TECHNOLOGY, ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AND INTERNATIONALIZATION AT A CROSSROAD: INSIGHTS FROM THE ANALYSIS OF A VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT IN BRAZIL Kyria Finardi 1 , Gicele V. V. Prebianca 2 , Jeovani Schmitt 2 , Dalton Francisco de Andrade 3 1 Federal University of Espírito Santo (BRAZIL) 2 Catarinense Federal Institute - Campus Blumenau (BRAZIL) 3 Federal University of Santa Catarina. Department of Production Engineering (BRAZIL) Abstract The paper reflects on the impact of technology and internationalization in education in general and in English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching in Brazil in particular. So as to foreground the discussion the study reviews educational policies in regards to the role of technologies and English as a foreign language teaching and learning in Brazil and analyses the affordances of an English as a foreign language distant learning course offered in a virtual learning environment by the Brazilian Ministry of Education as part of its internationalization agenda. The course analysed - My English Online (MEO) - is part of the English without Borders (EwB) internationalization program launched in 2012 by the Brazilian government to correct a perceived historical deficiency in EFL learning in that country and so as to boost the internationalization process there. The EwB Program includes many actions to foster EFL learning but the three most important ones are 1) the MEO course, 2) the Nucli face-to-face classes offered in federal universities and 3) the administration of Toefl tests for university students. The present study addresses internationalization and educational policies in Brazil in relation to the use of technologies in general and the effectiveness of the MEO course for EFL learning in particular, discussing the ergonomic features of the software underpinning the virtual learning environment as well as its affordances and limitations in what concerns EFL development. Data analyses suggest that the MEO course might not be sufficient to promote language learning by itself since interaction and oral practice are important aspects of foreign language learning apparently not catered by this virtual learning environment. In line with these results, the analysis of students’ perception of the use of MEO suggests that the speaking ability is seen as the most challenging one to develop through the use of the online course. In addition, students believe that the lack of correction of written texts and audio recordings impact negatively on EFL learning. Regarding the usability features of the software, results point to the conclusion that the lack of a feedback is a negative feature of the course analysed, as well as its lack of affordance for the development of productive skills such as speaking, revealing a fragile relationship between the pedagogic and ergonomic characteristics of the software. Overall, findings support the claim that Brazilian foreign language and internationalization policies should undergo a major restructuring to include the development of productive skills in the target language in primary and secondary schools and the recognition of the role of English as an international language if the aim is to combat the perceived lack of English language proficiency affects and is affected by the internationalization and social development in that country. Keywords: EFL teaching and learning, Technology, Internationalization, My English Online. 1 INTRODUCTION Globalization contributed to the emergence of the information society [1] and knowledge economy [2], which in turn, contributed to the internationalization of higher education [3]. Internationalization can be defined as the process of integrating international, intercultural or global dimension in the mission, function or proposal of a higher education institution, thus reflecting the effects of globalization [4]. In this scenario, universities are viewed as valuable assets for their intellectual capital, which is now seen as an import and export product in the knowledge economy [3]. Another effect of globalization is related to the technological advances, especially with regard to new information and communication technologies (hereafter NICTs), which enabled a more democratic and inexpensive flow of information, products and services. This flow of information and the affordances of Proceedings of ICERI2014 Conference 17th-19th November 2014, Seville, Spain ISBN: 978-84-617-2484-0 4295