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This paper highlights the concept of constructivism that underpins the theory and practice of foreign language teaching. The dominance of this pedagogical movement in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century has been particularly important for the study and understanding of digitally supported forms of learning. Constructivism can provide a response to the analysis and practice of new forms of learning: it is based on the premise that knowledge transfer and the role of the teacher are undergoing intense change. Its implications in the classroom define and influence the pedagogical models and traditions of our time. The paper traces the emergence and dimensions of constructivism in today's digitally infused education, providing a theoretical and literature overview.

This article presents results from a needs analysis survey conducted in the first year of a European-funded project entitled 'Teachers' Assessment Literacy Enhancement (TALE)'. The survey questionnaire used asked 1788 learners of English in Cyprus, Germany, Greece and Hungary about their experiences of assessment; which of these they considered conducive to learning and the role feedback played as an instrument of formative assessment. Further questionnaire data from their 658 teachers were included in the data analysis. The results showed that practices differed across contexts. Overall, both learners and teachers reported a wide range of skills and areas to be assessed in the EFL classroom with writing, followed by speaking, being assessed the most. Based on the perceptions reported by the learners, the assessment types used revealed rather traditional approaches with frequent use of e.g. discrete-point tests with closed answers, extended writing and translation. The learners appeared to regard these types of assessment to be supportive of their learning. Feedback given was mostly restricted to marks and brief comments. The perceptions on feedback practices varied among teachers and their learners. Results of the needs analysis were taken as the basis of the online course design for enhancing teachers' language assessment literacy.

Learners' characteristics vary from one to another and differ according to their experiences, personal features, or socio-cultural factors. In the following, the most relevant factors will be presented in detail, together with research findings that seem to both confirm and weaken their importance in the learning process. In our review, we will present learning styles, working memory, motivation, intelligence and emotional factors as variables involved in explaining individual learner differences. For teachers it is very important to develop this feature in students' personality. The problem appears when students cannot control themselves because they suffer from different disorders. One of these disorders could be Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. To insure a deeper understanding of the reason why we included ADHD as a factor in individual learner differences, we underline that children with ADHD must take their place in mainstream schools and that teachers must know and understand their characteristics. Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder requires a better understanding of individual learner differences than normal conditions. If teachers will understand individual differences among the learners, they certainly will cope with students with ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]