The purpose of this article is to describe an internationalization project that was developed at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Florida to provide faculty across the disciplines with assignments they can use to foster the development of their students' global competency. After describing the project and the series of…

Changing public demands and decreasing enrollment numbers have challenged the traditional concept of teaching languages, cultures, and literatures in the U.S. Although nationwide enrollment numbers in German programs have been declining, "global" German Studies programs such as the ones at the University of Connecticut and the University…

A general direction in higher education has been to move away from lecture-based instruction toward more active and student-centered learning. Even though much research has been done regarding digitalization in instructional contexts, there is not much research on applying a flipped classroom (FC) approach to teaching cross-cultural communication…

This study investigates the effects of using open social VR for university English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' intercultural communication learning. The project involved two stages: (1) carefully designed activities for students to practice different language-learning tasks with their peers; (2) implemented in an open social VR…

The study proposed an optimal cooperative learning grouping technique to facilitate medical university students' English learning process, considering their complementary competencies. A quasi-experimental design was adopted to evaluate the feasibility of using the grouping technique. TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) pretest…

To understand how K-12 students in the USA are impacted by their interactions with international teachers (ie teachers visiting the USA from other countries), this study asked 'Does contact with an international teacher correlate with increased geo-cultural knowledge and/or receptiveness to non-USA countries, peoples and/or cultures?'. To address…

Out of every three students enrolled in either elementary or secondary school in the United States, one is of a racial or ethnic minority, whereas about 87% of the teachers are White and female (Cross, 2003; Griner & Stewart, 2013; Sleeter, 2001; Villegas & Lucas, 2002). The rate of increase in minority K-12 students, who are often also…

There is a common belief that one could quickly improve their second language proficiency once they reside in the country where the target language is spoken, because they have opportunities to use it constantly in an immersion environment. However, scholars have argued that it may be up to the individual student whether she could effectively…

University EFL students in Ecuador do not have many opportunities to authentically practice English outside of the classroom. This lack of daily connections decreases students' ability to effectively communicate and improve in language learning. Therefore, an international language exchange program was created with 17 students through video chat…

The authors discuss results from two co-taught courses in Islamic studies shared as a virtual exchange between the University of Michigan (U-M), USA, and Saint Petersburg State University (SPbU), Russia. These courses were shared with the intent of expanding the range of perspectives to which the students were exposed and to provide an opportunity…

The complexity surrounding the design of collaborative pedagogical scenarios can allow foreign language learners to develop intercultural and linguistic skills; however, careful consideration must be given when conceptualising telecollaborative projects. Many research studies have been conducted which led to significant discoveries, but only few…

From the skills needed to adjust for the current mismatch between labor market demands and higher education training, collaboration and the development of communication strategies stand out. To improve communication as a whole, "The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)," constitutes a body of reference which adds…

This article presents a detailed methodological outline for teaching culture through project work. It is argued that because project work makes it possible to gain transferrable and applicable knowledge and insight, it is the ideal tool for teaching culture with the aim of achieving real intercultural communicative competence (ICC). Preceding the…

Focusing specifically on the negotiation of commonality, this study explores rapport building (Spencer-Oatey, 2000) in online intercultural text chat, where Australian students of Italian interact with L1 Italian speakers. Although the initial purpose of the examined chat exchanges is to facilitate L2 acquisition, analysis of transcripts indicates…

This paper explores the role that translation may play in developing the symbolic competence of advanced-level bilingual learners. To this end, it examines how a group of bilingual learners engaged with a translation task that was assigned to them as part of their study in an advanced-level Japanese language class at an Australian university.…