This practice article examines the design, implementation and impacts of a collaborative German language learning (LL) field trip in the United States through the conceptual framework of LL and teaching beyond the classroom. We explore the affordances of semi-structured out-of-class experiences in supporting world language students' target…

This chapter is a reflective account of the author's experience as a teacher of English at the University of Pavia during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. It considers the design and delivery of an English for architecture and construction engineering course as well as the assessment stage of a text analysis course. It proceeds by…

The author reflects on how she has used technology as a language teacher since the mid-1980s. She describes the evolution of technology in language learning pre- and Internet tools, from "blended learning" to social media. She concludes with the telecollaboration projects she has been recently working on and the issues they have found…

This paper describes successful strategies based on research and practical applications used in the Greater Clark School Corporation in bringing many languages and cultures together. The most reasonable and correct course of action for teachers to take is to include the students in all class activities that will be enhanced by cooperative…

Ideas that resulted from reading Jean LeLoup and Robert Ponterio's tele-collaborative projects, Monsters.com, are discussed. (Author/VWL)

Highlights Kagan Structures, easy-to-learn, easy-to-use cooperative learning instructional strategies that promote second language learning. In classrooms where these strategies are used, students for whom English is a second language learn both English and academic content far more quickly and thoroughly than when traditional strategies are used.…

Through the process of critical thinking and in a collaborative learning environment, foreign language instruction can be more than a required skill; it is an integral part of a liberal education. Critical thinking is part of the basic process of learning, not a higher order of thinking to be saved for advanced courses. Students thinking in…

Discusses the cultural and language diversity of young adolescents. Outlines 10 steps to foster a multicultural (or macro cultural) perspective in all students at the middle school level, strategies that build on students' diversity to create a positive and cooperative learning environment. Describes a cooperative activity that promotes…

Presents an interview with Costas Markou, the Chief Education Officer for the Ministry of Education in Cyprus, about cooperative education, focusing on his personal history as a learner, teacher trainer, inspector, and administrator. (Author/SM)

Argues that there are potential benefits in incorporating computer-based text analyses into methods for researching talk and educational activity in classrooms. Discusses the strengths and weaknesses of some existing approaches to the study of talk and collaborative activity and suggests ways that computer-based analysis of transcribed talk can…

Discusses alternative assessment in the language classroom, provides examples of seven cooperative assessment activities: correcting individual quizzes and homework, observing students at work, interviews, peer composition, oral presentations, group projects, and group processing. (Author/VWL)

Using sociocultural theory as a conceptual framework, this study examined selected features of student discourse of three pairs of third-semester learners of Spanish at the university level. Specifically the study investigated how these selected features, identified in an earlier research project, developed during opportunities to engage in five…

Suggests that classroom activities that emphasize interaction help students to use language. Interaction allows students to practice being effective speakers by developing two needed sets of skills: managing an interaction and negotiating meaning. Provides examples of problem solving activities for use in the language classroom. (Author/VWL)

Preserving a literary-based curriculum, creating a sensitivity to the literature, and encouraging communicative skills relative to the literature are significant goals in foreign language study. Therefore, a program involving strategic interaction and cooperative learning techniques applied to the study of literature fosters communication and…

Promotes student-as-teacher strategies in general, while extending their definition to include the peer teaching arrangement usually referred to as "group study." Cloze passages and rehearsed dictee are examined as well as the theoretical suggestion that these exercises are especially apt to encourage a variety of learning styles. (six references)…