The Role of Metacognitive and Politeness Strategies in Online Foreign Language Instruction

This paper aims at providing an insight into the online/hybrid foreign language teaching and learning system in Romania. Drawing on the theoretical body of research of metacognitive and politeness representations within the field, the study further offers an analysis of how metacognition and politeness strategies are perceived by the main stakeholders of academic education (language learners and instructors). The focus is on describing specific aspects where the support metacognitive and politeness strategies enable a more responsible and engaging digital pedagogical framework that empowers learner autonomy and engagement. Emphasis is placed on highlighting context-ridden challenges observed in online/hybrid learning/teaching connected to various degrees of preparedness to deal with the dynamic frontal/online teaching shift and also on suggesting student-centred solutions. The obtained results of the study may inform subsequent developments of language mediation through the activation of digital cognition and social and emotional learning practices.