The increasing use of digital educational technologies in higher education (HE) means that the nature of communication may be shifting. Assessments of English for academic purposes (EAP) need to be reconceptualized accordingly to reflect the new and complex ways in which language is used in HE. With a view to inform EAP assessments, our study set…

Peer observation plays a key developmental role in initial teacher education courses. However, potential benefits can be limited due to time constraints and the rigidity of individual observation tasks. This article examines the use of synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) as a peer observation tool on a CELTA course. We analyse SCMC…

Connecting informal and formal language teaching and learning has gained prominence as a way to understand language development among teenagers, but questions remain regarding its application in L2 contexts. This study investigates the significance of such connections in two L2 English classes taught by the same teacher, where students were…

Virtual exchange, as a global social practice, provides language teacher candidates with opportunities to connect their global peers and language learners. Integrated into teacher education, virtual exchange practices enhance teacher candidates' professional and pedagogical knowledge and practices. This study details a virtual exchange program…

This study examines the results of an intervention conducted with adult EFL learners in Barcelona, Spain, to foster engagement with the target language outside class time. As part of the programme, the messaging service WhatsApp was used to carry out a range of voluntary communicative tasks, in learners' own time. Familiarity with this tool made…

This preliminary study explores how international students bring their cultural knowledge and experiences into relationship with other writers' ideas as they engage in an online discussion in response to a news text. This article focuses on a language excerpt from an online discussion group, including the assignment prompt, reading text, student…

Online and hybrid courses offer many benefits for ESL teacher education, but can be hampered by 'transactional distance', a lack of interpersonal closeness which can cause misunderstanding and disengagement. This article describes a pedagogical project in which in-service teachers studying in a distance-learning MA TESL programme in Sri Lanka…

Communicating and collaborating in online contexts can be quite different from face-to-face situations and requires students to acquire multiple literacies in addition to foreign language skills and intercultural communicative competence. This paper looks at how the development of multiliteracies can be included in the EFL classroom through the…

This paper describes a study comparing chatroom and face-to-face oral interaction for the purposes of language learning in a tertiary classroom in the United Arab Emirates. It uses transcripts analysed for Language Related Episodes, collaborative dialogues, thought to be externally observable examples of noticing in action. The analysis is…

This article explores whether the perception of learner autonomy that is promoted in language pedagogy is suitable for preparing students to perform successfully in the changed circumstances of the use of English. Recent developments, which include the growing role of English as a lingua franca and computer-mediated communication (CMC), give rise…

The use of blogs in EFL learning and teaching has recently attracted a great deal of research attention. Previous research has demonstrated that blogs foster development of EFL skills. This study, which takes a sociocultural approach, focuses on EFL interaction. Specifically, the study aims to identify the interaction strategies that bloggers…

Peer observation of teaching often occurs at a local level or national level, seldom internationally. Victoria University, Australia, and Chinese institutions Henan University and Central University of Finance and Economics have a transnational partnership involving local students studying courses originating in Australia and Chinese students who…

This paper reports the findings of three qualitative studies which were carried out in university level EFL classes in Germany. The three groups used various combinations of communication technologies such as email, web-based message boards, and video conferencing in order to engage in online exchanges with different partner classes in Ireland and…

Discusses computer mediated communication (CMC) and how it is used in language learning. Focuses on new forms of discourse, new ways of learning, and multimedia and multi-modal CMC. (Author/VWL)

Discusses insights gained while looking at ways in which computer-mediated communication could help bridge different and often separate fields of practice, school and university, and offer learning experiences for pre-service and in-service teachers alike. Refers to experiences re-designing foreign language teacher education through seminars that…