Task-based language teaching and interaction are facilitative contexts for instructed second language acquisition and include abundant opportunities for learners to receive authentic input, engage in negotiation for meaning and pushed output, and to receive feedback and direct attention to linguistic features (Goo, 2019, p. 247). Individual…

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)…

Investigating task-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) interaction has increasingly received scholarly attention. However, studies have focused on negotiation of meaning and the quantity, focus and resolution of language related episodes (LREs). This study aims to broaden our understanding of the role of audio, video, and text…

The following research investigates the effect that unprescribed conversation with native speakers of the target language had on learners' L2 listening comprehension skills at the beginning (n=21) and advanced intermediate levels of Spanish (n=27). Treatment groups completed two-thirty-minute conversations with native speakers via…

The search for productive methods of learning foreign languages is urgent for increasing communication needs of society due to globalization. The aim of the research was to find, introduce into the educational process and test the productivity of interactive methods that can be used in the study of foreign languages and the development of basic…

English-medium instruction classes in higher education are increasing in countries where English is not the first language. Though these courses offer advantages, they also offer concerns and challenges. One of these challenges is creating a rapport between a teacher and students who are working in a language that is not their own. Rapport is…

Why learners return from study abroad (SA) with varying degrees of second language (L2) gains or differing attitudes towards the target language and culture remains an open question. This study employs theories of identity (Kinginger, 2013) and investment (Darvin & Norton, 2015; Norton Peirce, 1995) to examine the case of three learners of…

While growing numbers of university students study abroad in different European countries, little is known about the communicative practices facilitated by this exchange situation in an increasing globalised world. The present study aims to describe the language-related practices of 37 Erasmus students in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain. We used a…

This chapter explores the reasons why adult Spanish language students claimed to be hesitant to participate in the local Hispanic/Latino community in a recent study on 25 students enrolled in a 400/500-level Spanish class with a service-learning component at a Southeastern university. Data come from student reflection papers, written four times…

This case study examines how one study abroad student oriented to social interaction during a semester in Spain. Using an activity theoretical approach, the findings indicate that the student not only viewed social interaction with his Spanish host family and an expert-Spanish-speaking age peer as an opportunity for second language (L2) learning,…

This study explores the potential contribution of Eggins and Slade's (2004) Speech Functions as tools for describing learners' participation patterns in Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication (SCMC). Our analysis focuses on the relationship between learners' self-efficacy (i.e. personal judgments of second language performance capabilities)…

Symbolic competence (Kramsch, 2009, 2011) has been proposed as a crucial addition to world language learning, as it enables a language learner to negotiate the complex symbolism of words, expressions, and discursive events from the target culture in order to reference them effectively and in the appropriate contexts. However, fostering symbolic…

Using both quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry, this dissertation study undertakes an exploration of the dynamics of the social interaction in discourse co-constructed by pairs of college students in telecollaborative tandem exchanges. Two groups of participants, Mexican learners of English as a foreign language and American learners…

Despite myriad changes to language teaching methods over time, university-level classroom spaces have largely remained the same--until now. Recent innovations in classroom space design center on technological advances, include movable furniture and coffee-shop style rooms, and are believed to facilitate language learning in several ways.…

The authors describe the service-learning component of two intermediate Spanish-language courses and present the findings of a qualitative study that examined the nexus between language learning and cultural understanding. The service-learning component was designed to enrich the curriculum and enhance academic learning while providing significant…