Abstract

Since CercleS was created in 1990, language resource centres, or language centres, have offered learners various means to improve their language skills. They are often places where new pedagogical approaches and innovative learning environments are proposed (Rivens Mompean 2011). As the names of some of the associations belonging to CercleS suggest, however, ‘language centre’ is not always defined in the same way. To identify the elements that may be common to all and perhaps contribute to the definition, we set out to study the tools offered to learners by members of RANACLES (the French association that has been a member of CercleS since its creation in 1992) and the ways in which they help learners to use them. Some language centres offer tools that enable learners to take more control of their learning such as logbooks or diaries designed to support autonomization (Chateau and Zumbihl 2010). In other cases the environments include tools that enable teachers to control learners' activity. Most language centres provide various types of support or guidance – tutoring or counselling, for example – to help learners familiarize themselves with the available tools (Ismail and Bailly 2011). This article reviews the tools offered by RANACLES language centres and by the language centre of our own university and proposes a model of an online toolkit for language centres.