This paper shows how Task-Based Learning (TBL) is used to equip second-year Spanish students at Cardiff University for their placements during their year abroad. We present a set of task-based projects embedded within the curriculum to enhance both (1) the competences students have to acquire throughout their degree, and (2) the skills to overcome…

This study examines the relationship between English language proficiency outcomes and the use of a Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) tool that is designed to strengthen the academic English and oral proficiency skills of young English Learners (ELs). We compare scores on a standardized English language proficiency assessment for 2,034…

This small-scale study draws on a higher education context where French-speaking students, "in situ" at Bordeaux University, participated in the Sharing Perspectives Foundation's flagship "Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange" (E+VE) program (2018-2019). French-speaking students interacted in English on the topic of "Newcomers and…

This study explores the pedagogical use of "Astronautes Français Langue Seconde (Astronautes FLS)", a cooperative digital game, in second/foreign language (L2) French teaching. It has two goals: (1) to introduce "Astronautes FLS" and its conceptualization, and (2) to report the results of a feasibility study in which we…

"Micro-contos," or micro-fiction, are very short and concise literary texts that require close-reading and inference from the reader. In this case study, I will describe how I have used these widely available texts in a Portuguese A2/B1 language module to develop analytical and other soft skills. I will demonstrate how this activity…

In an ever-evolving competitive world, learning a Foreign Language (FL) has become essential. To enhance learners' learning proficiency, learners should be encouraged to build the necessary competence for learning an FL, and this could be done by enhancing the employment of Language Learning Strategies (LLSs), as LLSs constitute an essential…

When using Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) on university modules, international students unfamiliar with such platforms face navigational as well as linguistic barriers. Short, intensive language courses may not spend time on VLE orientation and rationale, with the result that students do not receive clear guidance on exactly how to move…

The present case study investigated the potential of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages: learning, teaching, assessment can-do descriptors for mediation in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)-based context. Fabricating descriptors for mediation was cardinal for the Council…

Most of the more serious mistakes we make in our second or third languages are not linked to grammar, but to pragmatics (Félix-Brasdefer, 2008; Kasper & Rose, 1999; Olshtain & Blum-Kulka, 1985; Rose & Kasper, 2001). While language textbooks are often focused on grammar content distributed throughout a communicative syllabus (Lázaro…

This case study describes two iterations of a cross-disciplinary Virtual Exchange (VE) project developed between the Universities of Bordeaux (France) and León (Spain), involving students of Applied Physics and Measurement Engineering (APME), and Electrical Engineering. The students worked together on designing a real garden in Bordeaux within…

Interacting with peers can be difficult for some students, due to their personality as well as to their learning styles. This paper shows how the Task-Based Approach (TBA) can be implemented and how digital resources can be used in language teaching and learning to enhance the students' experience and foster autonomy. To do so, I describe tasks I…

The first module of the online Master of Arts (MA) in Translation at the Open University, Introduction to Translation Theory and Practice, includes a language development strand which encourages students to diagnose their own language development needs and introduces them to tools, resources, strategies, and learning communities that will enable…

Language learning in tandem exchanges offers students a wealth of learning opportunities that are characterised by reciprocal and autonomous learning and foster authentic communication (Brammerts, 2001). Increasingly, these encounters take place online and, in this context, the EU-funded European University Tandem (EUniTa) project developed an…

The aim of this Virtual Exchange (VE) project was to bring together students from the Andrássy Gyula German speaking university (AUB) in Budapest, Hungary, and Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu (LBUS), Romania, in order for them to get to know their neighbors and reflect on the way the end of WWI is remembered 100 years later. In this case study,…

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the appropriateness of open-access reading materials for an intensive English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course, and to provide teachers with a set of criteria to select online texts systematically and efficiently. The Corpus for Veterinarians (VetCorpus) was compiled and analyzed using Lextutor corpus…