Collaboration among students in the course of learning plays an important role in developing communication skills. In particular, it helps for team building and brainstorming on solutions of complex problems. While an effective group organization is critical for the success of such collaborative learning, many instructors would make arbitrary…

This article aimed to identify the usefulness of using social networking sites (SNSs) in an English as a foreign language class. One hundred sixteen undergraduate students of diverse degrees from a polytechnic state-owned university in Ecuador participated in the study, which followed a quantitative design. A descriptive analysis and a linear…

This article presents an innovative, gameful, multimodal, and authentic learning environment for training of oral communication in a foreign language--a virtual adventure called Berlin Kompass. After a brief presentation of the pedagogical and technological backgrounds, the system is described. Central results of a series of pilots in autumn 2013…

Developing an intercultural competence, where language is seen as a cultural construct, seems to be consensually advocated by contemporary theories in teaching and learning English as a foreign language. Given its grounding on cultural studies, intercultural education focuses its pedagogical orientation and strategies on popular cultures that are…