The technical institutions Institut Mines Télécom in Albi, France (IMT) and Trier University for Applied Sciences at the Environmental Campus of Birkenfeld, Germany (UCB) have been running Virtual Exchange (VE) projects since 2013. These projects allow the French and German students to use the vocabulary learned in class in a real context and to…

Measuring the quality of information and communication technology (ICT) tools and their impact on learning outcomes is not an easy task. Carol Chapelle, the leading authority on the evaluation of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) tools, wrote in 2008: 'Evaluation of innovation is perhaps the most significant challenge teachers and…

This study explores a language learner's screen while interacting from a desktop videoconferencing device as part of an intercultural telecollaboration exchange that connected teacher-trainees and French learners. Communicative tasks involving opinion exchanges require from language learners simultaneous speaking and listening comprehension…

Although immersion programs are very popular in Canada, they are complex to implement and not as successful as we would hope them to be when it comes to the development of students' language skills. This article reports on the findings of a case study conducted within the context of an ongoing five-year grant funded project in Western Canada whose…

This article examines the various educational paradigms used in the design of a European studies undergraduate programme in Hong Kong to enhance the acquisition of intercultural competences (IC) among students. The intercultural approach is supported by intensive foreign language (FL) learning and is motivated by a compulsory full year academic…

This case study introduces a final year undergraduate module in the School of Modern Languages at Newcastle University. The module offers a model for embedding careers in modern languages teaching into the curriculum, and thereby enhancing student employability. The case study gives an insight into the various strands of activity undertaken by the…

Our contribution focuses on synchronous oral telecollaboration in secondary schools. With reference to the EU project TILA, aspects of task design and implementation are discussed against the backdrop of issues of technological quality in connection with class organisation in computer labs. Case study evidence is provided in favour of the…

Total enrollments (undergraduate and graduate) in languages other than English dropped by 9.2% between fall 2013 and fall 2016, as reported in the Modern Language Association's twenty-fifth language enrollment census. Despite the overall drop, there were gains in nearly half of all language programs (45.5%) that mitigate somewhat the downward…

While there is considerable research on the first-year experience, much less has been written about the impact of assessment and feedback practices on that experience. This paper explores how formative assessment and feedback might be used to enhance the first-year experience and enable students to develop the skills needed for self-regulated…

Confirms the advantages of immersion in a foreign language in a study abroad context, but points out some of the problems that arise for individual students. Highlights the difficulties two students encountered in their stays with French families: they were uncomfortable with their hosts, barely spoke French, and were led to misinterpret French…

The structure and philosophy of a college bilingual program is described within the context of Ontario's bilingual education system, differentiating between university-level education intended to meet the needs of Franco-Ontarians and bilingual education intended to produce graduates equally at home in the language and culture of both official…

The principal essay, by James E. Harf, describes the state of the art and prescriptions for the future in undergraduate international studies. It points out that undergraduates at some prestigious research-oriented universities and at small, prestigious liberal arts colleges have exposure to international education, but that at the overwhelming…

The design, implementation, and evaluation of a British Columbia program to retrain French teachers in immersion instruction is described. The program's impetus was the need for pedagogically qualified and linguistically competent immersion teachers. (21 references) (Author/MSE)

A descriptive case study provides a comprehensive profile of 13 learning disabled students' experience after one full year in a French immersion learning difficulties program in Canada. (Author/VWL)

A study of French immersion teacher education programs at Simon Fraser University and Faculte Saint-Jean (University of Alberta) in Canada is reported. The in-depth case studies examined program clientele, models, participant experiences and needs, and planning, especially in relation to current research on teacher education. (Author/MSE)