It has been frequently suggested that computer–mediated–communication (CMC) can help learners improve their oral proficiency. This study tested that suggestion by comparing the performance of 3 groups of learners (a control group, a synchronous CMC group, and an asynchronous CMC group) on 3 oral discussions tasks during the course of 1 semester. The number of idea units and words, the lexical richness and diversity, and the syntactic complexity of learner language served as dependent variables. Although this study confirmed a previously reported increase in quantity of language produced by students in the synchronous CMC group compared to the other two groups, the asynchronous CMC group did not outperform the control group. Furthermore, analyses of the quality of language indicated no significant differences among the 3 groups either lexically or syntactically.

The Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century stress that learning about culure is an integral part of learning a foreign language (L2); such exploration is a necessary bridge to gaining valuable insights about one's own culture as well as the culture(s) of the target language. Long‐term projects, for example, extended interviews with native speakers, enable learners to develop an understanding of another culture from an “emic” point of view (Barro et al., 1993; Robinson‐Stuart & Nocon, 1996; Wright, 2000). For many U.S. students, however, neither native speaker informants in U.S. cities nor study abroad programs are available or accessible. This study explores Internet‐based culture portfolios that bring insider's views of other cultures into the 12. classroom. In this study, learners enrolled in third‐semester German language courses conducted semester‐long culture projects, in which they explored their stereotypical views of the cultures of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Learners investigated the extent to which these stereotypes might apply, using media from these countries and from their own cultural contexts, library, Internet resources, and online interviews with members of the cultures in Germany. The results of this study indicate that the Internet‐based culture project promoted learners' acquisition of new cultures from an emic perspective.

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