This article describes a project for a university course on teaching language and literacy through a translanguaging lens. Through this project, preservice teachers (PSTs) were invited to design a "Virtual Classroom Tour" for a new multilingual learner (ML). The resulting multilingual, multimodal classroom tours became reflections of…

The use of virtual learning communities has shown great potential for language education. Research suggests that video-conferencing technology can assist teachers in creating such communities for second-language teaching. Gather.Town is a gamified, video-conferencing platform that revolutionizes the traditional static video-conferencing experience…

Virtual reality (VR) has garnered increasing attention as a pedagogical tool for language learning. Yet, despite the many affordances of using virtual reality learning environments (VRLEs), there remains a paucity of research investigating the use of VRLEs for English for academic purposes (EAP). While BALEAP '19 conference presentations related…

With the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing popularity of videoconferencing software such as Zoom, the move to online and /or hybrid teaching has never been more rapid. With this change, however, maintaining presence in the classroom has become a great challenge simply because of the nature of online teaching. Presence is a teaching…

Exeter students who had their 2019-2020 Year Abroad (YA) cut short by the COVID-19 health crisis were offered alternative online language provision to support their learning. This contribution discusses the students and staff's experience in the light of 'learning is a journey' metaphor. [For the complete volume, "Languages at Work, Competent…

The COVID-19 pandemic required that people make rapid changes in their lifestyles. Since the beginning of the pandemic, it was necessary for teachers and learners to adapt teaching and learning practices to a remote mode. Following this, our study seeks to contribute to the field of English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching and learning by…

This article describes an innovative workplace English initiative that aims to improve access to English language instruction for immigrant workers. Developed by the National Immigration Forum, Skills and Opportunity for the New American Workforce (SONAW) is a first-of-its-kind, blended training program comprising 40% face-to-face instruction and…

During Covid-19, educators have been forced to quickly and creatively rethink teaching practices and the education of future generations. Community is a key consideration in reconceptualizing how the traditional classroom might function successfully in an online space. How does the virtual community of language learners interact with each other…

While the impacts of COVID-19 on education are yet to be fully realised, the equity implications of pivoting to remote learning are already clear. The decision to close schools exposed significant vulnerabilities in the education system (particularly in the public school system), with equity cohorts particularly disadvantaged (Wilson & Mude,…

This chapter presents how I integrated Virtual Exchange (VE) programmes delivered by Soliya in two courses at an international undergraduate liberal arts and sciences college. In both cases the VE programme was fully integrated in the courses as a graded element. The students of beginner Italian participated in the four-week long Connect Express.…

The underlying methodological approach of the CEFR is defined as being "action-oriented" and task-based (Council of Europe. 2001. "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment." Cambridge University Press: 9), although it explicitly leaves room for a variety of approaches, since the CEFR…

The internationalisation of the Portuguese language has become a priority for academic institutions of different Portuguese-speaking countries which are trying to adapt to the current context of globalisation and ubiquitous communications through digital media. In order to achieve it, several challenges should be faced, namely providing…

In rural Kansas, five high school students take seats in their school's distance learning classroom for a Mandarin language class they share with students at four other schools around the state. In Atlanta, an entire class of kindergartners sits in front of a big screen, speaking to their teacher in China. The students laugh, raise their hands,…

This article is a report of the steps followed in the pedagogical intervention of project work developed with a group of students involved in a virtual program at a public Colombian University. It is part of a wider investigation in which the purpose was to explore and describe the roles of teachers, students and discussion boards while…

The development of both the materials for an intermediate-level hybrid German writing course and the software in a virtual learning environment for the course may be viewed as activity systems. Viewing the individual components of each system as interrelated enables us to conceptualize the complexities of the development process, which goes well…