Given that societies across the globe are increasingly multicultural and multilingual, the notion of communicative competence grounded in constricting definitions of national cultures and languages reflects neither our instructional realities nor the sociolinguistic reality of the languages and cultures we teach. To foster students' development of…

With the wide adoption of the blended approach by language practitioners, blended language learning (BLL) has developed into a new area in applied linguistics. Much research has been conducted on pedagogical innovation, technological tools, users' perceptions and the creation of the BLL environment. Concerning the establishment of a BLL…

This needs analysis study sought to identify the contextual requirements to design and implement a blended learning program in English at a Colombian public university. Data on teachers' and administrators' perceptions were gathered through a questionnaire, interviews, and focus groups and analyzed using grounded theory. Findings revealed the need…

This study examines the perceptions of employers, university authorities, English teachers and students concerning needs to promote English achievement in a Mexican university. By drawing on data collected from focus groups and questionnaires, the evidence suggests that there are several needs which hinder the attainment of English objectives in…

World language classrooms in the United States have been significantly impacted by the physical and ideological disruptions experienced in recent history. Such disruptive times call for the reform of pedagogical practices to raise awareness of social justice issues and ignite real change both in and out of language classrooms. This essay outlines…

Although Turkey is not a member state of the European Union (EU), educational and curricular documents produced by the EU such like the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), the European Language Portfolio (the ELP) and the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL) have been examined by Turkish…

Japan is known to be a country that manicures its socio-cultural borders. In this article I will examine discourses regarding openness, closedness and cultural diversity in relation to policies and practices that draw heavily on mythologies of English language as an inroad to greater openness and diversity. To do this I will examine two English…

This study presents an insight into content and language integrated learning (CLIL) practices in the Australian state of Queensland. The article comprises four main sections. The first section outlines the context of CLIL in Australia and Queensland; there follows a brief review of the literature on stakeholders in CLIL programmes, such as…

One of the key recommendations of the Worton Review of Modern Foreign Languages provision in higher education in England (2009) is more effective collaboration between language centres and language departments. This paper presents a fully integrated model of such collaboration and develops recommendations for language centres and language…

This article reports the results of an investigation into current Spanish heritage language (SHL) course offerings and their content in 4-year public and private universities in the American Southwest. Prior research has indicated that the number of language departments in the United States offering SHL courses remains small (18 and 17.8%,…

The specific purpose of education is to "prepare" children so that they are able to maximise their potential and participate in the society or community around them. In order for many Third World nations to access information technology, the provision of language programs, particularly English, has become necessary. However, in the…

Examines the role of songs in Arabic as a foreign language university courses. It is argued that songs can be effectively used to impart knowledge of, as well as about, the target language in its standard and nonstandard forms and can help to place the target language in its cultural context. (10 references) (GLR)

In this article, I discuss how the administrators and local teachers in a Turkish university English language centre perceive others in the institution. I present interview data to illustrate processes of "Othering", whereby a group constructs a shared, Us-Them representation of another group. The data show that administrators and local…

A collection of papers concerning cultural studies within college and university second language programs, particularly for foreign students, includes program descriptions from a variety of countries and discussions of cultural education and cultural conflict. Themes include the nature of cultural teaching, cultural education as a discipline,…

Recently several persons involved with language study in the U.S.S.R. have publicly voiced concerns on the value of summer programs for American students there. The proliferation of these programs in the last ten years calls for a reexamination of what students who study in the Soviet Union are expected to achieve. By examining the expectations of…