This paper gives an account of themes that emerged from a preliminary analysis of a large corpus of electronic communications in an online, mediated course for intercultural learners. The goals were to test assumptions that electronic communication is internationally standardized, to identify any problematic aspects of such communications, and to construct a framework for the analysis of electronic communications using constructs from intercultural communications theory. We found that cyberspace itself has a culture(s), and is not culture-free. Cultural gaps can exist between individuals, as well as between individuals and the dominant cyberculture, increasing the chances of miscommunication. The lack of elements inherent in face-to-face communication further problematizes intercultural communications online by limiting opportunities to give and save face, and to intuit meaning from non-verbal cues. We conclude that electronic communication across cultures presents distinctive challenges, as well as opportunities to course planners.

The present study is situated in the context of cognitive aspects of language processing as it focuses on the learning and teaching of grammar in various modes of presentation. The success of the programs developed for, and used in, the study is measured in terms of short- and long-term learner performances in the application of grammatical rules. Four groups of informants were formed to test four different combinations of the presented materials. The groups used either a cognitive/functional or traditional rule-governed approach to grammar explanation in either an animation or static presentation mode. The results document the overall superiority of the cognitive/functional approach to grammar when presented in the animation mode. The design of the study and its results could serve as a reference point for further research and could help refine parameters for the evaluation of effective language learning software.

German light verb constructions are especially challenging for advanced L2 learners because of the abstract meaning of the different verbs and the high degree of lexico-grammatical variety. Acknowledging that language is a symbolic system representing humans’ perception of the world and is thus strongly linked to embodied experiences, this study explores the potential of bodily engagement in the form of multimedia animations for leveraging the learning of embodied concepts related to light verb constructions. To this end, thirty-nine French-speaking learners of German were divided into two groups: The first group worked with animations illustrating the embodied nature of light verb constructions and performed specific tasks that set out to trigger mental simulation of relevant embodied concepts; the second group was presented with form-based explanations and completed tasks focusing on the different categories of light verb constructions. The results show that the use of bodily engagement in the form of multimedia animations led to significantly better performance and contributed to some extent to changing students’ attitudes about how grammar can best be learned.

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