Cross-cultural research covering multiple languages and cultures involves negotiating conceptual and linguistic challenges. This paper focuses on how researchers working across cultural and linguistic boundaries navigate the research process and negotiate a common understanding of the constructs under study. Working towards intersubjectivity…

With the increasing prominence of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in higher education, the number of programmes and studies integrating online peer interaction opportunities on social media, likewise, has surged. Nevertheless, little quantitative research has been performed on the ways in which learners interact with one another via these…

Discussions about social justice imply discussions about higher education. After all, a whole set of literature has illustrated how ethnic minority students face all types of difficulties to become successful at college level. In line with this literature, the present research offers a case study of one Flemish University nested in a growing…

This paper investigates the role of supplementary schools as grassroots educational initiatives whose reach extend beyond individual educational trajectories for minoritized youth. We examine how these schools serve as community forces, emphasizing the importance of resources and relationships. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of funds of…

Language law in Belgium is based on two concepts. The territoriality principle entails that official language use varies from one linguistic region to another. The constitutional freedom of language is an essential complement to territoriality and grants residents the right to use the language of their choice. In the monolingual regions of the…

Departing from the dominant trend of favoring flexibility, flattened relations, and deterritorialization in featuring the transnational, this autoethnographic inquiry theorizes and exemplifies how the gravity of place may give rise to the evolvement of scholarship in the context of transnational mobility. I examine my own career trajectory to…

This chapter examines practical issues regarding Virtual Exchanges (VEs) for educational purposes in the university context and covers language use, cultural differences, time management, teacher collaboration, technology-related issues, assessment, and context specific factors. It charts the establishment of three academic collaborations between…

A decade ago, Klapper (2003: "Taking communication to task? A critical review of recent trends in language teaching", "The Language Learning Journal" 27: 33-42) created the opportunity to reflect on the assets and limitations of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in comparison with more established communicative language…

This study examines the effect of second language experience on the acquisition of the English vowel contrast /epsilon/-/ae/ by native speakers of Dutch. It reports on the results of production and perception tasks performed by three groups of native Dutch learners of English in Belgium, differing in experience with English, as measured through…

In this article, the authors describe changes in preservice teachers' perceptions of and attitudes regarding diversity following a semester-long study abroad experience. Phenomenological methods were used to analyze data collected from five male preservice teachers during a study abroad to Brussels, Belgium in the Fall of 2010. Changes in…

Few classroom behavioral interventions have been thoroughly studied using culturally and linguistically diverse populations, international student populations, or those from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Yet, having such tools for school psychologists and teachers is critical for behavior management in the classroom. One important exception…

A growing body of empirical studies indicates the educational benefits of bilingualism. Despite this tendency, bilingual minority students are being pressured by school authorities to shed their mother tongues. We conducted qualitative interviews with Turkish-bilingual and native-monolingual students in Flemish (Belgium) secondary schools to…

Experimental evidence suggests that pictorial elucidation helps learners comprehend and remember the meaning of second language (L2) idioms. In this article we address the question whether it also helps retention of the form of idioms, i.e. their precise lexical composition. In a small-scale experiment, the meaning of English idioms was clarified…

This study investigated three techniques designed to increase the chances that second language (L2) readers look up and learn unfamiliar words during and after reading an L2 text. Participants in the study, 137 college students in Belgium (L1 = Dutch, L2 = German), were randomly assigned to one of four conditions, forming combinations of two…

A number of experimental studies have demonstrated the incidental acquisition of a foreign language by children and adolescents when watching foreign language television. While such experiments can only establish short-term effects, this article investigates the extent to which children's foreign language skills benefit from their long-term…