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Professor Elodie Vialleton

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Profile summary

  • Central Academic Staff
  • Professor of Distance Education and Language Studies
  • Faculty of Wellbeing, Education & Language Studies
  • School of Languages & Applied Linguistics
  • Languages
  • elodie.vialleton

Professional biography

I am a Senior Lecturer in French in the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics, and an expert in distance language education. I am a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I currently hold the position of Associate Head of School (Learning and Teaching).

I joined the Open University in 2005. I was Head of French from 2008 to 2014, Associate Head of Department (Languages) and Head of Qualification (Certificate in Higher Education) from 2014 to 2016, Associate Head of School (Curriculum) in the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics from 2016-2019, and interim Head of School in 2018-2019. I held the position of Deputy Associate Dean (Teaching Excellence) in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies in 2019-2021.

I have taught on all the French modules currently offered at the Open University, from ab initio to degree level. I was also a joint module team chair of the production of our Intermediate Italian module and a module team member on the Intermediate German module.

Before joining the Open University, I taught French language, grammar and translation at Worcester College, Oxford, and English linguistics, phonology and translation at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. I was a Visiting Lecturer at Dartmouth College, USA, in 1993-94. I hold the highest qualified teacher status in France (Agrégation) and I am a graduate of the École Normale Supérieure (Fontenay St Cloud) in Paris, France.

Research interests

My main research area is distance and online language teaching and learning. I am currently researching the move to online teaching following the covid-19 pandemic and how it affected teachers, students, and language teaching approaches.

Previously I also did research in the linguistic analysis and teaching of spoken French and English, and the use of naturally-occurring speech in language teaching.

 

Teaching interests

Since I started working at the Open University, I have written course materials for all of our French modules. I have also contributed to Italian and German modules, and to Exploring languages and cultures, our module introducing language studies and intercultural communication.

I am particularly interested in the teaching of listening and speaking skills, especially at a distance, and in the use of authentic speech and authentic materials in language teaching.

I also have a keen interest in curriculum development in the field of languages, and in decolonising the French language curriculum.

Impact and engagement

From 2013-17 I was the Honorary Treasurer of the University Council of Modern Languages. I am a member of the Executive of the Association of University Professors and Heads of French +. I am also a member of the Association for French Language Studies.

I am part of the team that developed the Moving your language teaching online free toolkit.

I am a member of the scientific committee of the scientific journal Distance et Médiation des Savoirs / Distance and Mediation of Knowledge.

External collaborations

I was an External Examiner in French at the University of Northumbria from 2019-22.

I was a member of the Expert Panel working on the revision of the QAA Benchmark statement for Languages, Societies and Cultures, published in 2022-23. 

I am one of the co-organisers of the international conference Distance education : a brave new world ? working in collaboration with the French Centre National d'Enseignement à Distance (CNED) and the scientific journal Distance et Médiation des Savoirs / Distance and Mediation of Knowledge.

Research groups

NameTypeParent Unit
CREET: Language and Literacies Research ClusterClusterFaculty of Education and Language Studies

Publications

Distance, flexibilité et nouveaux modes d’enseignement : de la crise du COVID à des transformations durables (2024-10-28)
Pulker, Hélène and Vialleton, Elodie
Distances et médiations des savoirs(47 | 2024)

Utiliser la vidéo en formation à distance et observer collaboration, interaction et relations interpersonnelles (2024)
Grandbastien, Monique; Pulker, Hélène and Vialleton, Elodie
Distances et médiations des savoirs(46)

Using video in distance learning and observing collaboration, interaction and interpersonal relationships (2024)
Grandbastien, Monique; Pulker, Hélène and Vialleton, Elodie
Distances et médiations des savoirs [Online](46)

Distance, Flexibility and New Teaching Modes: From the COVID Emergency to Sustainable Transformations (2024)
Pulker, Hélène and Vialleton, Elodie
Distances et médiations des savoirs(47 | 2024)

The Notions of Control and Consciousness in Learner Autonomy and Self-Regulated Learning: a comparison and critique (2011-07)
Lewis, Tim and Vialleton, Elodie
Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 5(2) (pp. 205-219)

Les interrogatives en anglais oral spontané: intonation et énonciation (2000)
Passot, Frédérique; Szlamowicz, Jean and Vialleton, Elodie
Anglophonia-Sigma, 8 (pp. 125-152)

Curriculum design (2025)
Pleines, Christine and Vialleton, Elodie
In: Álvarez, Inma and Fuertes Gutierrez, Mara eds. The Politics of Language Teaching and Learning. Perspectives from Higher Education in the UK.
ISBN : 9781399816175 | Publisher : John Murray Press (In Press) | Published : London

‘Moving Your Language Teaching Online’ Toolkit: Teachers’ Early Reflections on their Experience and Skills (2023-04-20)
Lindeiner-Stráský, Karina von; Pulker, Hélène and Vialleton, Elodie
In: Stickler, Ursula and Emke, Martina eds. Online Language Teaching: Crises and Creativities. Developing Online Language Pedagogies
ISBN : 9781914291173 | Publisher : Castledown | Published : London

Well-rounded graduates – what languages can do (2021-02-26)
Pulker, Helene; Stickler, Ursula and Vialleton, Elodie
In: Plutino, Alessia and Polisca, Elena eds. Languages at work, competent multilinguals and the pedagogical challenges of COVID-19 (pp. 23-35)
Publisher : Research-publishing.net

Reconsidering the authenticity of speech in French language teaching: theory, data, methodology, and practice (2014-06-01)
Vialleton, Elodie and Lewis, Tim
In: Tyne, Henry; Andre, Virginie; Boulton, Alex and Benzitoun, Christophe eds. French through Corpora: Ecological and Data-Driven Perspectives in French Language Studies (pp. 293-316)
ISBN : 978-1-4438-5831-1 | Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing | Published : Newcastle-upon-Tyne

French Studies at the Open University: pointers to the future (2011-06)
Coleman, James A. and Vialleton, Elodie
In: Lane, Philippe and Worton, Michael eds. French Studies in and for the 21st Century (pp. 235-246)
ISBN : 978-1-84631-656-2 | Publisher : Liverpool University Press | Published : Liverpool

Le français parlé au XXIe siècle: Volume 1, Normes et variations géographiques et sociales (2008-01)
Abécassis, Michaël; Ayosso, Laure and Vialleton, Elodie eds.
Espaces discursifs
ISBN : 978-2296044074 | Publisher : L'Harmattan | Published : Paris

Le français parlé au XXIe siècle : Volume 2, Normes et variations dans les discours et en interaction (2008-01)
Abécassis, Michaël; Ayosso, Laure and Vialleton, Elodie eds.
Espaces discursifs
ISBN : 978-2296044081 | Publisher : L'Harmattan | Published : Paris

Intercultural Communicative Competence and Employability in the Languages Curriculum at the Open University UK (2017)
Baumann, Uwe and Vialleton, Elodie
In : Intercultural Communicative Competence – A Competitive Advantage for Global Employability (22-23 Jun 2017, Prague) (pp. 35-45)

Learners’ perceptions of online elements in a beginners’ language blended course – implications for CALL design (2015-12-02)
Pulker, Hélène and Vialleton, Elodie
In : EUROCALL 2015 (26-29 Aug 2015, Padova, Italy) (pp. 475-479)

Online revision and assessment on a beginners’ French course: using learning analytics to understand language learners’ behaviors (2014)
Pulker, Helene and Vialleton, Elodie
In : CALICO conference 2014: Open, Online, Massive: The Future of Language Learning? (6-10 May 2014, Ohio University)

The spoken language in beginners’ French language textbooks: 1573-2014 (2014)
Vialleton, Elodie
In : Connecting Cultures?: An International Conference on the History of Teaching and Learning Second/Foreign Languages, 1500-2000 (2-5 Jul 2014, University of Nottingham)

Compréhension du français oral spontané par les débutants en FLE : contributions croisées de la linguistique et de la didactique des langues aux méthodologies d’enseignement et de recherche (2013-11-15)
Vialleton, Elodie
In : Cultures de recherche en linguistique appliquée / Research cultures in applied linguistics (14-16 Nov 2013, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France)

Online and mobile applications and resources for autonomous language learning: technological and methodological approaches (2013-06-12)
Vialleton, Elodie
In : CALRG Annual Conference 2013 (11-12 Jun 2013, Milton Keynes)

Apprendre le français oral en autonomie à l’ère de l’internet et du CECR: outils technologiques et approches pédagogiques (2013-05-03)
Vialleton, Elodie
In : Journée du Français : de la Genèse de la Langue à Internet (3 May 2013, Oxford, UK)

A century of spoken French in language learning: have representations and practices changed? (2012-06-01)
Vialleton, Elodie and Lewis, Timothy
In : Annual Conference of the Association for French Language Studies (1-3 Jun 2012, Newcastle University)

Reconsidering authenticity: using spontaneous speech to develop listening skills in adult beginner distance learners of French (2011-09)
Vialleton, Elodie and Lewis, Tim
In : Annual Conference of the Association for French Language Studies (8-10 Sep 2011, Nancy, France)

Partnerships with the Open University department of languages: current experience and future opportunities (2010-02)
Vialleton, Elodie and Lewis, Timothy
In : Les partenariats universitaires franco-britanniques (5 Feb 2010, London, UK)

Investigating The Use Of Naturally Occurring Spoken French In Adult Foreign Language Learning (2013-10)
Vialleton, Élodie
edd thesis The Open University

Tookit "Moving your Language Teaching Online" (2020)
von Lindeiner-Stráský, Karina; Pulker, Hélène; Barkanyi, Zsuzsanna; Pleines, Christine and Vialleton, Elodie
Open Learn Create