New Learning Environments for Language Learning : Moving beyond the classroom?

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.

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.