The e-Factor in e-Collaborative Language and Translation Classes: Motivation, Metacognition, Empowerment

Over the past two decades, the growth of the Internet and the development of newer computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies have multiplied opportunities for communicating in other languages beyond the traditional educational settings. Learners are stimulated by the sheer amount of contacts they can make with people all over the world, and are more motivated to acquire the cross-linguistic and cross-cultural skills they need to participate in global communication spaces. This study analyses the forms of interaction, collaboration and co-construction of knowledge learners experienced online, as filtered through quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques applied to the data collected from learners’ interactions and reports. The analysis focuses on the metacognitive awareness raised, motivation enhanced and empowerment fostered in the e-collaborative language and translation classes offered in the past fifteen years. The suggestion is that social practice in virtual environments can provide a theoretical lens that allows researchers to examine language and translation learning in ways that other perspectives do not.