As the demographics of the United States continue to shift, American classrooms reflect the richness of cultural diversity and the vibrancy of immigrant populations. Education abroad programs provide opportunities for preservice teachers to develop their cultural competence, required for effectively teaching children from a range of cultural…

Second Life is one of the many three-dimensional virtual environments accessible through a computer and a fast broadband connection. Thousands of participants connect to this platform to interact virtually with the world, join international communities of practice and, for some, role play groups. Unlike online role play games however, Second Life…

This paper explores the tensions that exist between the recognition of the importance of ethnicity and culture for individual and group identities without essentilisation, by reframing conceptualisations of multi- and interculturalism. Drawing from our ongoing ethnography conducted with a research community of Alaska Native PhD candidates involved…

Learners are increasingly accessing free online and open resources, tools, and spaces where they can develop their language skills beyond the classroom, alone, or in collaboration with others, and often whilst engaging in purposeful and enjoyable activities. Teachers need to find ways to explore and connect these activities productively with the…

Consider the oyster. Like all good metaphors, it has done some morphing since the days of Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor." Newer bands of shell material have repainted the mollusk metaphor, transforming it from ostracism, opportunism, and exploitation to openness, opportunity and exploration, and thus an apt symbol for the…

While there exists a considerable body of literature on task-based difficulty and second language (L2) fluency in English as a second language (ESL), there has been little investigation with French learners. This mixed methods study examines learner appraisals of task difficulty and their relationship to automated utterance fluency measures in…

While the research literature on second language (L2) fluency is replete with descriptions of fluency and its influence with regard to English as an additional language, little is known about what fluency features influence judgments of fluency in L2 French. This study reports the results of an investigation that analyzed the relationship between…

Crossing the Bridge to Swaziland presents the story of five pre-service teachers and their faculty mentors who traveled to St. Philip's Mission, Swaziland in January 2014. There they worked collaboratively with Swazi teachers and staff running a week long camp with a business basics and motivational theme, for teenaged orphans and vulnerable…

This study is situated in the fields of language education, study abroad (SA) and intercultural communication. The interest in SA is increasing on the part of students, administrators, educators, and business companies for the learning opportunities that it offers. However, SA students are not always prepared to maximize their learning…

Global awareness is discussed through the experiential learning of six teacher candidates and six teachers on a Fulbright-Hays study abroad program to Israel. The participants focused their learning on four key aspects of global education; multilingual communication -- to enhance a world view, historical layering -- to understand the peripheries…

We focus on cross-cultural team effectiveness for MBA students involved in an immersion program, examining the development of knowledge about cultural traits, the challenges associated with teamwork, and factors that promote or hinder team performance, based on qualitative results of a survey of 20 students who participated in the program. Key…

Pre-service teachers need to understand how to support ELLs in their future classrooms, yet evidence suggests that pre-service ELL training may not be as effective as we need it to be. One promising strategy for increasing pre-service teachers' efficacy and knowledge around teaching ELLs is through a shock-and-show simulation. This strategy…

Short-term international practicum experience is now a feature of many university education programs in Australia in an attempt to engage students with the growing multi-cultural aspects of Australian life. The stated purposes of such practicum experiences generally highlight intercultural learning, which is associated with the development of…

This paper examines and discusses the profiles of applicants and entrants to the DGO (Dioplóma Gairmiúil san Oideachas) initial teacher education programme between 2000 and 2011. The DGO is the only initial teacher education programme in Ireland that is specifically designated to prepare student teachers for the second-level Irish-medium (SLIM)…

This article discusses five college students' experiences in a simulated full-immersion, Arabic-speaking language village and the impact of that experience on learners' beliefs about the power of collaborative learning, the critical importance of cultural awareness, the efficacy of learning languages within a functioning community of practice, and…