Developing Learners as Global Citizens: Reflections on the Affordances of Digital Pedagogies in Language Education

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted language education globally. Issues of equity and access to education have emerged in the literature, spotlighting the exacerbation of extant socio-economic divides in education access and attainment. Among these issues was a global online pivot, with educators and students turning to online education and distance learning. Though largely a response to the immediate challenges faced in the education sector, this transition to distance and online education offered opportunities for language education to respond to the emerging challenges and future needs in global education. With this in mind, this paper argues that distance and online education can facilitate holistic, intercultural, and immersive language learning by offering opportunities for personalised and autonomous learning, and for creating digitally enhanced intercultural spaces to engage with and address global issues in language education.