Educational innovation

The AHFLO’ project supports the shift towards hybrid learning at INALCO by offering three different teaching formats:

• face-to-face teaching as the preferred means of educational interaction for students who are able to attend the university’s premises on a regular basis,
• distance learning for students who live far away or are unable to attend; in certain rare languages, which are sometimes taught exclusively at INALCO at national, European or even international level; this choice aims to reach audiences that are currently inaccessible,
• through a flexible combination of distance learning and face-to-face teaching to best meet students’ needs and accommodate their constraints, with a view to making study pathways more flexible.

Distance-learning courses are primarily delivered through the provision of asynchronous learning pathways, with a variable proportion of synchronous sessions, supported by a system of student monitoring and tutoring.

Most of the resources produced with AHFLO’ funding are published under the Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) licence, which promotes the sharing of resources amongst higher education and research institutions.

The aim is to compile and share pooled training resources, which are uploaded to various platforms – such as Inalco’s Moodle, FUN-Campus and the LaCAS platform (Inalco) – depending on the format and target audience.

 MOOCs on France Université Numérique

 Since 2016, three Inalco MOOCs, under a Creative Commons licence, have been available on the France Université Numérique (FUN) platform in Arabic,&Chinese and Czech.

• Over a six-year period, the Arabic, Chinese and Czech MOOCs have attracted 124,070 enrolments, including 17,066 in 2021 and 11,075 in 2022, funded by AHFLO’. These MOOCs offer an A1-level certificate under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, with academic recognition (4 ECTS). 

In 2022, INALCO launched two new language MOOCs in Hebrew (3,427 enrolled) and Malagasy (1,695 enrolled).

• In total, the five MOOCs currently offered by INALCO on FUN have attracted 129,192 enrolled students, including 33,263 over the last two years, funded by AHFLO’. 

Since 2024, three new MOOCs have been launched: Turkish, Indonesian and Quechua.

The MOOCs already published will be followed by others, currently in development (Armenian, Burmese, Arabic dialects) or being planned (Thai).
 
In addition to the introductory MOOCs on Oriental languages, there are subject-specific MOOCs: Breaking down language barriers: multiple approaches to French (2024), International Economics (2024), literary translation, African literatures) and the MOOCs in the ‘Indigenous Languages and Cultures’ series: Dongba (2023), Mooré (2024), Mazatec (2025).
 
The resources produced on FUN are also made available for inter-institutional sharing on the FUN-Campus platform.

 Sharing of digital resources with institutions within the ASPC and the ESR
 
 This sharing takes place through the publication of SPOCs on FUN Campus (Arabic, Czech, Chinese), the distribution of introductory and undergraduate-level training modules (Arabic, Chinese) and the delivery of distance learning language introduction modules via FUN for the Master’s in TAL (Paris 3 and Paris 10).
 
Institutions benefiting from the shared resources : University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, University of Paris 1, Sorbonne University, University of Paris 8, University of Lyon 2, University of Lorraine, Sciences Po, University of Paris 3 (Sorbonne Nouvelle), University of Nanterre (Sorbonne Paris Nord), École du Louvre; 2,500 students involved.
 
In the spirit of reciprocity inherent in resource sharing, Sciences Po provides Inalco with digitised English-language resources that enable a hybrid approach to teaching. The resources have been integrated into Inalco’s Moodle platform.
 
The ‘National Joint Preparation Programme for the Arabic Agrégation via distance learning’ is being developed jointly with Sorbonne University, Lyon 2, the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon and Aix-Marseille University.
The Diploma in Islamic Studies has been set up in collaboration with the University of Strasbourg, Aix-Marseille University and Lyon 3.
 
Development of B2-level training modules on rare languages for the baccalaureate

These modules are aimed at sixth-formers who wish to improve their proficiency in rare languages that are not taught in secondary schools and to sit these subjects in the baccalaureate. INALCO will offer practical modules (written and oral comprehension and expression) designed to prepare students for these continuous assessment exams in the baccalaureate. The first module on offer, currently under development, will focus on the Armenian language.
  
Launch of the Inalco eTandem online conversation platform

The aim of this platform is to connect language students with native speakers through a guided educational activity centred on thematic and cultural topics. This tool, which has already been tested for Chinese, Korean and Swahili, will be extended to other languages and made available to all higher education and research institutions (ESR). It also aims to forge international partnerships.

The continuing professional development service supported by AHFLO’ is responding to the growing demand by switching to hybrid and distance learning courses. To this end, it has upgraded its hardware and software solutions by implementing a dedicated platform and has undertaken training initiatives for trainers and staff to strengthen their skills in this area. Substantial support from digital learning engineers has been put in place to validate this roll-out and strategy for the start of the 2021 academic year.
 
AHFLO’ thus enables the FC to make distance learning a permanent feature, to structure learning pathways and to enrich them, both in terms of the content offered on the dedicated Moodle platform and the management of synchronous distance learning.
 
In the evening classes, 22 out of 91 language courses – or 24 per cent – are now offered entirely online. Intensive courses and summer courses have been offered remotely since 2020: 45 per cent of those enrolled on intensive language courses are studying remotely; 100 per cent of the 72 students enrolled on summer courses in Arabic dialects are studying remotely. The ‘East Asia’ and ‘Arab World’ courses for the University of Normandy are delivered remotely. Since the start of the 2021 academic year, the preparation for the Chinese teaching qualification (agrégation) has been entirely managed administratively by the FC and is designed as a 100 per cent online course (synchronous Zoom sessions + the FC Moodle platform).
 
Work is currently underway with FUN to launch fee-paying SPOCs managed by the FC, based on the MOOCs that have already been delivered (initially in Arabic, Chinese and Czech), following the example of the Arabic SPOC organised for the Rochefort Gendarmerie Academy.

The successful implementation of the AHFLO’ project relies on strengthening the technological infrastructure and digital equipment to enable the production and widespread distribution of learning pathways, courses and teaching modules. The design and development of training modules involve significant requirements in terms of hardware, software, bespoke development and licences.

Teachers leading AHFLO projects benefit from enhanced support in instructional design. A training programme has been available to them since 2020. Through practical workshops and online training (webinars and Zoom meetings), it aims to ensure that teachers are proficient in using digital tools and, above all, are able to design hybrid courses independently.
 
A complete overhaul of the Moodle tutorial sections was also carried out in 2020 and includes guides on the tools, as well as advice on digital teaching in general, the relevant legislation and ideas for any teacher wishing to adopt a hybrid teaching approach.

As part of the conclusion of the AHFLO’ project, scheduled for the end of August 2023, an event, held both in person and online, was organised in the Inalco Auditorium on 14 and 15 June 2023.

These two days provided an opportunity for the leaders of AHFLO’-funded projects to present their achievements and to take stock of the current situation, challenges and future prospects for hybridising courses in Oriental languages and civilisations.

During the event, first-year Master’s students from Inalco’s Language Teaching programme(DDL) programme at INALCO presented ‘scientific’-style posters they had produced on the theme ‘ ‘A poster, a thousand words: the challenges of digital technology in language teaching and learning’ .

Find out more: The AHFLO Days