ACCESS TO AN AUTHENTIC CONVERSATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

  • Rodica Silvia STAN STAN University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca 3-5 Manastur Street, 400372

Abstract

This paper highlights the potential of authentic conversational communication for students of technical universities, with special reference to students of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj. The paper describes a way for foreign language teachers to set-up and facilitate authentic international communication in EFL classes using a free, hosted weblog tool with a two millionmember- strong community of active users and built-in social networking features. The paper also points to the potential that social software has for encouraging greater autonomy and self-direction in foreign language learning.