The present chapter focuses on the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the higher education sector, presenting the case of the Arabic for Non-Native Speakers Center (ANNS) at Qatar University. It evaluates what actions the center has undertaken to pledge its integrity to the cause of higher education throughout the pandemic and considers…

This case study describes the development of a free-to-use online platform for storing, sharing, and accessing 360-degree Virtual Reality (VR) videos. Although in the past VR was mostly used for gaming purposes, in recent years it has become increasingly popular in numerous areas, including education. In the field of language learning, little is…

When Harvard University moved all instruction into an online modality in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Language Center positioned itself as a critical source of guidance on best practices in this new environment. For Harvard, an institution that has always prioritized face-to-face instruction above all other formats, 2020 has been a…

This qualitative study provides baseline data on young learner attitudes towards the use of technology in primary schools. Through individual interviews, the students highlighted the importance of its application and acknowledged its potential in the education process. The benefits that they put forward are grouped into four categories:…

When using Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) on university modules, international students unfamiliar with such platforms face navigational as well as linguistic barriers. Short, intensive language courses may not spend time on VLE orientation and rationale, with the result that students do not receive clear guidance on exactly how to move…

When COVID-19 emerged, it meant many changes as to health specific measures for prevention as well as social, political, and educational considerations to cope with a completely new situation which necessitated very quick responses. In this sense, this worldwide pandemic implied challenges in terms of decision-making at the highest level, the key…

Virtual Reality (VR) offers language learners a valuable environment for practicing language skills and other aspects essential for language development, interaction, and negotiation of meaning. For example, speaking practice in VR using avatars can reduce speaking anxiety and increase users' sense of agency. Social spaces in VR present…

The study presented in this paper explores the impact that a geographically situated digital storytelling project has on community awareness and engagement. A mixed method, exploratory case study approach was adopted for this study. Data was collected during in-class and fieldwork observations, with self-assessment surveys, open-ended…

The present study explored whether the use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology can help lower public speaking anxiety in the L2. To this end, we conducted an exploratory effect-of-instruction study using a one-group pre-test/post-test design with nine learners of English as an L2. The results from the post-test show that using VR in combination…

This study explores the nature of collaboration between language students and technology developers while designing an application for language teaching. This project was part of a university course on language learning and teaching in technology-rich environments. An important aspect of the course was to help the university students to explore…

The benefits of peer interaction, support, and feedback in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for Languages (LMOOCs) are well documented, but there has been little research on peer correction in MOOCs. Classroom-based research suggests that peer corrective feedback has significant potential for language development, but it also identifies a…

This chapter describes the my experience as the instructor for a course rooted in community based learning theory that was forced to move online in spring, 2020, due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The course, titled 'CASA Without Borders', allows Arabic language students in the Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) program at The American…

This study reports on the development of "Parlure Games" and explores its pedagogical affordances. "Parlure Games" is a multi-dialectal listening and decolonial conversation tool created to address the absence of variable speech (including speech markers associated with native speaker status, regional dialect, age, and race)…

The purpose of this study was to explore students' perceptions of individual and collective Digital Storytelling (DS). All participants were non-English major students in Japan. The study goal of the course was to acquire skills and knowledge to present ideas and messages effectively in English with the use of information communications and…

Online crowdsourcing sites/platforms have become popular in recent years. This study aims to uncover when, where, and how language learners in Turkey (TUR), Poland (POL), Macedonia (MAC), and Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) make use of the available crowdsourcing websites/games to learn foreign languages. To ensure parallelism among the data…