In this article a closer look will be taken on motivation, expectation, and present situation of third year undergraduate students of German studies in Croatia at the University of Rijeka. Due to the author's extensive experience in teaching translation classes from Croatian to German for undergraduate students in the third year, it is noticeable…

Out-of-class exposure to and use of the target language mediated by technological resources are essential to language learning, as foreign language learners very often encounter difficulty in accessing and processing target language in the immediate physical environments. Understanding how foreign language learners' out-of-class self-directed…

In this paper the results of an online survey (n=210) regarding the usefulness of Facebook for informal L2 learning will be presented. Participants were individual Facebook users who study either German (n=118) or Japanese (n=92). By using a combination of open and closed questions, the mostly quantitative findings of the survey indicate that for…

Coventry University Institution Wide Language Programme (IWLP) offers beginners language learning modules to approximately 3,000 students. Each module is taught over 11 weeks for a total of one hour and 40 minutes and two of the weeks are used for in class tests, so tutors generally agree that students need to practise their skills outside the…

Watching foreign language programmes and films with captions (same-language subtitles intended for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) has been shown to assist learners in phonetic retuning, vocabulary acquisition and listening comprehension [e.g. Mitterer and McQueen, 2009. Foreign subtitles help but native-language subtitles harm foreign speech…

Teaching and learning a foreign language at a distance implies many challenges, namely regarding oral skills. At Universidade Aberta (the Portuguese Open University), and taking into account its virtual pedagogical model (Pereira, 2007) and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Alves, 2001), we suggest curricular paths which…

Constituting a more specific form of online collaboration, eTandem Language Learning (eTLL) shows great potential for non-formal, self-directed language learning. Research in this field, particularly regarding task design, is still scarce. Focusing on their beliefs and attitudes, this article examines what learners think about how…

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) constitute an integral part of the teaching and learning environment in present-day educational institutions and play an increasingly important role in the modern second language classroom. In this study, an online language learning tool "Tell Me More" (TMM) has been introduced as a…

This edited volume brings together large-scale research as well as case studies from a range of geographical contexts and represents a variety of educational settings involving second language learners and users. Its aim is to explore the interrelated issues of psychology and technology use in second language learning settings as well as in more…

The aim of our study is to explore several possibilities to use virtual worlds (VWs) and game-applications with learners of the A1 level (CEFR) of German as a foreign language. Our interest focuses especially on designing those learning tools which increase firstly, learner motivation towards online-learning and secondly, enhance autonomous…

This article reports on a collaborative research project which involved first-year distance learners of Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish at a New Zealand university. Drawing on the principles of Allwright's exploratory practice, the study aimed to gain an insight into the learners' experiences and conceptualisations in terms of their…

This three-month project utilized commercially prepared programed materials in French, German, and Spanish instruction for eighth graders selected for high language aptitude and above average ability. Interviews with participating students made after the completion of the project are the basis of the project evaluation which includes…

An experiment in inservice training for language teachers is described. The experiment consists of using radio, television, written materials, or tapes to introduce topics in applied linguistics that are relevant to second language teaching methods. The object of the experiment is to determine whether this method, in which the instructor and the…

Objectives of a model program (1980-83) for gifted students in a small rural high school in Baldwyn, Mississippi, were to improve teacher knowledge of gifted programs, demonstrate significant gains in student achievement, increase student skill/knowledge in specific areas, measure attitudes of "artistically talented" students by a…