In addition to the reports produced by members of the first Thematic Network Project in the Area of Languages, project members continued their work after the end of the project period, and two books appeared in 2001 arising from the activities of the sub-project on Intercultural Communication and the sub-project on New Technologies and Language Learning.

Michael Kelly, Imelda Elliott and Lars Fant (eds), Third Level, Third Space: Intercultural Communication and Language in European Higher Education. Bern: Peter Lang, 2001.

This book argues that intercultural communication generates a ‘third space’, between people, languages and cultures. It has a particularly important role to play in third level education. But those who teach about it need to be more aware of language, especially (but not only) in the context of Europe, which is characterised both by creative linguistic and cultural diversity and by obstacles to communication. The world is undergoing rapid and profound transformation. Internationalisation of the global economy, the communications revolution, and increased mobility have exponentially increased the scale of encounters between people and cultures. This has a far-reaching transformative impact on the identities and values they carry. The chapters were first presented at colloquia of the sub-project on intercultural communication within the first Thematic Network in the Area of Languages, at Antwerp and Boulogne in 1998 and 1999. Its contributors are members of the project and specialists invited to participate in the workshops. The book develops the argument from the plane of general reflection focusing on intercultural awareness, via explorations into intercultural communication and teaching practice, to the presentation of concrete visions and proposals which point towards a policy framework. The chapters contain a wealth of reflection and good ideas by specialists in this rapidly developing field. They conclude by identifying a number of practical imperatives, of ethical, political and institutional importance, addressed to the academic community and to decision-makers. The book presents a series of challenges, and invites the reader to consider how changes might be implemented in different contexts, so as to strengthen the ability of higher education to contribute to the successful development of a multi-cultural and multi-lingual Europe.

Angela Chambers and Graham Davies (eds), ICT and Language Learning: A European Perspective. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger, 2001.

This book is a collection of different views of the role of ICT in language learning, aimed at researchers and practitioners who want to integrate research and practice in this emerging field. The starting point of the book is not technological invention itself but the different ways in which its potential can best be realised. Current developments in Europe are discussed, with the majority of the chapters focusing on the results of collaborative international projects, especially the work of the Scientific Committee for New Technologies and Language Learning that resulted from the Thematic Network Project for Languages, 1996-1999 (TNP1). The role of research in the field of ICT and language learning is discussed in the opening chapter, and subsequent chapters focus on new approaches to language learning and teaching, covering learner autonomy, authoring tools, the contribution of Human Language Technologies to language learning and teaching, and the integration of tools and resources into the language learning process, for example the Web, e-mail, tandem learning, corpora and concordancing, and videoconferencing. The most prominent areas identified as requiring further development are the need for controlled empirical studies and the need for greater ease, accessibility and flexibility in the available technology, so that learners, teachers and researchers can concentrate on the linguistic, pedagogic and educational challenges that face them.

A detailed review of this book by Françoise Raby is available in the French online journal ALSIC, 5(2), March 2002, 65-79. http://alsic.org/

ELC Information Bulletin 8 - April 2002