The present volume collects papers from InnoConf19, which took place at the University of Southampton on the 28th of June 2019. The theme of the conference was ‘Treasuring languages: innovative and creative approaches in HE’. The contributions collected in this peer-reviewed volume aim to reflect on best practice in higher education. They showcase innovative approaches to support the multiple skills needed in our society whilst fighting a decline in students wanting to learn languages. The short papers selected for this volume display examples of innovative curriculum design; enhancement of critical thinking, creative skills, and intercultural awareness; the use of digital tools and technology-enhanced learning, employability, innovative assessment, and collaborative and independent learning. We believe this volume will be of use to language teachers and practitioners in higher education and beyond.

The present volume collects papers from InnoConf18, which took place at the University of Liverpool in June 2018. The theme of the conference was ‘New trends in language teaching and learning at university’. The contributions collected here aim to reflect on best practice in the sector while at the same time capturing state-of-the-art language teaching and learning methodologies. The short papers in this peer-reviewed selection display examples of active learning and student empowerment across all levels of learning and demonstrate the benefits of maximising engagement through a creative and inspiring learning environment. We believe this volume will be of use to language teachers and practitioners in higher education and beyond.

The School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies at the University of Nottingham hosted the fifth annual conference in the “Innovative Language Teaching at University” series. Under the heading “Enhancing participation and collaboration” the conference, organised by Cecilia Goria, Oranna Speicher and Sascha Stollhans, took place on 19 June 2015, and was attended by over 120 linguists, language teachers and language acquisition researchers from all over the world. This edited volume contains 15 selected short papers based on presentations from the conference as well as Dr Jan Hardman’s keynote address and a foreword by Prof. Zoltán Dörnyei.

The Innovative Language Pedagogy Report presents new and emerging approaches to language teaching, learning, and assessment in school, further education, and higher education settings. Researchers and practitioners provide 22 research-informed, short articles on their chosen pedagogy, with examples and resources. The report is jargon-free, written in a readable format, and covers, among others, gamification, open badges, comparative judgement, translanguaging, translation, learning without a teacher, and dialogue facilitation. It also includes technologies such as chatbots, augmented reality, automatic speech recognition, digital corpora, and LMOOCs, as well as pedagogical innovations around virtual exchange, digital storytelling, technology-facilitated oral homework, and TeachMeets.

Modern languages have always been about transition – as practitioners, we challenge our students constantly to move between their own cultural and linguistic reference points and those of others. Our dynamic, interactive teaching methodologies have had to adapt to the pandemic context, necessitating the interrogation of past practice and transition to new approaches. This volume presents case studies showcasing practical initiatives to promote creative, dialogic learning in the fluid contexts that modern foreign language students are currently experiencing as they transition to higher education post-Covid and to residence abroad post-Brexit, between online and face-to-face learning spaces and between machine- and person-centred learning.

This edited collection presents a study of innovation in teaching, learning, assessment and teacher development practices in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The thirteen research-based chapters in this collection examine recent innovations in English language teaching, drawing on classroom, administrative and learning experiences from seven of the countries in the region. The major trends analyzed across the volume include the language skills of reading and writing and the prevalence of technology and technology-enhanced instruction. It highlights that innovative teaching, learning and assessment practices that are now in place in virtually all levels of English language teaching and learning from primary school to university to adult education sectors, and reflects on possible ways forward for innovation in the field of ELT. This book will provide valuable insight for scholars of applied linguistics and practitioners working in language policy,