"Micro-contos," or micro-fiction, are very short and concise literary texts that require close-reading and inference from the reader. In this case study, I will describe how I have used these widely available texts in a Portuguese A2/B1 language module to develop analytical and other soft skills. I will demonstrate how this activity…

'Web-based and Interactive Italian' is a detailed and progressive programme developed by the author for the Maastricht University Language Centre. The course started in 2013, with the intention of catering for the variability in the number of students following the regular courses, as well as broadening the language offer using blended learning.…

This pilot study provides a preliminary account on students' attitudes toward using specialized corpora in English for specific purposes (ESP) classes. Learners (N=39) were introduced to the EcoLexicon corpus and trained to use its basic query tools. The rationale behind this activity was to introduce learners to contextualization patterns and…

As economies are inevitably becoming dominated by multinational and global companies, the need for Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) is growing accordingly. Language institutes in higher education are trying to tailor their curriculum to meet the expectations of such companies each with their specific technical vocabulary. While LSP courses are…

The importance of providing pre-service and in-service teachers with sufficient training and practice in integrating technology into their classrooms has led several studies to investigate the possible effects of pre-determined training and practice provided to teachers. However, most of these studies seem to have focussed on teachers' beliefs and…

Designing and sharing Open Educational Resources (OERs) requires teachers to develop new competences, in particular with digital resources. In this paper, the case of a language resource production group is introduced. Due to the centrality of the OERs in their collective activity, I show that the documents they produce are essential to the…

Successful social work is based on communication (Clark, 2000; Pierson & Thomas, 2000; Thompson, 2010), yet there is little consensus in the field as to what exactly constitutes proper communication (Richards, Ruch, & Trevithick, 2005; Trevithick et al., 2004) and where models of good communication might be found. It is therefore not…

In this case study we present innovative work in building open corpus-based language collections by focusing on a description of the opensource multilingual Flexible Language Acquisition (FLAX) language project, which is an ongoing example of open materials development practices for language teaching and learning. We present language-learning…

This volume gives readers insights on the use of technology in professional development programmes and content knowledge that can enrich teacher education. Every chapter of the book builds, through research, an analysis and discussion of CALL [Computer Assisted Language Learning] matters and professional development. The purpose of the EuroCALL…

With the growing popularity of digital technologies and computer-mediated communication (CMC), various types of interactive communication technology are being increasingly integrated into foreign/second language learning environments. Nevertheless, due to its nature, online communication is susceptible to misunderstandings and miscommunications,…

Teaching listening and speaking in English in China has been given top priority on the post-secondary level. This has lead to the question of how learners develop communicative language ability (CLA) effectively in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) environments. The authors demonstrate a self-developed language skill learning system with…