This chapter examines a student-led internship project to repurpose a Residence Abroad (RA) reflective survey in order to achieve better meta-cognitive self-analysis and more productive communication between outgoing and returning students and staff. Evidence from the project and from scholarships pointed to the limitations of free-text reflective…

This paper explores the unique contribution of content modules towards the development of criticality (Barnett, 1997) and intercultural competence (Byram, 1997) in Modern Languages (ML). It draws upon the findings of a PhD study investigating the implications of the division between language and content, as experienced by German Studies students…

In the digital era, university instructors working in English for Technical Sciences (ETS) have opportunities, some might say obligations, to use audio-visual resources to motivate students. Such materials also call on cognitive and constructivist mechanisms thought to improve uptake of the target language (Tarnopolsky, 2012). This chapter reports…

The development of e-literacies and e-skills is of primary importance in gaining transferable aptitudes for the job market. Students in higher education need to take part in shared intercultural experiences which allow them to understand and cope with their peers in preparation for their futures. Furthermore, virtual exchange of information,…

In 2008 the Spanish Government announced the inclusion of an oral section in the foreign language exam of the National University Entrance Examination during the year 2012 (Royal Decree 1892/2008, of 14 November 2008, Ministerio de Educación, Gobierno de España, 2008). Still awaiting the implementation of these changes, and in an attempt to offer…

Second Life is one of the many three-dimensional virtual environments accessible through a computer and a fast broadband connection. Thousands of participants connect to this platform to interact virtually with the world, join international communities of practice and, for some, role play groups. Unlike online role play games however, Second Life…

In this article, we briefly offer the main characteristics of a hybrid design for Face-to-Face (FtF) and online German courses in the degree of Translation and Interpreting that combines the textbook with activities moderated with technology. We particularly focus on the activities designed for practicing oral production at level A2.2., where we…

This paper looks at how corpus data was used to design an Italian as an L2 language learning programme and how it was evaluated by students. The study focuses on the acquisition of Italian verb-noun collocations by Chinese native students attending a ten month long Italian language course before enrolling at an Italian university. It describes how…