Drawing on a combination of prior experience, theoretical stance, and intuition, along with pedagogical practices identified to be effective in addressing diversity with teacher candidates, a model for teaching multicultural education to teacher candidates was designed. This study examined how particular elements of this model were effective in…

This paper discusses the recent rise in teacher recruitment problems in England and examines possible causes. These are varied, but a main cause appears to be the increased variety of programmes on offer, which, it appears, is confusing applicants. Three different programme's trainees were asked to complete questionnaires at the start of their…

Learning a language involves knowledge of both linguistic competence and cultural competence. Optimal development of linguistic competence and cultural competence, however, requires a high level of acculturation attitude toward the target language culture. To this end, the present study explored the acculturation attitudes of 70 Iranian…

This article analyses how university students in Hong Kong talk about "self" and "other". Three groups of students, Hong Kong Chinese, Mainland Chinese, and Overseas Exchange students, were asked to characterise these three groups in a pre-discussion questionnaire, and subsequently discuss freely what they had written. Selected…

The number of international students in China is increasing rapidly, but their experiences in China remain largely unknown. This article reports an intensive longitudinal multiple case study that explores eight American students' intercultural experiences and the impacts of such experiences on individual identity during their study in a Chinese…

This study involved 377 ERASMUS students from the University of Oviedo in an academic year. An ad-hoc questionnaire was applied in on-line format to determine students' perceptions and opinions and to understand the motivations that impel them to participate in these activities and their degree of satisfaction. The study analyzes the process of…

A pre-placement questionnaire was completed by a cohort of 30 students participating in the Erasmus exchange programmes from the University of Salamanca, placed in British universities, and by a group of 25 Nottingham Trent University students hosted by diverse Spanish universities. The questionnaire was then analysed with the aim of providing a…

Recently, the use of children's picture books to teach English has been increasing in Japan. An advantage of these books is the high proportion of basic vocabulary they include. Can picture books also be useful for teaching Japanese students Italian and increasing their motivation? The present study analyses the effectiveness of employing a…

Student teachers and staff from three universities in Turkey and from Leicester University, England took part in an exchange programme in Turkey and Britain in 2008-2009. Funding for this from the European Union (EU) and Turkey was in part related to Turkey's application for EU membership and currently contested discourses about the nature of…

As the communication between different cultures is becoming more and more frequent, the competence of cross-cultural awareness and collaboration is emerging as a key ability in the 21st century. Face to face communication is the most efficient way to cultivate the competence of cross-cultural awareness and collaboration. However, there are very…

This article presents the results from a mainly statistical and comparative analysis regarding the communicative competences and the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) of German exchange students. The data was extracted from two exhaustive, rigorous and methodical questionnaires related to communicative and ICT competences,…

This article reports on two small-scale international projects, both outcomes of a teaching staff exchange, which seek to exploit the potential afforded by new technologies to enrich L2 learning conditions and learners' experience of using the L2 (in this case English) as a lingua franca. Two undergraduate courses, one for professional and one for…

This article presents the long-term impacts of brief bilingual (English/French) exchanges as identified by past exchange participants through questionnaire and interview responses. The findings indicate that former exchange participants (a) have confidence in their language abilities, (b) continue to use their second language, (c) choose leisure…

An increasing number of European students are taking advantage of Erasmus mobility programs to study in a foreign country. This has brought to the forefront their special needs as L2 learners, which presents some unique challenges for EAP/ESP researchers and practitioners working in European universities. A case in point is represented by problems…

This article reports the findings of a small-scale investigation into the Internet user behaviour of generation Y (Gen Y) students, with particular reference to social networking sites. The study adds to the literature on cross-cultural Internet user behaviour with specific reference to Gen Y and social networking. It compares how a cohort of…