With postcards, addressing culture in the L2 classroom follows an "if-these-walls-could-talk" design by telling the story of what "those walls" might say. A postcards approach is shown to enrich our students' cultural understanding. In many cases, it enhances their desire to experience the target culture on their own. Postcards…

One of the underrepresented aspects of pragmatic competence development is perceiving and responding to impoliteness acts. The present study reports on a quantitative and qualitative investigation of two international English language teaching (ELT) textbook series published by Oxford and Cambridge University Press; it focuses on the books highly…

Reconsideration of culture pedagogy, in terms of what culture refers to and whose culture dominates English language teaching is a prevalent issue in language teaching. Therefore, in this study, we conducted one-on-one interviews with 17 in-service teachers of English language at three private K-12 schools in a northwestern city of Turkey to…

This study investigates to what extent a language learners-as-ethnographers (LAE) approach utilizing social media helped English language learners (ELLs) become fuller participants in a face-to-face target language community. The pedagogical design of this LAE project was based on bridging activities and legitimate peripheral participation in…

This study seeks to understand opportunities for teaching and learning the target culture for intercultural awareness. Utilizing Moran's "Knowing Framework" (2001) and its five cultural dimensions, and reviewing curriculum documents and the English textbook in use for Grade Six in Kosovo, the study finds a misalignment among curriculum…

Language is connected to a people, culture, history, and communicative purpose. One way world language teachers help students explore the intersections of culture and language is through the use of authentic texts, such as films, newspapers, podcasts, videos, music or short stories (see: Pinzon, 2020). While the research points to the success of…

This article reports on a study carried out in a foreign language course at a private Colombian university. Its purpose was to identify the role of authentic materials and tasks, based on cultural topics, in the development of intercultural competence in third-level English students. The pedagogical implementation of the activities was designed…

Ofsted's (2021) Curriculum research review for languages (OCRR) draws conclusion on what 'high-quality language education' may look like. This opinion piece problematises the status of these conclusions as 'features' or recommendations. Before delving into a selection of identified 'features' in more depth, the author highlights the complexity of…

In this opinion piece we problematise foreign language (FL) learning curricula which are rigidly based on carefully sequenced input and constrained learning opportunities. Whilst an important component in language learning, language knowledge constitutes more than phonics vocabulary and grammar. Our stance is premised on the understanding that,…

In line with the 2021 CALICO Conference theme "Global realities," we presented a plenary on how immersive virtual reality (IVR) could be used for second language learning by allowing learners to virtually travel around the globe via headset. The main affordances of virtual reality (VR) technology include immersing learners in an…

This descriptive study presents the first research cycle with four synchronous telecollaborative language learning sessions on Zoom between Irish and Chinese teenagers. Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) post-questionnaire results show that the mean of interaction enjoyment scale is the highest compared to the other four categories, which…

Foreign language teaching is a very challenging process and the materials chosen for teaching have of vital importance. In this sense, English teachers' need for alternative materials to textbooks has been increasing day by day but deciding on the right material to use is a demanding job. Teachers are in a continous search for alternative…

Multimodal approaches to second-language learning can boost language proficiency (Ajayi, 2009) by providing foreign-language learners with greater exposure to the target language's culture, enabling multiple-literacy competencies in the target language, and appealing to students' learning preferences. This article aims to present a…

We describe the integration of telecollaborative language coaching sessions into an online Spanish program as the unifying thread for asynchronous learning and reflection activities. In survey responses, students reported improved language skills and cultural knowledge, and the ability to apply linguistic skills to "real-life" situations…

This research attempted to investigate the effect that teaching English language culture has on Algerian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners' sociocultural competence. It also aimed at showing that having no exposure to English language culture alongside learning the English language itself will affect learners' understanding and…