The aim of this study is to investigate how L2 learners develop their ways of expressing compliments in L2 as a result of a virtual exchange. Although compliments play an important role in the discourse of second language (L2) classrooms studies exploring production of this speech act among L2 learners are limited. This study explores how 18…

Upon encountering unfamiliar words or observing local practices in study abroad contexts, second language learners may discuss aspects of the target language and culture with their peers -- 'non-native' friends from the same cultural background or 'natives' of the target culture. Such mediations are instrumental in elaborating understandings, but…

Anticipatory completions can be a potential place in which the second speaker expresses disagreement with the first speaker. 'Doing disagreement' is a significant feature of group work interaction, and resolving such disagreements can pose an interactional challenge for students in classroom contexts (Sharma 2012). Examining disagreement episodes…

Many English as a foreign language (EFL) learners worldwide spend hours playing commercial-off-the-shelf massively multiplayer online games. They engage in a multitude of different interactions with the game environment and possibly with other gamers, using English as the predominant medium of communication. This raises the question of whether…

This study of the learning of foreign languages in Spain between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries sets out to demonstrate the importance of situating research on any given era in a pan-European plurilingual context. A brief historiographical overview is followed by a discussion of language teaching materials and methods from a sociocultural…

This paper reports a case study focusing on naturalistic communication between a Chinese beginning non-native speaker of English (NNS) and an English native speaker (NS). The participants engage informally in a form of tandem learning, with each in turn taking the dominant role in the conversation through teaching the other vocabulary items in…

The objective of this study was to employ a new tool for assessing pragmatic "proficiency" (over "performance") in L2 students and to determine if pragmatic lessons on compliment sequences had a positive impact on L2 Spanish students' intercultural competence. To this end, students at a Midwestern college engaged in live video…

This article offers a critical perspective on Ofsted's (2021) "Curriculum Research Review for Languages" (OCRR). Whilst the OCRR contains much that we would agree with (including its underpinning principle of drawing on research evidence to inform policy and pedagogy), we are nevertheless concerned that it could result in unintended…

Due to its essential role in communication among diverse individuals and human communities, the cultivation of interculturality is among the foremost aims of educational domains. Short-term study abroad can be one way to help students develop interculturality. However, there is a lack of a clear picture regarding the multidimensional impact of…

This article reports on a small-scale qualitative case study where the purpose was to examine a group of Norwegian upper secondary students' reflections around own language-learning experiences when participating in three very short transnational "Erasmus"+ project mobilities. Data were collected through interviews, observations and…

In this article, I explore practical implications of the theories of language of M.M. Bakhtin within university second language writing classrooms. Specifically, I examine the presence of Bakhtinian intertextuality within online intercultural exchanges involving the use of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) technology. I describe a CMC exchange…

The article presents research findings on the professional growth of three in-service EFL teachers from Germany who took part in a teacher education programme centred on technology-mediated plurilingual education. The study investigated how the programme influenced the development of the teachers' pedagogical and digital skills in creating and…

The current article presents the outcomes of a preliminary quantitative study into stakeholder perspectives of the effects of CLIL on linguistic and intercultural competence development in the Canary Islands, Spain. The investigation has employed data triangulation (students, parents, and teachers, and, within the latter, non-linguistic area and…

This study reports on the evaluation of long-term impact of four intercultural citizenship projects undertaken in university foreign language classrooms. Curricular developments based on Byram's intercultural citizenship theory have demonstrated the immediate impact including the development of self and intercultural awareness, criticality, social…

The rise of English as an international language (EIL) has challenged the focus on native-speaker culture in second language teaching and learning. Exposing learners to a single culture is no longer considered sufficient as intercultural language teaching and understanding gains momentum. The aim of this study was to investigate the representation…