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Copyright of Studii de Ştiintă şi Cultură is the property of Studii de Stiinta si Cultura and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

After the pandemic, Algerian universities were compelled to adopt digital tools at all levels of teaching and learning. This integration, now inevitable in a global context, has raised many questions. Digital assessment, as an essential component of teaching and learning, has also been called into question. This study analyzes the perceptions of doctoral students from the 2022/2023 cohort at the University of Mascara, Algeria, following a digital assessment conducted in an enriched in-person mode of their English language skills via the 'test' activity on the Moodle platform. A questionnaire was administered to examine the following variables: training in the use of the Moodle platform, the platform's ergonomics, possible digital assessment practices in the Algerian university context, as well as perceived challenges and benefits. This survey aims to answer the following question: How do doctoral students perceive digital assessment in the Algerian university context? The study reveals that although the Algerian university context does not seem to fully embrace the effective use of e-learning platforms or digital assessment, the features offered by Moodle for assessment deserve further exploration.

Copyright of Lengas is the property of Presses Universitaires de la Mediterranee and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This contribution introduces the Swiss learner corpus SWIKO and provides examples on how this rich and near-authentic collection can be utilized in foreign language education, while also addressing some critical issues that corpus linguistic applications face in pedagogical contexts. SWIKO is a multilingual corpus currently being developed at the Institute of Multilingualism in Fribourg. The corpus contains written and spoken productions by Swiss lower secondary school students, both in their language of schooling and foreign languages learnt at school (English, French, and German). Participating students completed eight communicative tasks which systematically vary by rhetorical type (descriptive or argumentative), topic (personal or academic), and structure (more or less restrictive input). The resulting productions were analysed with a focus on linguistic features (e.g., Karges et al., 2022) and in relation to human ratings according to the levels of the CEFR (e.g., Studer & Hicks, 2022). Based on our findings, we present two scenarios on how SWIKO can be used in educational settings, i.e., teacher training and material development. First, the productions can serve as an illustration of learners’ abilities at the end of mandatory schooling. Our findings show how the length, complexity, and accuracy of learner texts heavily depend on the task, which can be addressed in teacher training. Second, an analysis of frequent errors in foreign language productions can shed light on challenging structures, while the language of schooling sub-corpus can serve as a peer-reference in the development of corresponding material. We exemplify this process focusing on negation in German, offering differentiated teaching material suitable for the secondary school classroom.

This paper presents a review of scholarly work on social class identities (SCI) in second and foreign language (S/FL) educational contexts. Of the 94 studies identified, 31 were annotated. Thematic analysis was employed to identify trends elucidating where, what, and how SCI has been conceptualized, theorized, and methodologically designed. Inclusion criteria focused on SCI research in S/FL contexts, while studies examining SCI outside educational settings were excluded. Results indicate a slow-growing interest in SCI and critical theory, with a Europe-Western dominance. SCI has been approached as: a fixed category based on socioeconomic status determining educational and L2 learning factors; a performed sociocultural phenomenon grounded in individuals lived experiences; a process experienced by study-abroad and migrant individuals; and as an element of colonial difference. Research gaps include SCI examination in EFL contexts and from decolonial perspectives, highlighting the need for political action to subvert social inequalities and address colonial wounds related to socioeconomic issues.

Recently, concepts of cultural and global learning have been faced with the challenge of integrating larger digital transformations in society into their scope. This is particularly interesting from the vantage point of Digital Citizenship Education (DCE). As an educational initiative, DCE seeks to empower children–and hence, learners–to thrive in a world that is thoroughly changing in light of digital advancements. While these initiatives and concepts rightly entail aspects as wide as creativity, active participation, information literacy, or critical reflection, their link to cultural and global learning in foreign language education has remained less clear. Questions that spring to mind, for example, include in what ways cultural diversity can become a classroom focus through the aid of digital media, in how far inter- and transcultural learning can be renegotiated or how learners can engage with global topics–including digitalization itself–from a participatory perspective. This article therefore tries to retrace research on DCE, identify how discourses on DCE and cultural as well as global learning can be merged, and present a multidimensional model for anchoring DCE within foreign language education and teaching practice.

This article reports on different research and pedagogical practices that have been taking place as part of a transnational European Erasmus+ project aiming to strengthen the profile of Digital Citizenship Education (DCE) in the context of Foreign Language Education (FLE). In order to do this, this article briefly reviews some of the key concepts (eg critical digital literacies, democratic cultures) for an evolving definition and (re)conceptualization of digital citizenship in the context of FLE. Equally, a critical analysis of European documents concerning these important topics will be carried out to inform our proposed pedagogical framework, which will be suggested as the grounds for presenting the results of different DCE practices.The first of these practices is the development of resources for teachers to integrate DCE into foreign language learning followed by a training package for teachers. The results collected after piloting one component of the training package-the self-study online course-and the feedback received from the course participants' questionnaire, will be presented and discussed, together with a self-reflection tool for teachers. In addition, some qualitative data results will allow us to explore the perceptions of pre-service teachers regarding the challenges of integrating DCE into FLE. To conclude, some concrete recommendations will be given toward the development and implementation of DCE in foreign language education.

Code-switching (CS) between the mother tongue (L1) and the foreign language (FL) is an embedded practice in the Algerian multilingual society, as it is highly noticed in pedagogical settings like school and university. Yet, switching between two foreign languages seems to gain popularity, mainly, in the English for medical purposes (EMP) course. In the latter, EMP teachers tend to switch between English and French to serve certain pedagogical and non-pedagogical aims. Furthermore, this practice is used as a time-saving strategy and as an instructional tool to enhance students’ skills like; listening and vocabulary comprehension. In an attempt to flesh out an explanatory framework, this study explores the attitudes of students towards their teachers’ use of CS, in addition to their perspective about the reasons behind teachers’ switching between two foreign languages in a medical course. Furthermore, this research reveals the different perceptions of learners about the implementation of English/French CS to enhance their vocabulary comprehension and to promote their medical terminology. To this end, 162 second year pharmacy students, from the faculty of medicine at the university of Sétif 1, formed the participants of the enquiry. Based on a triangulation (quantitative and qualitative) research design, a questionnaire and a focus group discussion (FGD) were used to collect the related data. The findings revealed that teachers switch from English to French to perform different pedagogical functions such as explaining new concepts and difficult expressions, reinforcing and emphasizing a message or an information. Through CS, instructors may create a friendly and a dynamic learning atmosphere by using it as a stopgap to students’ loss of communication and hence to support the learning and teaching process. Moreover, CS is used to boost the learning of medical terminology and to facilitate the comprehension of medical context especially the new and complex vocabulary for learners. Overall CS is regarded as an effective pedagogical strategy, and is recommended in the EMP course, yet it should be used with moderation and in situations where necessary.

Copyright of Studies in Contrastive Grammar / Studii de Gramatica Contrastiva is the property of Universitatea din Pitesti and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Akofena is the property of Universite Felix Houphouet Boigny and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Akofena is the property of Universite Felix Houphouet Boigny and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Taking into account that traditional foreign language teaching is being moved to a virtual environment, the obligations of teachers are changing constantly. Their main tasks are to accept new technologies and develop their digital literacy. However, whether teachers will apply ICT in teaching practice depends on their personal and pedagogical attitudes and beliefs. When teachers’ attitudes and beliefs are positive, new technologies become one of their important teaching materials. The opposite of this, with negative attitudes and beliefs about applying ICT in teaching, teachers reject them and do not enable students to acquire new skills and knowledge in a virtual environment. In that sense, we wanted to examine the foreign language teachers’ attitudes about the use of ICT digital tools in Serbia. The results are obtained by the inferential analysis which is used to confirm or refute hypothesis about the possible conditioning of the identified factors. The results showed that positive attitudes of teachers have a positive effect on learning in a digital environment, but also that positive attitudes increase significantly with their education for the use of ICT. Finally, it was shown that teachers employed at the university have more negative attitudes about the advantages of language learning in a digital environment, in contrast to teachers employed in primary and secondary schools and in foreign language schools. In support of this, it is observed that training in this field is also necessary for teachers who work at faculties in order to increase awareness of the value of new technologies in the teaching process.

Copyright of Guiniguada is the property of Guiniguada and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article brings together how three LPL researchers see the role of the body in teaching and/or learning a modern language, each one within a distinct but complementary theoretical framework – gesture studies, embodied cognition and cognitive science – and a specific area of interest: language didactics, education and psycholinguistics/neurolinguistics. In a three-voice exchange, we discuss our respective contexts and our research, highlighting our common points. We ask the following question: How do our different studies converge to show the fundamental role of the body in teaching and learning modern languages? 1. How do we define the body? In our research, we approach the body differently, according to our respective theoretical frameworks. For example, though focused mainly on the hands, facial expressions and head or eyebrow movements, gesture studies can also take into account posture, gaze and how space is occupied, as these are all aspects of pedagogical action (Azaoui, 2019; Tellier, 2008). In this context, it is important to observe body movements in relation to speech so as to understand how gesture is articulated with it in co-constructing meaning (McNeill, 1992; Azaoui and Tellier, 2020) and regulating interaction (Bavelas et al. 1995). In recent decades, and particularly since the unifying work of Aden (2004), the enactive-performative approach to language teaching (Eschenauer, 2019; Aden and Eschenauer, 2020) broke ground for Varela’s enaction paradigm (Varela et al., 1992) to be applied to artistic performance. Interdisciplinary work on embodied cognition is indeed paving the way for asserting that language links the body and the mind (Varela, 1989a). Researchers have observed that the mechanisms of resonance (automatic) and imitation (intentional) support language autonomy. These mechanisms are solicited by teachers and artists in a holistic approach to language that includes sensoriality, emotions (perceptive level), motor skills (mimo-gestures, body postures, movements in space, articulation), vocal variations, gaze and memorization. The awareness of this perception-action coupling as cognitive process through reflexive activities updates learning (Varela, 1988, 1989b; Trocmé-Fabre, 1987, 1999; Noë, 2006). Hence, learning always occurs in relation to oneself, to others and to the environment that generates a perception-action coupling. It would therefore seem important that the majority of the activities initiated by teachers not be static, including those involving adolescents or adult learners. Finally, cognitive science, takes into account the whole body and its interaction with the environment. The relationship between experience and conceptual representations is central here. In order to better understand it, studies have focused on the role of the body in language processing and learning. For example, in order to investigate how action and language processing influence one another, studies have observed the effects of hand/arm or leg/foot action preparation and execution on action language processing (Boulenger et al., 2006; Zappa et al., 2019). Importantly, in the context of embodied cognition, a strong link has been found between language processing and motor activation (Pulvermüller et al., 2005). 2. One’s own body and others’ bodies: the languaging body in interactions Studies have shown a link between empathy skills and the ability to switch between language registers (Aden, 2010; Eschenauer, 2014, 2018). Indeed, it would seem that the more a subject develops his or her ability to empathize, the more easily he or she navigates between his or her bodily and verbal repertoire, and vice versa (Eschenauer, 2017). Yet, the competence of empathy is complex: it is defined as the ability to put oneself in the place of another person while being aware of oneself (Decety, 2010; Thirioux et Berthoz, 2010). This self-other distinction is spatio-temporal, kinesthetic, sensory, emotional, and mental. For instance, observers recruit their own motor repertoire in order to understand others’ intentions (Rizzolatti & Sinigaglia, 2006; Gallagher, 2011). Awareness of this bodily strategy is very useful for language learners, especially when they still lack lexicon (Eschenauer, 2020). Emotional literacy (Chisholm & Strayer, 1995; Mayer & Salovey, 1997) and aesthetic experience (Vischer, 1873) are also components of empathy that provide access to meaning in interactions. These results are consistent with gesture studies on adaptation to the interlocutor. For example, in exolingual interactions (with non-native speakers), pre-service teachers produce more frequent, more illustrative, larger and longer gestures with non-natives than with native interlocutors, in order to facilitate discourse comprehension (Tellier, Stam, & Ghio, 2021). 3. Methodological issues We then situate our research within our various methodologies. When using an ecological approach, classroom video-recordings are used to describe and qualitatively analyze how pedagogical gestures operate, their articulation with speech and their functions (Azaoui, 2019; Pavlovskaya, 2021; Tellier, 2008a). Within a semi-controlled approach, speakers are given the same instructions and their productions are collected; some variables are controlled such as experimental conditions and whether participants are observed in the first, second or third person (Depraz, 2014). Thus, subjective data can be objectified (Eschenauer, 2017, 2020). In an experimental approach, variables are more controlled, as are the experimental conditions and stimuli. In psycholinguistics, and neurolinguistics in particular, measures such as reaction time, eye movements, or brain measures via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), or electroencephalography (EEG), for instance, are used to better understand the relationship between the body and language processing. For example, motor activation in the brain can be measured via EEG as participants hear action verbs, prior to preparing an action on a virtual object, in a controlled virtual environment (Zappa et al., 2019). In this article, we defend a circular vision of these methodological approaches, as well as their complementarity. For instance, one can opt for a mixed protocol integrating qualitative measures along with quantitative psychometric tests such as the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) empathy test (Davis, 1980) to compare data on a single subject with a population of the same age (Eschenauer, 2018a). In order to gain more control, declarative measures can be triangulated with physiological measures (spontaneous EEG, Heart Rate (HR) and/or electrodermal activity (EDA)) as is the case of the current CELaViE study protocol. In conclusion, although anchored in different theoretical frameworks and relying on various scientific methodologies, our research brings complementary insights regarding a common subject: the essential function of the body in foreign language teaching/learning. This synthesis of our independent work is also an opportunity to create a research community that can open up new avenues of investigation based on hybrid methodologies (qualitative and quantitative), such as the CELaViE (Creativity and Empathy by Modern Language Learning at School: a performative approach to language education) project or the AFLEX project (which addresses the flexible arrangement of classrooms to give the body a place in learning, particularly of modern languages).

The unprecedented situation of COVID-19 compelled many universities and colleges worldwide to reconsider both the management and delivery of classes, forcing faculty to use innovative online and mobile means. The transition also caused faculty to reevaluate their professional development (PD). This qualitative exploratory study focused on the pd experienced by a group of foreign language university instructors in Colombia during this crisis. Specifically it identified the challenges encountered and how these were tackled. Data were collected through an open-ended survey and analyzed using content analysis. Results show ten main challenges, which were then categorized into three themes: (a) adaptation to emergency remote teaching, (b) promotion of student engagement, and (c) handling of emotions. Conclusions reveal that professors embraced the crisis with a positive attitude, engaging in different PD opportunities, displaying agency, responsibility, and flexibility. Therefore, the challenges and their reaction to them fostered their PD and learning. These findings suggest that institutions should allow instructors to give input into the types of PD programs that they need for specific situations.

This paper analyses foreign language teaching in the education system of the Republic of Srpska relative to the percent distribution of frequency of individual languages. With primary education being the first and obligatory level of education at which foreign languages are taught, the paper examines the connection between language education policy at the primary education level, social processes and the international position of foreign languages studied in the Republic of Srpska. Available data are compared with the rankings of world languages in terms of their global influence. Similarities and differences between learning outcomes for individual foreign languages after completing primary education are also analysed. The paper points to the basic problems of the language education policy in the Republic of Srpska in relation to foreign language teaching, and recommends systematic collection and analysis of relevant data as the first step in dealing with the issues discussed.

In the present article, the teacher‘s role in the foreign general language and LSP classroom is analysed with respect to the last seventy years as well as modern developments which cover the period from March 2020 to the near future. In retrospect, a glace is cast on the grammar-translation method and the audio-lingual method. The recent developments dealt with cover the communicative approach and the constructivist approach, both of which are still widely used nowadays. The modern developments described refer to the virtual classroom and online teaching. In the article, it is shown that the teacher‘s role in the foreign language classroom from the 1950s to the present day (and certainly further into the future) has changed drastically: whereas up to the late 1970s, the teacher lived a relatively calm and steady life, with his or her role in the classroom being well-defined and stable, his or her role has undergone rapid changes ever since, with the latest developments speeding up this process even more. In accordance with this development, the teacher‘s importance has shown a certain volatility, starting from a relatively high level, then going down and now rising again. Inversely proportional, the complexity of his or her work has constantly increased and will continue doing so. This implies that the teaching profession has become a highly complex, dynamic and future-oriented field of activity.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the features of teaching foreign languages in higher education in the context of distance learning. To achieve this goal, the article uses the methods of theoretical analysis, critical analysis of scientific resources and scientific observation of the educational process. A comprehensive description of the application of these methods through the prism of foreign languages is the scientific novelty of the work. In the era of continuous informatization of society and education, in particular the use of modern computer technology, the Internet, multimedia and mobile communications in the educational process of higher education, has become a necessary condition for training and education of competent professionals and their future adaptation to working conditions. Therefore, educational institutions try to organize the educational process so as to provide students with full access to educational materials, using paper, electronic and multimedia media and access to Internet resources. In addition, the use of computer technology and the Internet, distance learning technologies significantly expands the range of potential students and allows to involve in education (including language) a wider range of students from abroad. Conclusions. Distance learning through computer telecommunication networks has broad prospects in the study of foreign languages. First of all, this advantage, in comparison, for example, with video and audio seminars, lies in the availability of operational feedback from teachers and students, with numerous training programs. Distance learning of foreign languages is a fairly effective form of learning a foreign language, aimed at the development of cognitive abilities, oral speech, foreign language thinking and full mastery of written foreign language communication.

The knowledge of both foreign and mother languages constitutes a core competence intranslator and interpreter training, as professional translation cannot exist if this competence has not been previously consolidated. Nevertheless, research regarding the teaching and acquisition of foreign languages within Translation and Interpreting studies is extremely scarce and its practice frequently adheres to general pedagogical models which do not keep to the ultimate goal and main objectives that should lay down the foreground for this type of teaching. On this basis, this article aims to discuss the main literature derived from this field of expertise and offer a reflection on the teaching implications. For such purpose, the teaching of foreign languages for translator and interpreter trainees will first be contextualized and a series of basic pedagogical principles will be established. Subsequently, an analysis of the four main communicative skills (written comprehension and expression and oral comprehension and expression) will be carried out. Last but not least, by way of conclusion, the teaching implications that derive from research into this area of knowledge will be discussed.

A nation-wide survey was conducted between 2009 and 2014 in Hungary to examine the intercultural impact of the Erasmus student mobility programme on Hungarian students (Németh, 2015). A mixed methods research was carried out incorporating both quantitative and qualitative aspects. Primary and secondary source data analysis was included, comprising literature review and statistical records. An online questionnaire was distributed amongst former Hungarian Erasmus students, the results of which were analysed and compared with the outcome of an EU-level study (ESN Survey, 2008). Interviews were conducted with academic and administrative staff regarding their experience with the Erasmus programme. The results suggest that the Erasmus programme significantly facilitates the development of intercultural competences, including the foreign language skills of Hungarian Higher Education students. However, the findings also imply that, as not all students are mobile, alternative teaching methods, training programmes and classes should be implemented in the curricula to increase these skills of the non-mobile student population locally, as part of Internationalisation at Home. This paper aims at giving a brief summary of the background, methods and specific findings of the study related to the development of Hungarian Higher Education students’ intercultural competence and foreign language skills. Another goal of the present paper is to draw conclusions from the above study and provide insights into curricular innovations and changes that have since been implemented by the University of Pécs Medical School to increase the intercultural competence and foreign language skills of non-mobile medical students. The importance of these skills within medical and healthcare education has to be underscored, as the lack of a common language between patient and healthcare provider can result in misdiagnosis and may lead to improper treatment. Inability to communicate appropriately can be an obstacle to proper medical and healthcare and undermines trust in the quality of the system

The paper "Es ist vieles getan, es bleibt vieles zu tun." ("We have achieved a lot, there is still a lot to achieve.") presents a method for integrating a digital corpus into a German teaching-learning scenario. Designed for learners enrolled in the second year of LSP (Languages for Specific Purposes), specialising in management and administration, this scenario aims at the individual production of a talk such as those that company directors address at the end of the year to their employees to take stock, to evoke future developments, and to congratulate and encourage them. Readers will find a range of corpus exploration and language observation activities motivated by the discursive characteristics of end-of-year talks and the learning needs of B1/B2 level German learners.

Copyright of Synergies Espagne is the property of GERFLINT (Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches pour le Francais Langue Internationale) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Philological Research & Studies. Romance Languages Series / Studii şi Cercetări Filologice. Seria Limbi Romanice is the property of Philological Research & Studies. Romance Languages Series and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The images inside coursebooks for teaching/learning foreign languages in Cameroon tend to highlight the positives aspects of the target culture. They sometimes expose young learners to subliminal messages that can modify certain aspects of their perception of the world around them. Considering in the one hand the skills of coursebook’s authors and, on the other hand, the real function of school, the paper analyses the impact of subliminal images in the training of Cameroonian citizens.

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This article investigates how the disciplinary discourse on the contemporary state of foreign languages in universities hastily refers to these disciplines as being in ‘crisis’. This practice is nearly as old as the Humanities itself, and has been employed periodically since at least the 1940s. Despite a period of increasing foreign language enrolment in the first decade of the twenty-first century in Australia, calls of ‘crisis’ came from across the languages sector. In tracing the use of the term ‘crisis’, we show how the sector has long been characterised by such alarmist terminology, even when reality suggests otherwise. The article traces this usage in the recent disciplinary discourse in foreign languages. A topical report of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, which shows increased language enrolment over the period 2002-11, leads one to believe that things at universities may not be as bad as first thought. This finding has implications for language enrolments not just in Australia, but around the world.

It has been acknowledged in research literature that stereotypes about a target language country held by language learners influence the students’ motivation to learn a foreign language (L2 motivation). However, there is a lack of studies that link explorations of these stereotypes and L2 motivation in a single research project. This mixed-methods study addressed this gap in research literature. It examined relationships between endogenous stereotypes about target language countries and L2 motivation using a sample of 194 students learning foreign languages in a major public university in Malaysia. These languages included French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European and Brazilian varieties), Russian and Spanish. The data were collected through a questionnaire survey. One open-ended question sought the students’ mental images of the target language countries; two thermometer-type scales assessed the students’ general attitudes toward the target language countries and people and 16 closed-ended statements with attached Likert-type scales assessed their L2 motivation. The findings from the qualitative strand of the analysis revealed that the respondents had distinct and predominantly positive images of each of the target language countries. This allowed making a tentative proposition that the country stereotypes would have a positive relationship with the students’ L2 motivation, especially the integrative orientation. Results of the statistical analyses in the quantitative phase indicated that the relationship between the country stereotypes and L2 motivation was the strongest in the case of the integrative orientation. The article concludes with a brief discussion of implications that can be drawn from this study.

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This paper presents a qualitative case study of a virtual service learning project that connected high school students in rural Michigan with communities and a non-profit developmental organization in Honduras. First, students created individual research presentations over Honduran history, current events, economics, and poverty. Second, students were introduced to the concept of service learning, the educational philosophy of Paulo Freire, and Muhammed Yunus’s micro-credit economic process through readings in the target language. Third, using collaborative and Internet-based technology such as Google Docs, students were able to successfully engage in a meaningful service learning opportunity to translate training documents for a micro-loan organization despite the lack of an accessible, locally based Spanish speaking community. Finally, students reflected on their experience with the service learning project. Additionally, the authors discuss the connection between the student translation project to ACTFL’s World-Readiness Standards for Language Learning and the formation of a 21stcentury skill set. While proximity and access to such physical communities remains an obstacle for many foreign language instructors seeking to integrate civic engagement, this case study presents one possible solution that pushes the boundaries of the very concepts of community and service learning

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Teaching foreign languages in an academic environment is a challenge, especially in the case of languages other than nowadays' lingua franca, i.e. English. This challenge is rooted in professors' abilities to elicit from students what they need to study, what will be useful for them in their professional field, and also in students' confidence in professors' choices. The main task of a professor of foreign languages is to find a balance between obligation and motivation, so that students will make progress in their foreign languages, namely French and German (in our case, compulsory subjects). Our research aims to tackle this balance, so we shall focus on the student on the one hand, and on the options available to the professor, on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Synergies Pays Scandinaves is the property of GERFLINT (Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches pour le Francais Langue Internationale) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Synergies Pays Scandinaves is the property of GERFLINT (Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches pour le Francais Langue Internationale) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

La presente entrevista versa sobre la enseñanza del español en Brasil: presente, pasado y futuro, con dos investigadores claves que estudiaron la situación del español en Brasil en distintas publicaciones a lo largo de varios años. En ella, los profesores Francisco Moreno Fernández y Gretel Eres Fernández discuten el estado actual del español en ese país, el cual no afecta solo a las fronteras brasileñas sino que puede tener un impacto considerable en otras dimensiones de la expansión y consolidación del español. En este sentido, creemos que es un tema de interés en el ámbito de ELE y por ello nos gustaría que otras personas pudieran conocer esta situación de las manos de dos expertos.

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As a result of an unprecedented human mobility, the intercultural encounter has turned into normality, almost. In such a context, multicultural coexistence and professional cooperation may only prove to be successful through a proper communication process. The increasing importance of foreign languages at work, as well as in everyday life represents an obvious indicator for the undergoing changes, especially through globalization and technological development, in the world of work, as well as in social life. Starting from data collected based on a survey, this article attempts to establish to what extent the intercultural communication competence is required for learners in their professional and everyday life.

EnThis paper presents research about using foreign languages in private sector companies in the southern Salento peninsula that have commercial dealings outside Italy, and focuses specifically on German. By means of a questionnaire, a survey was conducted of 80 companies in the province of Lecce, out of almost 2000 that have active dealings abroad. What emerged were the role played and the languages spoken by the staff of those companies who have relations with foreign countries. In addition, it looks at the methods used by the companies to contact their foreign counterparts and the languages used to maintain contact over time. In the specific analysis of the use of German, the following were determined: the percentage of companies visited where the language is spoken; the categories of people working in the companies who speak German, together with their relative levels of competence; the suggested reasons for their pronounced willingness to speak German; the use of German outside work, fundamental for expanding one's lexicon. In addition, the languages spoken between Italian lawyers and their foreign counterparts were also verified for those cases where the surveyed companies made use of such services. Lastly, given the considerable job opportunities for those who speak foreign languages, I have highlighted the need for greater attention to how they are taught in the national school system, with particular reference to the study of German due to its importance on the European level.<<>>Il lavoro in oggetto illustra una ricerca sull’uso delle lingue straniere nelle aziende del basso Salento che hanno scambi commerciali con l’estero; approfondendo, nel medesimo ambito, l’utilizzo del tedesco. Mediante l’ausilio di un questionario, è stato realizzato un sondaggio presso 80 aziende in provincia di Lecce, delle quasi 2000 attive con l’estero. In primo luogo, sono emersi il ruolo ricoperto e le lingue parlate dalle persone che in azienda si relazionano con i paesi esteri. Inoltre, sono stati individuati i metodi impiegati dalle imprese per contattare gli interlocutori esteri e le lingue usate per mantenere i contatti nel tempo. Nella specifica analisi sull’uso del tedesco si sono definite: la percentuale delle imprese visitate nelle quali si parla la lingua; le tipologie di persone, attive nelle aziende, che parlano il tedesco insieme al relativo livello di conoscenza; le ipotesi che spiegherebbero l’elevato grado di fidelizzazione alla lingua; nonché, il possibile uso extralavorativo del tedesco, pratica utile e fondamentale per ampliare il proprio lessico. In breve, sono state verificate anche le lingue parlate tra i legali italiani e quelli all’estero, nel caso in cui le aziende si fossero servite di tali consulenze. Infine, per le apprezzabili opportunità di lavoro offerte a chi parla le lingue straniere si è auspicata una maggiore attenzione al loro insegnamento da parte del sistema scolastico nazionale, rivalutando anche lo studio del tedesco per la sua importanza sulla scena europea.

The first function of every language is communication. We can support the thesis that teaching German as a foreign language in Burkina Faso pursues as a fundamental objective the development of the learners’ ability to communicate orally and in writing. More exactly, because each communication is an interactive process between interlocutors, we expect that the assimilation or the use of the German language enables the learners to understand, to exchange ideas, to share their visions of the world. In this way the German language like any language, when it is practised, is an establisher of a community. If on the one hand we define literature as the representation of a created world or an invented existence and on the other hand as imagination, ambiguity and aesthetics or as original creation, constituted by words and ideas, we can then ask the question to know in which measure it could play a role in the process of the learning and the teaching of German as a foreign language. The question is to know if literature facilitates and optimizes the communicative skill. Through the present reflection, we try to answer this question.

This article tries to give an overview over the different types of methods of German lessons, where German considered as a foreign language. These methods describe the complex ways of using those as teaching-/study-methods taught German as a foreign language in foreign language teaching environment, as opposed to the teaching of “old” languages such as Greek and Latin is. The different approaches extend the scientific study of methods of derivation and concepts in the context of developing foreign language education and language teaching research. As with the “how” teaching and learning of foreign languages should be in the foreground for themselves.

This article is about the educational policy of the President of the RK, namely about teaching and studying foreign languages. Why is it necessary to know for Kazakhstani people foreign languages? What must be done to develop the idea of our president i? The output of Kazakhstan onto international arena tells about the great need of possessing foreign languages. The current linguistic situation in Kazakhstan allows us to talk about the unity of three languages as about significant factor of strengthening of social harmony. The diversity of cultures and languages, its equal coexistence is the freehold property of our Nation. The main purpose of Kazakhstani education is to create required conditions for developing and professional formation of personality on the basis of national and common to all mankind values keeping the native language and culture, traditions and customs.

This article tries to give an overview over the different types of methods of German lessons, where German considered as a foreign language. These methods describe the complex ways of using those as teaching-/study-methods taught German as a foreign language in foreign language teaching environment, as opposed to the teaching of “old” languages such as Greek and Latin is. The different approaches extend the scientific study of methods of derivation and concepts in the context of developing foreign language education and language teaching research. As with the “how” teaching and learning of foreign languages should be in the foreground for themselves.

In this paper the main goal is to contribute to a thoughtful analysis and discussion of findings from my own and others’ work on past and present concerns raised over the contextual factors influencing language education research and, more specifically, what is known as “foreign language” research. The most obvious outcome emerging from this discussion shows that foreign language education, when seen from the perspective of foreign language learning, teaching and evaluation, has evolved in a dynamic way in the last decades. This dynamism tightly parallels the convoluted ideas forged, at least in the European context, by the social, cultural and political changes about the nature of human beings themselves and what their general and specific competences are.