Pedagogy-driven Design for Online Language Teaching and Learning

This article discusses some pedagogical implications of a research project carried out at the University of Antwerp between 1996 and 2004. Its objective was to explore the boundaries of a pedagogy-driven approach in research-based research- oriented CALL system design. The starting point was the observation of a serious decrease in linguistic-didactic functionalities and in overall interactivity of online language learning programs compared to applications developed earlier on CD-ROM. The resulting research question was the following: which software tools, components, and protocols are most efficient for designing, developing, and implementing online interactive language courseware? Besides deliverables in terms of design models, object models, architectures, and frameworks, this project also yielded relevant pedagogical conclusions for online language pedagogy, the role of the teacher, and pre-service and in-service training. These conclusions should be read as provisional suggestions which can lead to new working hypotheses in the field of online language learning and teaching.