Creating collaborative working and learning experiences has long been at the forefront of computer-assisted language learning research. It is in this context that, in recent years, the integration of social networking sites and Web 2.0 in learning settings has surged, generating new opportunities to establish and explore virtual communities of practice (VCoPs). However, despite the number of studies on the concept, research remains inconclusive on how learners develop a sense of community in a VCoP, and what effect this may have on interaction and learning. This research project proposes to use social network analysis, part of graph theory, to explore the configuration of a set of VCoPs, and presents an empirical approach to determine how interaction in such communities takes shape. The present paper studies the concept of “community” in two VCoPs on Facebook. Participants (Group 1: N = 123, Group 2: N = 34) in both VCoPs are enrolled in English as a foreign language courses at two Belgian institutions of higher education. Social network analysis is used to show how both learner groups establish and develop a network of peers, and how different participants in those groups adopt different roles. Participation matrices reveal that interaction mainly revolves around a number of active key figures and that certain factors such as the incorporation of online and offline assignments and the inclusion of a teacher online result in varying levels of success when establishing collaborative dialogue within the VCoPs. Recommendations are formulated to inform and improve future practice.

Language discordance can limit nursing professionals' (NP) ability to use patient‐centred communication (PCC). Adequate research should underpin the design of applied linguistic solutions to this problem. Thus, this article reports on some of the potential language and communication learning needs of NPs in language discordant contexts. Communication Accommodation Theory is used to analyse observation and interview data with the aim of investigating the factors that influence patients' evaluative responses to NPs' limited linguistic competence. The results indicate that, depending on context, attributed motives and willingness to accommodate can influence patient evaluative reactions more than cultural stereotypes or comprehension problems. Thus, NPs need to develop not only their linguistic and accommodative resources to decrease comprehension problems, but also the ability to attend to affect.

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