The rapid increase in English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education has resulted in the need for a greater evidence base documenting EMI in practice spanning a range of settings. Studies of EMI focusing on linguistic issues are beginning to emerge but there are few comparative studies looking at multiple sites, levels and stakeholders. In…

This article reports on a study involving first-year modern foreign languages students enrolled in German degree courses at two major universities in the United Kingdom. It explores the experience of these students from a motivational angle. A longitudinal mixed-methods approach was employed in order to address the time- and context-sensitive…

One of the main barriers to the reuse of Open Educational Resources (OER) is language (OLnet, 2009). OER may be available but in a language that users cannot access, so a preliminary step to reuse is their translation or localization. One of the obvious solutions to the vast effort required to translate OER is to crowd-source the translation, as…

This article addresses the need to develop new pedagogic approaches which promote learner independence in contexts where learning takes place through the medium of more than one language. The challenges of responding to a rapidly changing educational landscape to ensure that our learners become pluriliterate global citizens are presented through…

For many language learners, studying a foreign language is a compulsory, high-stakes activity. It is perhaps for this reason that positive feelings about language learning are rarely mentioned in the literature on language learning. The focus is predominantly on negative feelings: the anxiety caused by being asked to speak in the foreign language…

This article explores motivational changes of first-year students enrolled on German degree courses at two major UK universities. It reports on the qualitative data obtained by a longitudinal mixed-methods study, and focuses on the interplay between students' motivation and the higher education learning environment. In particular, the article aims…

Autonomy in language learning does not simply equate with independence, as language learning is a social activity that requires interaction with others. This also applies just as much to distance language learners, who need to reconcile independent language learning and interdependence with others. This article draws on findings from 43 mid-course…

Background and purpose: Many holistic anti-bullying interventions have been attempted, with mixed success, while little work has been done to promote a "self-help" approach to victimisation. The rise of the ICT curriculum and computer support in schools now allows for approaches that benefit from technology to be implemented. This study…

What drives students to study German at university level? Although motivational research has been booming in recent years, students' motivation to pursue a modern foreign language beyond school level has not received much attention in the UK. This article sheds light on the various reasons that drive students in the UK to pursue a modern foreign…

Learners' pronunciation errors when reading aloud in the L2 often suggest an inability to use the language's sound-symbol relationships, or grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs). UK teaching methodology has failed to provide systematic instruction in L2 phonological decoding, and there is an absence of research on the effectiveness of teaching…

Describes the results of a survey of British pupils' awareness of and attitudes toward aspects of German life and culture. The article examines students' knowledge of basic geographical and political information about Germany and determines the extent of stereotypical views of Germany held by students in this age group (14-15 years). (16…

The present study explores the development patterns of three modern foreign language student teachers' conceptions of self (conceptions of their classroom performance, conceptions of their relationship with pupils, conceptions of their self-image in pupils' eyes and conceptions of teacher identity) during a nine-month programme leading to a…

In order to respond to learners' need for more flexible speaking opportunities and to overcome the geographical challenge of students spread over the United Kingdom and continental Western Europe, the Open University recently introduced Internet-based, real-time audio conferencing, thus making a groundbreaking move in the distance learning and…