We evaluate the use of a Virtual Exchange (VE) writing task, Stimulus Writing, which we assigned to groups of UK and Finnish business students. There were two learner cohorts in the study: one in the UK (mainly Chinese students), the other in Finland (mainly Finns). The Finnish students wrote authentic case studies about Nordic businesses, while…

Despite the rapid development of virtual exchange in foreign language education, its use in the field of Chinese language education is still rather nascent. Adopting a mixed-methods research approach, this study focuses on examining the pedagogical benefits of a Chinese-American virtual exchange as mediated by students' self-reported data. Two…

Critical languages refers to less commonly taught languages that the U.S. State Department has deemed necessary for U.S. national defense (Department of Defense 2000). In the current era of globalization and growing interconnectedness, the need for proficient speakers of critical languages has become increasingly urgent. While many foreign…

The present study provides an in-depth, longitudinal account of an undergraduate student's L2 discourse socialization in an academic exchange program in Canada. By invoking Rogoff's (1995) notion of participatory appropriation, this qualitative case study examined an L2 student's task-related strategies and performance as they evolved over time in…

Surveys United Kingdom local twinning links with the aim of obtaining a detailed picture of the extent and scope of twinning activity and its perceived benefits. Twinning can bring an increasing awareness to the public at large of the benefits and delights which can result from acquiring foreign language skills. (CK)