There is an opportunity here for academic institutions to facilitate this study, through the provision of distance education in foreign languages. For many years, foreign language study was presented to students in terms of deferral of gratification. The new communications technology is especially beneficial in promoting language and cultural learning. By using the Internet and the WWW, students can have almost instantaneous access to a range of foreign experiences in their target language. The computer serves as a gateway to the virtual foreign world where real people are using real language in real context.
Students can pass through that gateway from a very early stage in their learning sequence.
One does not need a very high degree of foreign language proficiency in order to join in the global virtual community. Countless worthwhile and stimulating tasks can be carried out using even a very restricted knowledge of the foreign language. Many foreign language learners demonstrate limited knowledge about the culture whose language they study. Mainstream foreign language textbooks tend to foster patchy, deficient and even stereotypical views of the target culture. Authentic materials expose students to the foreign reality as it really is, not as a make-believe artifact of the classroom.