A Comparative Study of Open-Access Websites for Autonomous Learning of English

Background

According to Hilinger and Pérez (2019), computers have rapidly evolved as a resource for learning languages since the late 1960s with the first studies on language learning through the use of computers in the United States. Then, the first applications (apps) were developed and, despite the fact that they focused mainly on grammar, syntax and translation, two key concepts for the autonomous learning of foreign languages have been incorporated to the term: interaction and interactivity (Contreras, 2008).

The emergence of ICT in the field of second languages, where language learning through computers (CALL, the acronym that stands for computer-assisted language learning) or technology in general (TELL – Technology-Enhanced Language Learning) are playing an essential role in the area, has modified (in a wide range of factors) the way in which the learner accesses information, selects it, retains it and uses it to communicate (transcending the limits of the language itself).