As the objective of language teaching is shifting from producing so-called "native-like" speakers to fostering speakers competent in intercultural communication, it has become necessary to identify the kinds of learning resources that may be related to the learner's development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in today's…

The place of grammar instruction in second or foreign language (L2) pedagogy has always been highly controversial and although there is currently consensus that such pedagogic intervention is beneficial, numerous questions remain as to how it should most propitiously be conducted. Different theoretical perspectives have resulted in a wide array of…

This study investigated the following research question: What is the landscape of medical Spanish offerings in undergraduate, 4-year universities in US states with large Spanish-speaking populations? Forty-four percent of institutions responded to the survey, which explored institutional characteristics, medical Spanish programs and individual…

Globalization and internationalization have created a need for dialog among people of different persuasions in our own societies and beyond. Language teachers can meet this challenge through the concepts of intercultural citizenship and intercultural service learning, renewing emphasis on educational and humanistic aims as well as instrumental.…

This manuscript contributes to the existing body of literature on intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in the context of computer-mediated communication by examining how fourth-semester learners of Spanish (n = 18) display and develop ICC over the course of a semester. Novel to this study are: (1) the use of service-provider virtual…

Garfield is an exceptional language learner and US polyglot. This oral history project explores his trajectory from a childhood coma to knowing 15 languages. It examines his investment in his second language acquisition (SLA), a concept comprising identity, ideology, and capital (Darvin & Norton, 2015). Qualitative content analyses of 10 h of…

According to the functional model proposed by Sampasivam and Clément in 2014, the two determinants that build towards second language confidence (L2C) are "richness and self-involvement" of the contact experience. This study adds to previous research by investigating, for the first time, the role of interlocutor type in the context of…

A great deal of research has recognized the necessity of receiving proper predeparture training for being able to truly benefit from international internship experiences. However, few researchers have taken the next step by exploring how domestic programs could pedagogically and psychologically prepare students for their professional experiences…

This article introduces an empirical study of "Connected Learning" in a Japanese EFL classroom context, instantiated through the Bridging Activities pedagogical framework. Students considered their interests, made groups, and joined Reddit communities. Self-selected texts were then analyzed with rigorous teacher mediation. Students…

This article addresses a key pedagogical issue of our time: the widespread yet generally unwelcome presence of machine translation (MT) in the language classroom. Studies have repeatedly shown that L2 students consult the most widely used translation tool, Google Translate (GT), in spite of the fact that its use is frowned upon by second language…

This article evaluates the use of audio-recorded conversations and reflections for assisting study abroad participants in critically analyzing conversational interactions. The participants recorded a series of conversations with native speakers of Japanese using digital audio recorders, and, subsequently, analyzed the recordings in a journal and a…

Many scholars have highlighted the great variability of second language acquisition outcomes and, thus, the inconsistencies and inconclusiveness in the study abroad literature. These have called for longitudinal, case-based research that focuses on the students' processes (rather than outcomes) and that showcases the heterogeneity of…

The 21st century has seen a strong upward trajectory in empirical research on the multiple benefits that foreign language/world language learning and bilingualism can afford to both individuals and society. This analysis of research published from 2012-2019 extends Fox et al.'s analysis of research published from 2005 to 2011 (Part I). The 100…

In the context of learning a second language, the passing on of cultural information as a means to further the development of intercultural competences is primarily viewed as being unidirectional--the "native-speaking culture" passing on information to the language learning student. However, in EFL (English as a foreign language)…

Language teaching has long been associated with teaching in a country or countries where a target language is spoken, but this approach is inadequate. In the contemporary world, language teaching has a responsibility to prepare learners for interaction with people of other cultural backgrounds, teaching them skills and attitudes as well as…