This paper focuses on the impact of introducing a Group Dynamics Training Activity (GDTA) on learners' reported engagement during the course. The context is a university Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR) B2 French language online course over the course of two semesters. Data was collected in the form of online surveys…

There is no doubt that telecollaboration currently plays an important role in foreign language learning and, not less so, in the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Guth (2020) highlighted how telecollaboration has rapidly evolved in the past years as an innovative approach, and how it has brought together a whole community of academics…

The purpose of this chapter is to present peer group mediation as one of the assessment practices within Teletandem Brasil, a Virtual Exchange (VE) project which uses tandem practice between university students of different countries for foreign language learning, carried out through videoconferencing tools. Peer group mediation sessions are…

The year abroad is one of the most exciting yet challenging aspects of studying modern languages. In addition to the difficulties that all students face in transitioning to the year abroad, students of Arabic face the challenge of Arabic diglossia, given the existence of different written and spoken language varieties. To help with the transition…

Globalisation amplifies the need to improve Intercultural Communicative Competences (ICC). However, telecollaborative cross-cultural communication may be affected by different factors such as morals, values, and differences in viewpoints, as observed in numerous European and North American projects. Still, there is a dearth of experiments from the…

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the on-campus teaching mode at local universities in Iceland changed to distance teaching and synchronous classes online. This rapid and unexpected change also affected the learners. Although videoconferencing was used as the main point of reference, this method turned out to be less suitable for synchronous online…

Game-based learning is gaining popularity in language education. For the present study, three games were developed with a central focus on intercultural interaction to be played internationally in dyads or small groups using Video-Communication (VC) tools or a Virtual World (VW). The interactions were carried out in Spanish as a Lingua Franca (LF)…

Today's use of technology and media in daily life has altered the dominant role the written word has played in communication over centuries. Currently, educational settings take into consideration the combination of different modes of representation that exist in an array of everyday texts. "Developing knowledge about linguistic, visual and…

This study addresses interculturality and Intercultural Competence (IC) by connecting university students in Spain and Sri Lanka through the use of the Soqqle app, an education-based video app. The students were asked to create five videos independently using English as a lingua franca and upload each video to the app related to the assigned…

This paper reports on research that aimed to provide initial insight into how university students in two different countries, Japan and Ukraine, coped with greater use of videoconferencing software and whether this resulted in any issues surrounding their online privacy. To facilitate learning under the COVID-19 pandemic, instructors and learners…

Video is used widely in language education as a learning tool and a production tool for students to demonstrate oral competence. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Irish language lecturers at Dublin City University (DCU) set asynchronous video assessment tasks for students on teacher education programmes. Tasks were completed using the…

The globalised world in which we live demands multilingual and cross-culturally aware professionals. The role of intercultural awareness is now, more than ever, crucial in the language classroom in order to allow students to become competent and independent adults who will be highly employable beyond graduation. The recently published Companion…

This article provides evidence of critical factors of student retention in Language Massive Open Online Courses (LMOOCs). The study used multiple sources: tracked retention data (n=43,000), survey data in correlation with tracking data (n=400), and qualitative data (174 informants) from a survey (Friðriksdóttir, 2018, 2021a, 2021b). The data came…

This paper explores how a transnational approach to university language classes may help develop students' intercultural competence. Researchers have shown that the integration of literature in the language class has the potential to raise intercultural competence (Deardorff, 2006), especially when migrant and travel literatures are used (Matos,…

Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM) has become very trendy in the field of language learning; however, while there are many studies that include WhatsApp, used here to connect cultures and/or widen participation, very few articulate how students view it or its impact in acquiring and developing linguistic, cultural, and intercultural competencies. This…