LMOOCs: Free, Self-Access Language Learning on a Global Scale

Massive Open Online Language Courses, also commonly known as Language MOOCs or LMOOCs, are online courses offered for a limited period of time by higher education institutions worldwide for anybody wishing to learn a foreign language. The average duration of these courses is between four and six weeks, and approximately three to five weekly study hours are required. To date, there are several examples of effectively designed MOOCs that facilitate the development of communicative language competences. This chapter describes what MOOCs/LMOOCs are, provides examples of language MOOCs, and discusses their benefits and potential drawbacks in the context of language learning. [For the complete volume, see ED612143.]