In recent years, an increasing number of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) have enrolled in universities. The present exploratory study examined the frequency of use and appreciation of universal (open to every student) and specific services (offered to students with SLDs) and their relation to age, academic achievement,…

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted an abrupt adoption of online learning worldwide challenging students' scholastic engagement and their ability to self-regulate their learning. Under these unexpected conditions, adaptability (one's capacity to adjust thoughts, behaviors, and emotions in new and uncertain situations) might have sustained students to…

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between students' academic motivation, implicit beliefs about intelligence and learning strategies among undergraduate healthcare students. First-year students of healthcare degree courses from a university in Southern Italy were surveyed. The study measured psychological constructs by means…

The growing number of internationally mobile students who present Italian L2 language certificates on entry has led the University of Padua Language Centre (CLA) to reflect on whether it should maintain an online placement testing as a means of placing students in the relevant classes (Fratter, Ivana & Altinier. Micol 2015. Gli apprendenti di…

Autonomy and self-learning are ongoing challenges for universities generally, and for their language centres specifically when it comes to language learning and acquisition. The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia has always paid attention to both fostering autonomy in its learners and developing customized language learning activities. Among…

The article presents research findings on the professional growth of three in-service EFL teachers from Germany who took part in a teacher education programme centred on technology-mediated plurilingual education. The study investigated how the programme influenced the development of the teachers' pedagogical and digital skills in creating and…

With the advent of web 2.0 and the ease of use of many hand-held devices, access to the internet has never been easier. This has been accompanied by a growing range of sites available for learning an L2. These sites offer lessons, explanations, exercises, corrections and feedback. It now becomes time once again to question whether physical bricks…

With the growth of English as an International Language [McKay, S. 2002. "Teaching English as an International Language." Oxford: Oxford University Press], there is a wealth of it now accessible to learners in their out-of-class environments; be these real, virtual, or a mixture of the two. Tomlinson (2008. "EFL Materials in the…

In 2011 the Language Centre of the University of Parma introduced a self-study programme aimed at creating an autonomy-inspired language learning environment. Students are actively engaged in the management of their own learning and co-directed by advisors and teachers in the phases of planning, monitoring and assessment. Reflective diary writing…

The article describes a student-centered approach to generating meaningful learning outcomes in a short-term study abroad program. A practice named Intention/Reflection (I/R) was used to help students to identify, articulate, and reflect upon learning objectives that were personally meaningful, within the broader framework of the intended outcomes…

This article offers an overview of research strategies currently in use at the Language Centre of the University of Calabria and aimed at observing university students' learning habits when they are asked to use the European Language Portfolio during language courses. We present evidence of how experimental groups of students belonging to…

This study explores primary perceptions of and motivations to study abroad for adult and higher education learners. A large Hispanic-serving Southwestern university serves as the context of this study where undergraduate students and one graduate student were enrolled in an Italian urbanism study abroad program. The age of the participants ranged…

This article presents the findings of a field experiment in medical English with first-year medical students at the University of Pavia, Northern Italy. Working in groups of 8-10, the students were asked to produce a corpus of medical texts in English demonstrating how the human body is itself a meaningful text (Baldry and Thibault 2006: Ch. 1).…

The Language Centre at the University of Padova provides language courses for students of all disciplines and with a wide range of needs. Over the years, the number of students having to deal with a language requirement has increased exponentially, while the teaching personnel and general resources have struggled to keep up. Catering to all of the…

The European Language Portfolio (ELP) was designed as a tool that "supports reflective learning and fosters the development of learner autonomy" (Little 2009, "The European Language Portfolio: Where pedagogy and assessment meet". Strasbourg: Council of Europe.…