New Learning Environments for Language Learning

The Editors: Jean E. Conacher is Senior Lecturer in German and Associate Director of the Centre for Applied Language Studies at the University of Limerick in Ireland. Her current research focuses on the interplay between learners, technologies and new language-learning environments.
Helen Kelly-Holmes is a Research Scholar in the Centre for Applied Language Studies at the University of Limerick in Ireland. Her main research areas include sociolinguistics of the media, particularly in relation to multilingualism.

The term 'new learning environments' has, in the past, been employed almost exclusively in relation to discussions on the use of computers in language learning. This volume seeks to provide a broader interpretation for language learners, teachers and researchers who are increasingly involved in language learning beyond the traditional environment of the classroom. Contributors explore a range of theoretical and pedagogical frameworks which inform the development of new learning environments, the forms these environments take, and how they are created and sustained. This volume explores the issue of whether new learning environments call for new methodologies and support new kinds of learning, the extent to which they can be developed within schools and universities, and their potential role in language learning within the wider community.

Contents: Jean E. Conacher/Helen Kelly-Holmes: Introduction - Jean E. Conacher/Helen Kelly-Holmes: Thinking beyond the technology: Towards a broader understanding of new language-learning environments - Uschi Felix: Multiplying modalities: Opening up the fourth dimension to the online learner - Helmut Johannes Vollmer: Projects as learning environments in foreign language classrooms in Germany - Evelyne Augis : Réflexions théoriques sur la possibilité d'introduire une 2ième langue vivante à l'école primaire - Laurence Jeannot : L'introduction de séances en auto-apprentissage en parallèle aux séances en présentiel dans le cadre de cours de langue étrangère en contexte scolaire : son impact sur les représentations des apprenants - Angela Chambers/Stéphanie O'Riordan: Learning to teach through French from a corpus of classroom discourse: Giving corrective feedback - Raquél Fernández Fernández/Jimena Fernández: Creating a Webpage to support teacher development and growth: The case of bilingual teachers in Spain - Jennifer Bruen/Rhona Sherry: New perspectives in language learning: Transferable Skills and the Language On-line Portfolio Projects - Christine Penman/Kirstine Lehany: Investigating the potential of WebCT for developing intercultural awareness: A pilot study - Öcal Cetin: Der handlungsorientierte Einsatz von authentischem Internet- und Filmmaterial im Rahmen eines erkenntnistheoretisch-konstruktivistischen Fremdsprachenunterrichts - Bill Kidd: Paris Virtuels Urbains: SLA as secondary benefit of an intercultural online learning package - Jennyfer Denis : Perspectives conceptuelles pour l'intégration des TICE par les enseignants de langues en section bilingue : vers une autonomisation des élèves - Emilie Grinan : Interaction, rôles et appropriation des langues dans une communication exolingue spécifique : Etude de conversations téléphoniques entre anglophones et francophones - Freda Mishan: Online Chat: 'an emergent language variety' - but how useful for language learning?