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Abstract This study contributes to the body of research that aims to understand the relationship between online communication and foreign language (FL) learning, in particular when teachers seek to provide authentic opportunities for interaction for their learners. The study was motivated by efforts made in the New Zealand context to overcome the geographic limitations of interaction between FL learners and native speakers. We report on the findings of an exploratory study into an online reciprocal peer tutoring program established to enhance the FL learning of a group of beginner eleven-year old students of Spanish, with particular focus on the benefits of written corrective feedback. The project aimed to examine the processes by which students tutored each other in the online environment as they responded to each other's texts. The analysis of the students' messages focused on (1) the aspects of language corrected by the tutors, (2) the frequency with which tutors accurately identified and provided input on errors, (3) the types of feedback provided by the tutors, and (4) what the learners did with the corrections and feedback. The findings indicate that the students were willing to contribute to peer correction and used different strategies and correction techniques to foster attention to linguistic form, although they were not always capable of providing accurate feedback or metalinguistic explanations.

"The Foreign Language Teaching Forum is an integrated service for FL teachers, dedicated to encouraging communication, sharing, and collaboration at all levels. Our broad discussion topic is foreign language teaching methods for any level of instruction in all languages."

100 quick seed ideas to create FL activities in any language. Some use social media, some we have all probably tried.

100 quick seed ideas to create FL activities in any language. Some use social media, some we have all probably tried.

There are a number of FL webquests listed here by grade level. We should check out the tool for making webquests -

ACTFL 2012 presentation that provides an overview of the tools available in LiveMocha, Busuu and iTalki and examples of their use in the FL classroom.

Larry Ferlazzo writes a column for the New York Times about using the NYT for ELLs - but these ideas could easily be adapted for FL teachers using news sites, too.   You should also check out Ferlazzo's blog.

WebCam activities for ESL/EFL - could be adapted for other SL/FL learners.

Description of using webcams and self-evaluation for reading out loud. Could be used for FL pronunciation activities.

YouTube video about using Edmodo and Chalk for FL Storytelling

"Over the past academic year, my students and I have been experimenting with the use of a number of web based applications (often known as Web 2.0 tools). My aim has been to enhance our schemes of work by providing our students with new and exciting learning opportunities. In my opinion, using technology effectively has clear benefits for both teaching and learning and can help to improve motivation by engaging pupils in activities which, perhaps, step out of their ordinary school experience and which show them that it is possible to teach and learn about a subject using tools similar to those they use daily outside school. In other words, we have tried to use the types of tools with which they are often already familiar. I have written about each of these individual tools in separate posts, but I thought it would be useful to list the ten most used internet applications on one post. As ever, I aim to provide, not only a list of the web applications we have used, but also examples of practice which you may wish to follow or, indeed, improve upon. Therefore, each of the entries below has links leading to lesson plans which have incorporated the tools as well as working examples of students' work where appropriate. Without further ado, and in alphabetical order, my ten tried and tested internet tools for teachers are:"

from a FL teacher in England - who tries and tests a number of tech tools. Here are his 10 favorite web 2.0 apps.

Ideas on how to use google apps in the FL classroom

Lauren Rosen-ning Incredible educator/FL teacher using web 2.0 tools

This is a good reference that was made as a blog for Arabic Grammar, that I use all the time when teaching Arabic.I think the group can use the same idea and create simple grammar lessons in FL, these lessons can be useful for all the teachers teaching for example French, German all over the world.

This is a practice-oriented publication that's a bit more casual in tone and practical in content than its scholarly counterparts, while still rigorous in the quality of information it offers. We will feature articles, interviews with notable folks in the field of language teaching and learning, reviews of software, materials, and books, and more!

A lot of great ideas and a nice way to stay informed and to, at the same time, feel connected with a network of language educators who are addressing the same challenges and concerns.

SpatialChat looks so fun! I'll be curious about pricing, and appropriateness and safety for high schoolers.

...project provides language educators with pedagogical strategies and practical suggestions for implementing social networking sites (SNSs) and social media for intercultural competence in beginner and intermediate FL courses.

several examples of SNS use in the FL classroom

inding productive media examples to use in the classroom can be time-consuming and challenging. Here are media examples other teachers have found useful along with descriptions and information about the teaching contexts in which they were used.

I found this site on Feedly and started following it; this guy travels around the world learning foreign languages; this article in particular discusses how to learn minority and endangered languages, however I find the innovation and his motivation to be the greatest factors in his success. He's not following someone else's path and as the actual process of learning a FL is such a personal thing, I think he's really on to something! From the site: "There are almost too many sites and resources for big languages like French, Spanish and German. When you're learning a language like these, the problem is usually deciding which resource to use rather than not being able to find one. But what about those of us who want to learn a less popular language (minority or endangered)?"

A school district in Florida is advising teachers not to "friend" students on social networking sites, claiming that teacher-student communication through this medium is "inappropriate."

Interesting that these regulations are listed in the teachers' handbook. I live within walking distance from the school I work at, and often see neighborhood kids. One in particular is my student, in fact I was standing outside my home last night talking with two friends of mine and he walked by. He's a great kid and we always say hi and chat a little, but it's in the back of my mind that even that could be used against me by someone who is twisted. The weird thing about the inappropriate internet stuff is that there is always a paper trail, so it seems so obvious to not do certain things. I'm surprised FL advises teachers to not even use a "professional" user account with students, but apparently they feel the risks outweigh the advantages.