Second Language Acquisition and Online Learning

Abstract

In responding to the need for quality EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher education, my university also offers English majors an EFL teacher education course, which can be counted toward teacher accreditation program credits. The EFL methodology course includes lectures and activities to familiarize students with theoretical bases of EFL instruction and hands-on classroom practices. One special component of the course is the incorporation of cross-cultural e-mail correspondence, allowing prospective teachers to communicate with fellow pre-service bilingual/ESL teachers in the United States. The cross-cultural component of the course is an attempt to foster the prospective teachers’ reflectivity through social/interpersonal interactions with a distant group of colleagues made possible by Internet technology. (Liaw, 2003a, pp. 1-2)