1 Introduction

As an information-based distance teaching method, virtual communication provides a platform for interaction and collaboration for language learners from different regions and cultural backgrounds. Especially during the COVID-19, online teaching effectively extended the classroom teaching space. Virtual communication has unique advantages in language teaching and has enlightening significance for the construction of elements in cross-cultural contexts. The collection of papers titled 'Teaching and Learning of Second Languages in Virtual Communication' gathers cutting-edge papers that explore and validate the application of virtual communication in classroom teaching from three dimensions: language, culture, and teacher education, reflecting the new trend of language teaching under the guidance of technology. The articles included in the book have studied language teaching in virtual communication scenarios from different international perspectives, and have reference value for understanding the role of technological elements in cross-cultural language proficiency development.

2 Content Introduction

The book consists of 13 articles, focusing on three themes: language, culture, and teacher education. The first part, "Language and Virtual Communication," explores the promoting effect of virtual communication on the language skills of second language learners, including learner centered assessment, motivation decline and cross-cultural communication ability, classroom assessment, genre borrowing, and virtual communication in language learning. The second part, "Culture and Virtual Communication," explores the advantages of virtual communication in promoting cross-cultural communication skills and global citizenship development, involving ESP context, video remote collaboration, global competence and action skills development, and cross-cultural virtual communication during the pandemic. The third part "Teacher Education and Virtual Communication" discusses the significance of virtual communication from the perspective of teacher career development, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, virtual communication strategies, language responsive teaching methods, and professional development of English teachers.

3 Brief evaluations

The book "Teaching and Learning of Second Languages in Virtual Communication" has been evaluated, and it is believed that it has built a bridge between virtual communication and second language teaching in three dimensions: language, culture, and teacher education, and has the characteristics of both theoretical exploration and practical research. The research in the book involves multiple languages and international experiences, aligning with international standards, and exploring the cutting-edge issues of virtual communication in language input and output, as well as second language acquisition research. At the same time, the book includes multiple articles that explore the application of second language acquisition theory in virtual classrooms from different dimensions, providing demonstration scenarios for constructing virtual classroom communication. In addition, the book also discusses the interactive learning experience in the context of the COVID-19, which provides a reference for the new normal of virtual communication in the post epidemic era. However, the book also points out the obstacles that virtual communication may encounter in implementation, such as course flexibility, cultural differences, time differences, and technical issues. Finally, the chapter emphasizes the enlightening significance of the book for domestic and foreign language teaching research and practice, advocates the use of virtual communication to build cross-cultural interactive scenarios, enriches teaching organization methods, and emphasizes the need for teacher education and training.