Platform-driven English Language Learning: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

This work presents a literature review of papers spanning from January 2020 to May 2024, and which study the preferred learning strategies and adopted platforms the English learners use in their autonomous learning journey. An exploration of whether the learners employ certain strategies with certain platforms and whether the challenges were platform-related was also implemented.  Results from the descriptive data indicate a growing research interest in autonomous English learning in 2024. The main adopted methodology was the quantitative one allowing for replication to further examine the results. Results pertaining to the research questions revealed different strategies, including self-regulated strategies as the most adopted one the online learners use. The online learners also used different platforms like e-learning, digital gaming, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Social Networking Sites (SNS), virtual reality (VR), and videos. With regards to whether the strategies and the challenges were platform-related, the results showed that neither the strategies nor the challenges were   platform-related.  The learners use different strategies depending on the activities offered by the platform they are employing; the challenges, on the other hand, were common to almost all the platforms with technical and psychological challenges emerging as the most common issues.    The current literature review provides researchers with guidance for future studies in terms of key words and manuscripts’ selection.