With the increase of academic courses moving to online instruction (Blake, 2011), it is only natural language education also would make the leap to online platforms. Following Vygotsky's (1978) Sociocultural Theory (SCT), the purpose of this study is to test the differential effect of the presence of a language learning orientation module in online environments as well as exploring the possible variables affecting student success in module and non-module containing courses. The effectiveness of the module is measured by triangulating student success as defined and tested by Kerr et al. (2006) using their quantitative TOOLS (Test of Online Learning Success) instrument and collecting qualitative data in the form of journal entries and surveys. Data were collected from 1st year university Spanish courses from both a control group (no module use), as well as an experimental group (module use). Case study data from both control and experimental groups showed trends related to student success and may help to shed light on the pedagogical implications of language orientation modules in both online and face-to-face language learning environments while providing avenues for future research designs to explore the effectiveness of the aforementioned modules in online environments.

This study explored the Web resources used by four students enrolled in an introductory university-level Medical Translation course over a period of one semester. The research examined the students’ use of time, information needs and searches, and whether user attributes (translation experience and training, specialization and familiarity with the text, previous Web search training, and effort) or task-related factors (perceived task difficulty) had a relationship with the Web searching behavior of the participants. The study also investigates how this behavior might have been reflected in the quality of the product. The study focused on two translation tasks extracted from medical texts selected by the instructor that had to be translated from English into Spanish. Data was gathered by means of various instruments: translated texts, Think-Aloud Protocols, computer screen recordings, and questionnaires. The results of the data gathered from these instruments were triangulated in an effort to find relationships between the translation process and the translation product. Results were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively.

The findings of the study revealed that the students spent a considerable amount of time looking for information on the Web during their translation assignments, and that the students exhibited an inclination toward bilingual Web sources. An analysis of user attributes suggested that translation experience might have had a relationship with the resources used, and the frequency of their use. Data showed that the more experienced students in the translation program received higher scores in their translations. It was also found that the higher the level of familiarity with the topic, the fewer the number of total searches. In addition, previous Web search training appeared to have a relationship with where and how information was sought. It was observed that in one of the two translation tasks, the more effort the students declared, the more Web searches they carried out. A look at perceived task difficulty indicated that in one of two tasks, this factor had an impact on the number of Web searches, which in turn, seemed to influence the time spent on the translation process, and the translation scores.