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Language learning that is grounded on learners' sociocultural realities promises to be a meaningful experience they are likely to treasure when it comes to grappling with practical day-to-day matters. This article reports on a research study aimed at fostering socioculturally constructed language learning in a group of pre-service English teachers. This is a qualitative case study, grounded in a social constructivist paradigm, which draws on a pedagogy of multiliteracies through the Knowledge Process and the Concept of Design (Cope & Kalantzis, 2009) to embrace diverse modes of communication and to expand learners' possibilities of engagement with text and the social and cultural world around them. The findings indicate that while learners are provided with opportunities to explore, reflect and co-construct socioculturally driven knowledge, they are involved in a meaning-making experience that allows them to make sense of the language they are learning. In this way, participants embraced diversity and gained sociocultural understandings by engaging in a pedagogy of Multiliteracies.

The role of literature as a teaching and learning tool in English as a Foreign Language has long been acknowledged. Literary texts offer teachers opportunities to provide students with authentic materials to heighten their motivation by involving them in challenging Task-Based activities in which they interact with authors and learn about features of these authors' society. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the role of literature as a pedagogical tool in the EFL classroom and see how this can be advantageous in fostering learners' language skills. The sample population encompassed 26 sixth-semester students enrolled in a Reading course who are completing their BA in Foreign Languages at a public University in Colombia. A semi-structured questionnaire and a Reading Guide were designed to elicit information from students who were asked to read an unabridged English language fiction novel. The findings show that the participants' motivation to complete the Task-Based Reading and Writing Project was high and that this had a positive impact on the improvement of their language skills.

Teachers' professional development is a key factor to have more reflective educators capable of working on teams to find solutions to problems that arise in their classrooms. The objective of this study is to analyze the impact that the collaborative planning, implementation, and evaluation of classroom projects, developed through collaborative action research, have in the professional development of in-service and pre-service teachers in a BA in English program. This is a qualitative research study focused on collaborative action research. Data were collected through journals, surveys, and meeting proceedings of collaborative sessions. As a result, it was possible to describe the processes and dynamics generated, as well as the changes perceived, which contributed to the professional development of the participants.

This paper reports on the findings of a research study carried out in the Bachelor of Arts in English program of study at a Colombian university. It aims at identifying the communication strategies used by four pre-service English teachers with A2 and B2 levels of language proficiency and, also, at examining how these communication strategies facilitate or hinder the development of communicative skills. Data collection instruments included audio recordings of three tasks: (1) open-ended questionnaire, (2) sentence translation, and (3) picture description. The participants' speech was transcribed and categorized allowing us to identify and examine the role played by communication strategies which varied depending on the choice the participants made of using either avoidance or compensatory strategies.