Number 3, 2018 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v10n3.15
Received April 21, 2018; Revised August 01, 2018: Accepted August 29, 2018; Published November 03, 2018.
Abstract
Dwelling on the relationship between second language acquisition and independent study, the present article will analyze the relevance of foreign language learning online platforms. Our main assumption is that young adults are inclined to improve their foreign language skills by accessing virtual learning platforms as this experience is emphasizing their need to belong to online learning communities. This study begins with a critical approach of recent trends in learning/ teaching methods in the field of foreign languages. We will mention some successful blended learning strategies for the acquisition and assessment of foreign languages, but we will also pinpoint the limits of such methods. We will then provide a short overview of previous research in this domain conducted in Romania with a focus on the Bucharest University of Economic Studies’ efforts to include an online component in its teaching activities.
Our subsequent analytic section will be constructed on data gathered through a survey conducted in 2016 with tertiary learners from different Romanian academic centers. We will show that by drawing the profile of the 21st century foreign language online learner, we can make informed suggestions for updating foreign language teaching methods. Our main purpose is to predict fresh interactive techniques that could appeal more to students in our domain of interest. We will show that such up-to-date methods can improve not only students’ results in foreign language learning but they can also provide an additional environment where students can make independent learning choices. We will also address the limits of our study and possible subsequent directions of research in order to gather more data that could supplement our initial findings.
Keywords: virtual learning platforms, foreign language learning, independent students