Introduction

There are many emerging issues in the rapidly changing and diverse environments of distance language learning. New technologies, new learners, innovations in practice, and new ideas about access and quality provision all require new ways of thinking about approaches and practices within distance language learning. At the same time, they raise new challenges. Developments such as the use of CMC place longstanding issues relating to participation and interaction in distance language learning in a new light. Further to this, the issues and trends that are identified and discussed as pertinent to distance language learning reflect different positions in terms of what is important within the field. The early part of the chapter reflects more of a concern with technology and its place in distance language learning. The latter part focuses on issues of access and quality, and the emergence of new constraints within distance learning environments. A number of these issues and trends are discussed in the context of a recent venture into distance language teaching using interactive television (ITV) in Victoria, Australia.

Interactive competence

Learning and using a language is both an intrapersonal or mental process and an interpersonal or social and interactive process (van Lier 1996). The learning opportunities provided in distance language courses have traditionally been based on written and recorded course materials, presented in the form of workbooks, video-, audiocassettes, CD-ROMs, and television or radio broadcasts. Such resources provide somewhat limited experiences for learning and using the TL. Teachers have spent a lot of time in attempting to devise ways of providing interactive opportunities in the TL, including the use of telephone courses (Dickey 2001) and voice mail (Ramirez and Savage 2001; Young 2000).