The Challenge Service-provider virtual exchanges in which native speakers are trained and supervised by a third-party to speak with paying L2 learners are becoming increasingly popular. Without instruction, learners may misunderstand aspects of the target culture. How can instructors guide students while also ensuring they develop intercultural communicative competence?

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The growing recognition of the important role that technology plays in language learning has been reflected in increasingly dynamic and productive discussions on the topic of second language (L2) and heritage language (HL) instruction and writing theory [...]

Study abroad (SA), as a high-impact educational practice, entails knowledge and understanding of culture and a travel mindset. While pre-travel orientations assist students in program preparations, the efficacy of such training is unknown and the path for improvement unclear without reflection or feedback. In this article, we report on the design and scoring of an assessment tool focusing on student self-reflection. Over 200 students preparing for SA completed knowledge-based multiple-choice questions, as well as cultural competency and reflection-based free-response questions. This learning-by-doing intervention survey provided data on students’ understanding of host-country logistics, awareness of culture-specific practices, recognition of cultural symbols, and program fit with students’ goals. Student learning outcomes (SLOs) of SA orientation were aggregated primarily by gender, discipline, and SA requirements. Implementing a pre-departure assessment as an instructional tool stimulated reflection and identified discipline- and gender-specific SLOs to assist in designing future orientations for an improved SA experience.

This study explores the effect of collaborative writing (CW) and peer feedback (PF) practices on subsequent individual writing assignments. Two groups of university students in a Spanish as a foreign language course experienced both CW and PF (Group 1 CW then PF; Group 2 PF then CW), and pre and posttests were analyzed for syntactic complexity, lexical diversity, accuracy, and fluency, as well as for overall quality using an analytic scale. Results suggest both treatments produced improvements, although PF was more beneficial for syntactic complexity, fluency, and overall quality, while CW led to more accurate texts. The order of treatments also affected scores: PF followed by CW produced better results in overall quality and fluency, while CW followed by PF was more beneficial for syntactic complexity and accuracy. Based on the results, pedagogical implications and recommendations, as well as limitations and suggestions for future research, are provided.