CALICO 2021
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Virtual Day One: June 2nd, 2021
Language Learning & Technology: The Path Ahead
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
Plenary Talk: Watch Video
Speaker: Mohamed Abdel-Kader
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speakers: Jacob E Larsen, Karina Silva
Using a Student Assistant Team for Educational Technology Support: Mutual Benefits, Improved Support and Innovation
Support staff face many challenges in their quest to provide high-quality support for faculty. For the past two years, the Language Studies Resource Center at Iowa State University has had to creatively use student assistants for tasks typically done by full-time staff in support of 60+ instructors and 2200+ students. This has led to several positive effects such as improved faculty and student support and service and completion of several major projects, not to mention great learning opportunities for the student assistants. We will share how we have achieved and sustained this approach and discuss attendee feedback and challenges.
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speakers: Hyeonah Kang, Janet Nicol, Masha Fedzechkina
Use of the Output Activity as an Online Vocabulary-Building Exercise
To test the feasibility of an output activity (OA) as an online tool for building vocabularies, we examined whether incidental word learning during online story-reading is enhanced if learners subsequently engage in the OA, and if they are forewarned of the OA. In a web-based study, English speakers read an English text with novel non-words and performed a fill-in-the-blank OA (announced, unannounced, or unrelated). Vocabulary gains were assessed by a translation test. Results showed the usefulness of the OA on the uptake of the semantic category of new words, especially when the OA was announced in advance.
The careful curation of activities to enhance vocabulary learning in an online environment reflects the thoughtful approach taken in showcasing the large selection of Georgia and its educational resources. Just as the study demonstrated the benefits of structured activities for language acquisition, Georgia offers a myriad of educational programs and cultural experiences designed to enrich the mind and broaden one’s horizons. From world-class universities to local libraries filled with literary treasures, learners of all ages have access to a wealth of knowledge. This extensive array of options is akin to Georgia’s own rich tapestry, where every educational pursuit can be tailored to fit the individual, much like the tailored activities that proved so effective in the vocabulary study.
In navigating Georgia’s real estate terrain, the synergy between curated educational experiences and strategic marketing initiatives becomes evident. Just as Georgia’s educational resources cater to learners of all ages, the real estate market accommodates individuals and businesses at various stages of growth and development. A proficient CMO for scaling companies orchestrates campaigns that not only showcase properties but also convey the unique narratives and opportunities they embody. In this dynamic environment, every property listing becomes an invitation to embark on a journey of exploration and growth, mirroring the enriching experiences Georgia offers in its educational realm.
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speakers: Lawrence Williams
Mobile Apps in Foreign Language Education: A Survey-Driven Study of Undergraduate Learners
For this study involving undergraduate students, a survey was administered to 346 L2 learners in order to understand their use of mobile apps in general, their use of educational apps, their use of apps designed for language learning, and their preferences regarding the use of apps in a foreign language curriculum. Then, interviews were conducted with 10 individual students. Results show positive and negative attitudes and a wide range of behaviors and preferences. After a brief overview of the survey results, details of selected individual interviews will be highlighted in order to make sense of seemingly conflicting attitudes and beliefs.
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speakers: Zilu Jiang, Babatunde Akinkuolie, Lizeng Huang, Kui Xie
A Systematic Review of Task-based Language Learning in Online Learning Environments from 2011 to 2020
Albeit Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) has been extensively researched, there appear to be limited systematic studies exploring TBLT design in the online second language teaching environment. This systematic review addresses this gap by examining 40 research articles for research themes, methods, implementation of TBLT in online task design, and its impact on learning performance. The study will answer the following questions: 1. How did the online course design operationalize TBLT design principles? 2. What types of tasks and technologies have been implemented to support online TBLT design? 3. What is the impact of online TBLT design on second language learning?
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speakers: Nelleke Van Deusen-Scholl, Mary Jo Lubrano, Zachary Sporn
Mobile Apps for Language Learning: Affordances and Constraints
In an increasingly globalized world, the need for language learning has grown exponentially, and particularly mobile-assisted and online language learning applications have proliferated in recent years. This study evaluated the potential of the Babbel app for gaining oral proficiency, using a standardized proficiency measure (the OPIc) to assess learning outcomes. Our results point to the potential benefits of mobile learning applications to reach non-traditional learners interested in pursuing informal opportunities to learn foreign languages and gain the basic communication skills that are essential in today’s global environment.
2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Speakers: Christopher Daradics, Gabriel Guillén, Thor Sawin, Julie Sykes
Mavericks of Mind: A Followup Report on Social CALL for Language and Technology Professionals
In response to calls for social and ecologically valid language learning technology, this session’s presenters facilitated a panel at CALICO 2018 exploring members’ perceptions about the need and possibility for change in the language education paradigm. Participants called for a surge in collaborative momentum among industry leaders, academic pacesetters, teaching practitioners, and scholars in technology and intercultural communication, and committed to help making such collaboration happen. Using data from last year’s session, this panel will identify and generate opportunities to advance high quality language learning, labor-market coordination, and coordination between instructed SLA, user-experience design, and product development.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speakers: Natallia Liakina, Joannie Proulx
Navigating through Place-based AR Games for L2 Learning: Overcoming Detours and Dead Ends
This presentation introduces a place-based game, developed using the Augmented Reality for Interactive Storytelling (ARIS) platform and designed for L2 French learners. First, we will briefly discuss the game creation process with a focus on game narrative and the affordances of ARIS for targeting sociolinguistic variations. Second, we will report the results of a mixed-method study conducted at a Canadian university targeting the development of the sociolinguistic competence in French and exploring student perceptions of the game as a learning tool. We will conclude with a critical assessment of the platform and discuss implications for L2 learning.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speakers: Julie Evershed
Co-curricular, Community, Collaboration: Translation in the Language Classroom
The University of Michigan Language Resource Center, in collaboration with several language faculty, has been organizing translation events for students to engage with authentic translation activities, offering “real-life” experience of applying their L2 skills in the service of the community. In this session, I will present a couple of different models of how these events are organized, the role of faculty, and student attitude/motivation and performance. While we have not conducted quantitative research on these activities, positive qualitative results encourage us to continue with these collaborations, seeking to refine and strengthen pedagogical implementation.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speakers: Marie-Josée Hamel, Catherine Caws
Placing Social Interactions at the Forefront of Language Learning through Real-World Online Tasks
In this presentation, we will explain and illustrate the eLang project, a framework for language learning grounded in social-interactional theories and a task-based approach to technology-mediated language learning and teaching. Operationalized through authentic online tasks, one of the goals of the framework is to develop learners digital literacy skills so that they can mutate from digital consumers into digital agents.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speakers: Benjamin Holt
Using Eye-tracking Technology to Analyze and Compare L2 Videoconferencing Projects
Videoconferencing, due to its numerous advantages, has been increasingly used for foreign language teaching and research. This study aims to compare two videoconferencing configurations—one which pairs future foreign language teachers with learners, and one which pairs non-teachers learning the other’s language—in order to identify which skills are necessary to teach with videoconferencing, and which of these require formal training. Our data are comprised of one semester’s worth of weekly interactions between two groups of French and American university students. In addition to screen and audio recordings, we use eye-tracking to enhance our multimodal analysis of negotiation sequences.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speakers: Estela Ene, Thomas Upton
Effective Teacher-Student Engagement in Chats in ESL Composition Courses
Feedback is effective only if students engage with it (Hyland & Hyland, 2019). This corpus-based study involves an analysis of engagement in 129 teacher-student chats from 9 freshman ESL writing courses taught by 3 experienced teachers. A move analysis of the chats revealed that they consist of social, chat management, and instructional moves. The instructional moves’ effectiveness was ranked, and the moves were analyzed with corpus tools to identify the linguistic features associated with most and least effective/engaging chats. We offer suggestions for improving the use of instructional chats in freshman ESL writing classes.
3:20 PM – 3:35 PM
Speakers: Chioma Ezeh, Veronika Timpe-Laughlin
Can you guess who I am?— Exploring Young Learners’ Oral Interaction in a Game-based Spoken Dialogue System Task
Language learners often have limited opportunity to speak and practice salient grammatical aspects of the target language in the classroom due to constraints of time and availability of human interlocutors. Conversation-based spoken dialog systems (SDS) have the potential to address this need. This paper explored how 161 young learners of English in ESL and EFL contexts interacted with Can you guess who I am?, an interactive SDS speaking activity that allows English learners to practice yes/no questions in an automated game-based environment. Findings revealed that SDS tasks have the potential to facilitate speaking practice and provide targeted feedback.
3:20 PM – 3:35 PM
Speakers: Ulf Schuetze
Chatbots: The Catch 22 of Speech Recognition Software
One of the concepts of chatbots in a virtual environment is that learners can practice the target language, an underlying premise of online games (Sykes, 2017). An in-built speech recognition software analyzes the learner’s speech in regards to comprehensibility which refers to the listeners’ subjective sense of how easily listeners understand L2 speech (Munro & Derwing, 1995). The poster presentation explains the Catch 22 of speech recognition software that needs to accept many variations of pronouncing sounds while at the same time deciding what is acceptable; that in order to work properly needs to be trained to the learner’s non-native speaker voice; that needs to avoid prompting adjustments made by the learner which would result in teaching the learner unnatural speech; that provides false clues through face, mouth and lip movements of the chatbot.
3:20 PM – 3:35 PM
Speakers: Takako Aikawa
Virtual Reality as a New Modality for Language Learning
This presentation aims to demonstrate how both VR and kinesthetic learning approach can improve language learning. We will present VR-based language learning activities that we designed, while explaining how VR, as a new modality, and kinesthetic learning, as a learning method, are implemented in these activities. We will provide results from our user testing that show how learners have interacted with the VR technology, how it has facilitated their use of the target language, and how it may help them learn or practice a second language.
3:20 PM – 3:35 PM
Speakers: Julie Damron, Jennifer Quinlan
Student Motivation and Stress in Language Classrooms Amid Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning
This study examines the relationship between class type/structure and students’ stress, anxiety, focus, participation, connection, feedback, confidence, and motivation in undergraduate language classes that switched format mid-semester due to COVID 19. This study employed an adapted version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz et al.) with twelve Likert scale questions relating to communication apprehension, test anxiety, and overall course satisfaction, but each question required the student to respond twice: once in relation to their on-campus class and once in relation to that same class after it moved online. Results met the threshold for statistical significance in several categories.
3:20 PM – 3:35 PM
Speakers: Signe Hannibal Jensen
Extramural English Inside and Outside Class: A European Perspective
This presentation focuses 1) on young non-English speaking children’s (6 years of age) engagement with English in the wild (Extramural English, Sundqvist, 2009), and the perceived language learning from this use based on parental reports. Added to this, 2) results from a survey on teachers’ attitudes to as well as use of extramural English in the early language classroom is presented. Apart from presenting the results from the surveys, the presentation will discuss how well aligned children’s experiences with English outside the classroom are with the early language classrooms they will meet and discuss the implications hereof.
3:25 PM – 4:40 PM
Speakers: Mery Díez-Ortega, Katie Nielsen, Cindy Blanco, Joan Palmiter Bajorek
Alternative Careers with a PhD
Are you interested in other professional paths and want to explore other options after getting your PhD? We invite you to this graduate student panel with three guest speakers with experience working in industry and academia. What to expect from this panel: • Practical advice for job applications • How academic skills transfer to non-academia sectors Academia vs. non-academia employment • Time to chat with the three panelists about their experiences
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Natalia Barley
Language Learner Interaction and Comprehension in Audio and Video Conferencing
This presentation reports on the results of a study examining the effects of audio and video conferencing on intermediate-level Russian language learners’ interaction with a native speaker, specifically on 1) negotiation of meaning, 2) rates of comprehension 3) learner perceptions of that interaction. The research is grounded in the theoretical framework of interaction hypothesis. Data were collected in the form of interaction transcripts, focus group interviews, and questionnaires. Methodology and results of the study will be presented. The research assesses the potential benefits and drawbacks of each condition as a platform for language learner interaction.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Tricia Thrasher
The Impact of Social Virtual Reality on L2 French Learners’ Anxiety and Oral Production
Students currently entering university foreign language classrooms make up Generation Z (i.e., born after 1995). These digital natives are important when it comes to CALL research, as they have been found to prefer online over face-to-face communication (Seemiller & Grace, 2015). Immersive virtual reality technologies offer the possibility to bridge the gap between this preference and interpersonal speaking skills that foreign language learners need develop. Using an immersive social virtual reality application, Vtime, this mixed methods study examines how VR impacts a projected 50 (N = 50) intermediate French learners’ foreign language anxiety and comprehensibility, intelligibility, and fluency.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Ursula Stickler and Lijing Shi
Chinese Character Reading through the Eyes of the Reader: An Eyetracking Study
In a study using eyetracking and stimulated reflection, beginner learners of Mandarin Chinese undertake short on-screen reading tasks while their eye movements are being recorded by an eyetracker. In the following stimulated reflection interviews they comment on their performance while watching the recording of their eye movements. This will empower learners to discover and reflect on their Chinese reading strategies. The study will also shed light on learners’ attention focus when engaged in Chinese reading and the reasons behind this. It will collect general strategies of learning Chinese characters and compare the differences between more and less successful learners.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Deidra Buenger, Kasumi Yamazaki
Connecting Technology and Language through MALL: Perceptions, Uses, and Critiques from Global JFL Learners
This study investigates Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL) learners’ perceptions and attitudes regarding the use of MALL systems and mobile applications for Japanese learning. In the present study, three sources of data were collected, including: 50 Likert scale survey questions (n = 138) modified from (Chen, 2013; Van Aacken 1999), follow-up interviews (n = 31) and field notes from the duration of the study. Based on both interpretative and thematic analysis of data, the major finding of the present study was a shortage of applications providing comprehensive and customizable experiences for specific language skills or learner support beyond beginning JFL proficiency.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: Bernadette Perry
Gamified Collaborative Language Learning and Augmented Reality
For this research, I developed two place-based AR gamified systems for French second language (FL2) learning. Explorez and VdeUVic are collaborative virtual narrative treasure hunts. At different locations on campus, players interact with characters that give them quests including clues or options to further the storyline. These interactions take place in the form of written text or audio and video recordings, encouraging students to develop language skills both written and oral. This research entails a mixed-method case study analysis of 3 cohorts of FL2 university students play-testing the AR mobile systems. My analysis explores benefits and limitations of the learning-tools.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: Claudia Sanchez-Gutierrez, Marta Llorente Bravo, Silvia Aguinaga Echeverría, Kathleen Guerra
Evaluating a Hybrid TBLT in a Multi-section Beginner Spanish Language Course
While TBLT courses have traditionally been taught in programs focused on language teaching for specific purposes, few studies have described and evaluated TBLT courses offered in multi-section general language courses. This presentation aims to lay-out the challenges and opportunities of teaching a newly designed hybrid TBLT course, now integrated in an otherwise grammar-oriented language series. Results from a questionnaire study indicate that students enrolled in this course felt significantly more comfortable performing several speech acts than students in a traditional version of the course. This higher level of comfort was attributed to the self-paced learning opportunities that online sessions afforded.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: Elizabeth Lavolette
Games for Learning: Using Games as the Basis for Teaching Learning Theory to Japanese Undergraduates
In this presentation, I describe a series of English-medium undergraduate courses, which I developed and teach, for English majors at a university in Japan. I share examples of lesson plans, projects, games, and student work. Games are used in this course as both English-language input and examples for teaching learning theory to students, some of whom will become English teachers. The courses introduce basic terminology for discussing games, learning theories, and concepts of game design. Students write reviews of games based on learning theory and design their own games that are both entertaining and have value for English learning.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: John Maurice Gayed, Gilbert Dizon
Exploring the Impact of Grammarly on the Quality of L2 Students’ Writing
This presentation reports on a study that examined the impact of Grammarly, an intelligent writing assistant that provides real-time corrective feedback as well as predictive text suggestions, on L2 students’ writing. Specifically, the following research question was addressed: Does Grammarly have a significant effect on the lexical complexity, syntactic complexity, and grammatical accuracy of L2 students’ writing? A total of 35 students at a Japanese university participated in the 8-week study which utilized a counterbalanced design. The results of the study will be presented and implications for language learning and research will also be discussed.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: Ananda Muhammad, Tim Kochem, Carol Chapelle, Volker Hegelheimer
Genre Characteristics of High Quality Reflections in an Online Teacher Education Course on CALL
How a teacher ‘feels’ about a particular technology, especially during the learning or development process, influences their desire to incorporate said technology within their own teaching context. This study analyzed 58 reflective texts written by English language professionals in an online course. The results of an appraisal theory analysis (Martin, 2000; Martin & White, 2005) revealed affective aspects of technology integration in the language classroom, as well as genre characteristics of reflections in an online language teacher education course in educational technology. Both advances will contribute toward improving practices for this, and future, professional development courses for language professionals.
4:50 PM – 6:05 PM
Speakers: Lisa Frumkes, Peggy Hartwick, Kevin Papin, Regina Kaplan-Rakowski
Making Global Sense of All the Realities
While Virtual Worlds (VW) are familiar to many CALL practitioners via environments like Second Life, newer immersive technologies like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR)–collectively, XR–are much less familiar and potentially confusing to practitioners and researchers. In this moderated panel presented by the Virtual Worlds SIG, we will provide an overview of and introduction to various VW and XR technologies, offer definitions, discuss theory, demonstrate some applications (such as ImmerseMe and Mondly), and propose a name change for the SIG that provides CALICO with a forum to further discuss and explore these technologies.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speakers: Sumei Wu
Forming a Third Pedagogical Space for Teacher Intercultural Learning: An Integrated Telecollaborative Learning Model of Experiential Learning and Guided Reflection
This study explores how an integrated telecollaborative learning model of experiential learning and guided reflection – (co)creating and co(teaching) lesson plans and reflecting – may influence pedagogy-focused online interactions and teacher development of intercultural competence. Participants include three language teachers in Taiwan and two language teachers in the U.S. They (co)taught three human-augmented avatar ESL students using a new technology, Virtual Reality simulations. Data sources include video recordings of teaching practices and participants’ online interactions. Preliminary findings show that the teaching events teachers performed and produced became the context for intercultural social conversations grounded in concrete instances of pedagogical decision-making.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speakers: Ananda Muhammad, Fatemeh Bordbarjavidi, Tim Kochem, Volker Hegelheimer, Haeyun Jin, Yasin Karatay, Junghun Yang
Investigating Student Engagement in a Global Online CALL Course: The Role of Discussion Prompts
Participation in online courses has become essential for training language professionals in under-resourced contexts with skills in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) (Godwin-Jones, 2014). Most online CALL courses use asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) to facilitate meaningful learning for participants. While participants’ sustained engagement with ACMC is the target, global realities of participants interfere with their participation levels. This article investigates participants’ engagement profiles in asynchronous online discussions in an 8-week CALL-based global online course developed and implemented by a team at Iowa State University. Using a case study approach, nine focal participants’ engagement profiles have been analyzed in terms of identifying patterns of engagement in the discussion posts and their relation to the types of discussion prompts. Then, social network analysis (SNA) and thematic analysis were employed to investigate patterns of interaction among participants in the replies. The results indicated that engagement patterns observed in discussion posts overall aligned with the primary goals of prompt types. SNA further identified two participants as social mediators to connect participants with each other. These findings are significant in that they suggest the effectiveness of using ACMC to promote co-construction of knowledge for a global audience. This article also provides implications regarding the design of discussion prompts to help maximize participant engagement with course content.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speakers: Qiaona Yu, Yasuko Rallings
Intercultural Telecollaboration: Through the Eyes of Teachers and Students
Telecollaborations are becoming more comprehensively integrated into formal education in order to help foster greater intercultural competence. While previous research has focused on assessing intercultural competence development, this study looked within a course-embedded telecollaboration that connected an intermediate Japanese class in a US university and an advanced English class at a university in Japan via videoconferencing exchanges. The study demonstrated that students moved from self-overestimation to acknowledging the nuances and complexities of intercultural competence. It unveiled a complex and dynamic interplay among the variables of a course-embedded telecollaborative project. The study also provided suggestions for future designs of intercultural telecollaboration.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speakers: Leire Echevarria, Diana Velazquez-Lopez
The Benefits of Automatic Speech Recognition (i.e. iSpraak) in the Acquisition of L2 Phonology
In spite of previous research confirming the benefits of explicit second language (L2) pronunciation, most Spanish classes still fail to incorporate such instruction in any meaningful way. This presentation explores the extent to which technology tools can help us incorporate a greater focus on pronunciation. Data from intermediate learners of Spanish are analyzed to determine if automatic speech recognition (ASR) through iSpraak (www.ispraak.com) can help foster pronunciation. Preliminary results indicate that ASR can indeed be beneficial for some problematic sounds, and that participants using the ASR became more aware of their own pronunciation in Spanish.
5:45 PM – 6:00 PM
Speakers: Jeremy Robinson, Ingrid Kubisa, Sanjeeda Shutrishna, D. Melanie Kistnasamy, Vin Branom, Wenlei Yu, Monse P. Barrios, Andrea Cruz, Reidun Kubisa, Nicole Cundiff
An Exploration of Culpeper Games
This lightning session will give a brief overview of cultural and language games developed at the Culpeper Language Learning Center (Gustavus Adolphus College). Games explored include: A Puzzling Visit to Berlin (German); Aventuras con Rodrigo (Spanish), Bitsy Translations (Chinese, French, Spanish), Innspekter Moris (French, Kreol), Interactive Fiction Projects (various languages), Katakana Fighter (Japanese), Lunar New Year Adventure (Chinese), Map Games (French, Spanish), Major Trivia (Various Languages), Mwami et Moi (French, Mashi), Samovarka: The Missing Treasure of Tula (Russian). Most games are also accessible in English.
5:45 PM – 6:00 PM
Speakers: Jo Ann Arinder
Immersive Technologies: AR & VR for Language Learning
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are useful immersive technologies for language learning. The educational value of immersive technologies has not been thoroughly tested or proven. However, immersive technologies should be considered when searching for technology to increase learning and access to learning, especially in language learning environments. Two applications will be explained in detail, along with possible implementation suggestions.
5:45 PM – 6:00 PM
Speakers: Mimi Li
Integrating Multimodal Tasks into the Linguistics Curriculum: Pre-/In-Service Teachers’ Perceptions and Digital Products
With the development of technology in the digital age, multimodal pedagogy has captured growing attention in TESOL. This presentation reports on an empirical study that examined the integration of multimodal tasks into the online linguistics curriculum. Data were collected from a questionnaire survey, semi-structured interviews and multimodal projects. This presentation shows how the multimodal tasks afforded pre-/in-service teachers’ content learning and professional development and how they represented their linguistic knowledge by orchestrating texts, images, and sounds using different media and genres. This presentation ends with pedagogical recommendations on implementing digital pedagogy in the TESOL/linguistics curriculum.
5:45 PM – 6:00 PM
Speakers: Chioma Ezeh
Integrating Technology into Translanguaging with Bi/Multilingual Students through Multimodal Storytelling
The need for multimodality in meaning-making and knowledge representation is critical in this contemporary time where teachers are faced with not only language and cultural diversity in classrooms but also tons of technological tools to choose from. Translanguaging with the technological application, Storyjumper, in multimodal storytelling enables multilinguals to use more than one linguistic mode, and storytelling as a mode, on a platform that supports the use of images, texts, and audio modes of communication. This presentation will discuss how to use Storyjumper for translanguaging and multimodal storytelling for bi/multilingual students.
5:45 PM – 6:00 PM
Speakers: Haeun Kim, Carol Chapelle
Online Fan Practices and Informal Language Learning: An Analysis of YouTube Comments
One facet of EFL learners’ linguistic realities today is their exposure to English through their participation in social media. Such informal exposure to English is driven by their passionate interest in popular culture topics and affiliation with communities of fans. This study investigates the potential opportunities for informal learning in fan practices on YouTube by analyzing the language patterns (n-grams, p-frames) learners are frequently exposed to in the comments section of fan-edited videos of BTS, a Korean group with a large fandom worldwide. A corpus of 55,909 comments was compiled from the 10 most-viewed videos. This presentation reports results and their implications for defining characteristics of the language exposure learners have access to through YouTube fan practices.
6:15 PM – 7:00 PM
Plenary Talk
Speakers: Dorothy Chun, Honeiah Karimi, David Sañosa
Traveling by Headset: Immersive VR for Language Learning
Immersive Virtual Reality with headsets such as the Oculus Quest or the HTC Vive, primarily used for video games, are being used for educational purposes in general and for second language learning in particular. The main affordances of this technology include providing learners with immersion in an authentic cultural context almost anywhere on the globe, enabling learning through embodied cognition, and increasing motivation through apps designed for gameful learning. In this presentation, we start with an immersive learning model that can be applied to L2 learning, present some examples of VR apps that showcase the affordances of the technology (e.g., Wander), and end with some recommendations for the development of future immersive VR apps for language learning.
Virtual Day Two, June 3rd
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
Plenary Talk
Speaker: Robert O’Dowd
Virtual Exchange in Foreign Language Education: What do we know so far?
Virtual Exchange (VE) is an umbrella term used to refer to the engagement of groups of learners in online intercultural interaction and collaboration with partners from other cultural contexts or geographical locations as an integrated part of course work and under the guidance of educators and/or expert facilitators (O’Dowd & Lewis, 2016). Although Virtual Exchange has been employed in university foreign language education for over 25 years, for most of that time it has very much been a peripheral activity, carried out and promoted by a small but convinced group of practitioners.
However, current debates on the economic and environmental cost of study abroad programs, as well as the challenges to physical mobility posed by global pandemics have made Virtual Exchange an increasingly attractive option for institutions of higher education as they search for sustainable models of international learning which will serve as an alternative or complement to physical mobility programs.
But what do we know about the impact of Virtual Exchange in foreign language education? The past three years have also seen the publication of a plethora of impact reports and studies which present the findings or projects and organisations such as Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange, the Stevens Initiative and the EVALUATE and EVOLVE projects who are engaged in promoting large-scale Virtual Exchange initiatives. For the most part, these publications present both qualitative and quantitative data on what students learn from Virtual Exchange and what teachers and institutions can do to support this learning. In this presentation I will use these publications as well as other key publications from the CALL literature to try and answer three questions: What do students learning from Virtual Exchange? How can we support teachers who want to become involved in the activity? And what can we identify as examples of good practice for implementing Virtual Exchange in university classrooms?
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speakers: Carolyn Blume, Detmar Meurers
Taking ICALL to Task: Blending Form-Focus and Task-based Foreign Language Learning
While intelligent CALL (ICALL) has, in principle, established its potential for foreign language learning, its impact on real-life classrooms has been comparatively limited. Existing systems provide opportunities for directed skill practice and immediate feedback, but offer little functional or communicative contextualization that would reflect pedagogically-driven principles of TBLL. This presentation will describe an interdisciplinary approach to uniquely align a purpose-built ICALL application with a task-based approach for EFL learners in German schools. This presentation will summarize the findings of the first stage of the project before showing how the revised task-based activity design frames motivational feedback and gamification elements.
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speaker: Victoria Russell
Developing and Delivering a Synchronous Online World Language Methods Class
The presenter will discuss the development and delivery of a synchronous online methods course for graduate students with majors in Spanish, French, and ESOL education. The class is part of an innovative, fully online MAT program that is accredited by CAEP and that has national recognition from ACTFL. Attendees will learn about the problems, mistakes, and pitfalls that were made with the first iteration of the course. Following the evaluation phase, which included student evaluations, peer evaluations, and student focus groups, changes were made that resulted in a smoother delivery, stronger learning outcomes, and higher end of semester student evaluations.
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speaker: Senta Goertler
Maximizing Technology for Education Abroad Before, During, and after Sojourn
Technology has been viewed as both beneficial for and detrimental to education abroad. On the one hand, the access to home through technology has been perceived as detrimental for immersion (Kinginger, 2008; Knight & Schmidt-Rinehost, 2002; Ogden, 2008; Wooley, 2013). On the other hand, empirical research has also shown technology being beneficial for connections, intercultural competence development, and language development before, during, and after an education abroad experience (e.g., Goertler, 2015). Research-proven and theory-based models for maximizing technology for education abroad pre, during, and post sojourn will be presented.
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speakers: Veronika Timpe-Laughlin, Tetyana Sydorenko, Phoebe Daurio
Using Interactive Spoken Dialog Systems for Language Learning and Instruction: What Do Teachers Think?
Oftentimes language learners receive little opportunity to practice speaking the target language, even in the language classroom. Conversation-based spoken dialog systems (SDS) have the potential to address this need. This study explored ESL teachers’ perceptions and opinions regarding the implementation of SDS-based tasks into their instruction. 16 tertiary-level instructors were asked to interact with four SDS-tasks. Then, perceptions were collected via surveys and interviews. Findings show that teachers had positive views of the SDS-tasks and shared interesting approaches to implementing them for speaking practice and diagnostic purposes. Findings will be discussed with regard to using SDS-tasks for learning and instruction.
2:15 PM – 3:30 PM
Speakers: Paul Lyddon, Julie Belz, Dorothy Chun, Richard Kern, Steve Thorne
What Makes CMC Special?
The ever-rapid development of new digital technologies and the practices surrounding them is increasingly blurring the definition and aims of CMC. Is CMC still relevant as a “special interest”? If so, how? To clarify its unique mission and suggest a clear way forward, the CALICO CMC SIG has invited this panel of veteran scholars to discuss the evolving goals, tools, and pedagogies of CMC and to speculate on their future trajectories. After a brief initial statement from each, the panelists will engage in a moderated discussion of this issue, followed by a period of open questioning from the “floor”.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speakers: Alice Gruber, Regina Kaplan-Rakowski
Can Immersive Virtual Reality Help Foreign Language Learners to Cope with Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety?
Virtual reality (VR) is known to aid people in confronting traumas and disorders. It also has the potential to help foreign language learners cope with public speaking anxiety. This presentation reports on a study in which learners of English practiced their public speaking in front of a virtual audience, using a highly immersive VR system. The subjects gave oral presentations twice in a face-to-face and four times in a VR format. The data were drawn from questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and from measures recorded on a biometric wearable device. The results of this study provide groundwork for researchers and practitioners.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speakers: Adnan Mohamed
Feedback in Computer-Assisted Language Learning: Meta-Analysis
With the aim of summarizing years of research on feedback in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) studies and identifying the moderators of feedback in CALL, the presenter conducted a meta-analysis study. By establishing rigorous inclusion and exclusion criteria, the presenter located 21 primary studies that met clearly defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The findings indicated under the Random Effect (RE) model that feedback in CALL has a significant medium effect size on student language learning outcomes (g = 0.56). However, the effectiveness of feedback in CALL is moderated by a host of variables, including mother tongue, target language, and so on. This presentation concludes with implications and recommendations for future learning and research.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speakers: Nina Moreno, Lara Ducate
Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) in CALL Teacher Training
Personal learning networks (PLNs) use social media and technology to collect and share information with fellow teachers and experts. This presentation reports on a pre-service teacher education CALL class during which students developed their own PLNs over one semester. Blog entries and interviews were examined to assess how learners autonomously guided and reflected on their own learning and on the integration of their newly-found tools. Researchers used grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1997) to identify themes in the types of materials students collected, the categories of technology they chose, and to compare how they planned to use the materials.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speakers: Mariam Manzur Leiva
Developing More Resilient Language Students: Technologies to Enhance Persistence and Buoyancy in the Foreign Language Classroom
The 21st century educational landscape requires educators to integrate new technologies to enrich students’ learning experience and provide them with tools to extend their learning process outside of the classroom. Educators find themselves surrounded by a myriad of digital technologies to choose from, but this abundance does not guarantee an effective implementation or successful results. This presentation will explore PB Goal-Setting Theory and SLA concepts as frameworks to help educators implement technologies in a purposeful way. The presenter will analyze the use of several digital technologies as core tools to develop Academic Persistence and Academic Buoyancy in the foreign language classroom.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speakers: David Ortega, Nelleke Van Deusen-Scholl
Developing New Pedagogical and Technological Skills: A Graduate Student Training Program in Distance Language Teaching
In this presentation, we discuss a model to train graduate students in distance language teaching. The program offers hands-on practice with synchronous and asynchronous technologies, familiarizes participants with current CALL research, and connects them to a wider community of educators involved in distance education. Taking into account the competitive academic job market and the increasing relevance of the distance environment for language teaching, this program supports graduates in their efforts to develop and adopt desirable pedagogical and technological skills.
3:20 PM – 3:35 PM
Speakers: Arthur Wendorf
MAGEs: Mini Applied Game Environments
Mini Applied Game Environments (MAGEs) are Language Teaching and Learning Technologies (LTLTs) that allow instructors to quickly and easily set up technology-enhanced communicative games in their classrooms. In this technology showcase four different freely available MAGEs will be demoed: Adivina: A versatile MAGE for playing a variety of communicative guessing games, The Storage Room: For practicing prepositions and classroom vocabulary, Ninjaed: Which facilitates the communicative practice of comparisons, and Overseer: A fun way to practice giving directions. Attendees will be able to try out all four MAGEs and will be provided with the information needed to use them in their classes.
3:20 PM – 3:35 PM
Speakers: Dan Soneson, Hai Liu, Adolfo Carrillo Cabello
Engaging Beginning Chinese Learners with Multimedia Grammar Lessons: The Interactive Chinese Grammar Project
This presentation demonstrates interactive multimedia grammar lessons in a flipped lower-level Chinese course. We describe the process for developing and incorporating the materials and report on student engagement and perceptions developed from interactions with the lessons. We conclude by discussing successes and challenges, and offering guidelines for curriculum integration of lessons and for selecting technologies to manage delivery of content and integration of feedback.
3:20 PM – 3:35 PM
Speakers: Thomas Kehoe
LanguageTwo App for L2 Speech Perception
LanguageTwo is a web app training speech perception for second language acquisition. Using the LanguageTwo app, anyone can understand every word of a vernacular video even in a language they’ve never heard before. The aim of this project is to enable even beginner L2 learners to learn a language by ear from podcasts, music, and movies. The app uses vernacular videos, then uses computer synthesized speech to clarify the words, then zooms down to the phonetic level. After a user correctly perceives a word or phrase, he or she pronounces the word or phrase, with immediate feedback from Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR). LanguageTwo zooms in and out between “top down” and “bottom up”. In other words, you’re getting the big picture of context and meaning and culture, while at the same time your brain’s language responsive cortex isn’t being overwhelmed because this app is making a foreign language ultra-simple and ultra-clear. The app is currently in beta release for English and Spanish learners.
3:20 PM – 3:35 PM
Speakers: Robert Reynolds, Konnor Petersen
A VIEW of Russian Phonetics: Automatically Generated Phonetic Transcription Exercises in Authentic Text
We describe Russian phonetic transcription learning activities we developed for the Visual Input Enhancement of the Web (VIEW) browser extension. The activities are dynamically generated from any webpage selected by the user, exposing the user to exercises in the context of authentic Russian text. Russian language learners frequently struggle to know how a word ought to be pronounced. We briefly describe the automatic Russian phonetic transcription utility that we developed. Then, we discuss each of the four activities we developed for VIEW, including two new activity types. VIEW and our new automatic Russian phonetic transcription utility are free and open-source.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Lori Lye
Competition and Motivation in Mobile Apps for Language Learning: A Study on Duolingo
While mobile apps for language learning have continued to gain popularity, few studies have investigated the most popular of these: Duolingo. This study investigates the use of Duolingo in a supplementary context to determine language outcomes for beginning Spanish students. Linguistic (e.g., fluency) and affective (e.g., motivation) data are compared to those of a control group. While it seems that Duolingo’s gamified approach leads to higher motivation, the findings on linguistic outcomes are less clear-cut. Results will be discussed in terms of the advantages and disadvantages of leveraging such pre-existing products in language learning classrooms.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Errol O’Neill
Online Students’ (un)Authorized Use of Google Translate
An increasing number of articles in the literature have investigated the use of online translation among students taking on-ground classes. What is the status of Google Translate among learners in online courses? Enforcing prohibitions of online tools (e.g.. for exams) is a challenging, if not impossible, task for instructors teaching online courses. A survey of over 100 students and teachers, who have taken or taught a course online in the past year, looked at the usage, attitudes, and policies related to online resources. An analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data from the survey will be presented, along with possible implications for online instruction and learning.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Christine Bistline Bonilla
The Effects of Interlocutor, Task, and State Anxiety in Computer-mediated Dyadic Interaction
The present study aims to contribute to instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) research by employing two types of tasks along with three types of interlocutors in SCMC to address whether 1) instances of negotiation on task and 2) L2 lexical development are related to learners’ state anxiety, type of task, and type of interlocutor. The present study included 82 adult L2 learners enrolled in fourth-semester Spanish language courses at the university level. Participants collaborated with either a peer, professor, or native speaker via Zoom instant messaging to complete 1) an information gap task and 2) a decision-making task.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Ananda Muhammad, Fatemeh Bordbarjavidi
Exploring the Perceived Benefits of a Professional Development Opportunity in a Global Online Course: Insights from Mentor Perspectives
The presence of mentors in an online course has been found advantageous not only for the mentees, but also for the mentors themselves. This study explores mentoring in the context of a global online teacher training course (GOC) on the use of educational technology in the English language learning classroom (U.S. Department of State’s American English E-Teacher Program). Mentors from the GOC were interviewed to gain deeper insight into their experience as mentors to better understand how their role as mentors can benefit their future as CALL professionals. Implications for preparing future CALL professionals through e-mentoring opportunities will be examined.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Hossam Elsherbiny
Audiovisual Materials in Language Classrooms: Can They Facilitate Vocabulary Acquisition?
By engaging in the debate on the use of contrastive-analysis-based methods, this presentation addresses the effectiveness of translating audiovisual materials by using subtitling-specific software in promoting vocabulary acquisition. The presentation highlights the findings of a study conducted with a group of advanced learners of Egyptian colloquial Arabic, and discusses its implications.
4:00 PM – 5:15 PM
Speakers: Bridget Yaden, Paul Aoki, Russell Hugo
Language Learning Center Innovations
Language center directors from different kinds of higher education institutions will share how they have innovated in their centers to adapt to global and virtual realities. These innovations include developing online courses for language learners and teachers that help with recruitment and retention, creating a living-learning community partnered with the language center, leveraging federal funds for teacher and student heritage programs connected to STEM, and creating and sharing online resources for the teaching and preservation of Indigenous and other less commonly taught languages which are threatened by limited funding.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: David Harper, Lauren Amer
The Impact of Facilitated Oral SCMC in an Online Language-Learning Program
For language learning, production practice has many documented benefits (e.g., Swain, 1993; Ellis, 2003). To investigate the importance of production in an online learning environment, this quasi-experimental study examined the relationship between online live tutoring usage and proficiency outcomes. Using multilevel modeling and controlling for a number of factors on a matched dataset of 748 learners, we found a positive effect of live tutoring usage. These gains were found despite the test measure’s focus on receptive skills and the live tutoring sessions’ focus on a combination of productive (speaking) and receptive (listening) skills.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: Richard Medina, Dorothy Chun, Trude Heift, Julio C Rodriguez
Technology Innovations for an Online, Open Access, Open Source Publishing Ecosystem
Language, Learning, and Technology (LLT, https://www.lltjournal.org) is an online, open access journal. To date, nearly 900 articles, reviews, and commentaries have been published across 23 volumes. At a rate of three volumes per year, the impact and productivity of LLT truly reflects an enduring community effort committed to maintaining quality open scholarship. The challenges of sustaining open access, however, are typically met through adoption of open source technology. This presentation discusses an open source techno-ecosystem developed by the National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) and adopted by LLT to sustain the “open” in open access.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: Frederik Cornillie, Julie Gijpen
“If it really doesn’t work, I’ll use Aidez-Moi”: Examining Learners’ Use of Graduated Help in a Task-based Digital Game for French
Graduated help (GH) is a form of assistance grounded in socio-cultural theory that aims to effectively support learning while maintaining the learner’s capacity for independent problem-solving. Although GH has been implemented and studied in CALL (Ai, 2017), little is known about how learners interact with GH, in particular in task-based environments. This study examined how learners’ use of GH in a task-based digital game for French was mediated by prior knowledge and achievement goal orientation, and whether learner training (Hubbard, 2018) affected their help seeking. We present analyses of survey, screencast and interview data from 10 students of French.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: Norman Wang
AI-platform for the Chinese Language – Transforming Authentic Materials into Effective Learning
We will be exploring the power of AI-platform that can transform any authentic Chinese content into a ready-to-teach lesson that is aligned with the major Chinese standards in the world in an instant. From curriculum design to lesson plans and from classroom instructions to autonomous learning, the era of AI-enabled teaching and learning is here.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speaker: Gilbert Dizon
Evaluating the Use of Amazon Alexa to Develop L2 Listening and Speaking Skills
This presentation details a quasi-experimental study that examined the in-class use of the intelligent personal assistant (IPA), Amazon Alexa, among Japanese university students to support improvements in L2 English listening comprehension and speaking proficiency. The study utilized a quasi-experimental design with an experimental group (n=13) which took part in a 10-week treatment of student-IPA interaction and a control group (n=15) which did not. A 10-item survey based on the technology acceptance model (Davis, 1989) was also used to assess the students’ perceptions of the IPA for in-class L2 learning. Results and implications of the study will be discussed.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speakers: Stella Hadjistassou
Designing Augmented Reality Activities for Intercultural Telecollaboration
Intercultural exchanges have galvanized scholarly interest and multiple studies have been conducted inviting students to pursue joint goals, knowledge and culturally and linguistically rich experiences (Helm, 2018; O’Dowd, 2018; Sadler & Dooly, 2016; Belz, 2003).The study addresses the following questions: (1) What are some of the underlying pedagogical and technological constructs that we need to contemplate while designing these AR applications? (2) What role can students play in this process of designing and integrating AR activities into intercultural exchanges? (3) What are some of the affordances and contradictions that emerge during the implementation of these AR applications in intercultural exchanges?
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speakers: Emily Hellmich, Kimberly Vinall
“If we can beat ‘em, join ‘em”: How Student Use and Instructors’ Perceptions of Machine Translation Can Inform Pedagogical Practices
Despite the ubiquity of machine translation (e.g., GoogleTranslate), an inquiry that compares student use of MT and educators’ perceptions of MT has yet to be launched. We draw on methods from applied linguistics and user experience research to put into conversation US FL educators’ attitudes toward MT and how students actually use these tools. Data come from several sources: a survey of educators (n=163); focus interviews with educators (n=11); and observations and interviews of student writers (n=75). In response to the tensions that emerge, we suggest guidelines on how to teach students to use MT tools.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speakers: Shannon McCrocklin, Rachel Stuckel, Eugenie Mainake
Examining Student Experiences in Simulated Immersive Language Learning Experiences in VR
Previous research showed that participants using Mondly VR find it engaging with clear benefits for language learning (Kaplan-Rakowski & Woydynski, 2018). This study examined participants’ (N=37) self-reported perceptions of learning and video recorded engagement with support tools in Mondly. Participants sampled three scenarios (moving from their native language, to a studied language, to an unknown language) completing questionnaires after each. Participants found Mondly easy to use and useful for language learning, but were divided on whether it provided sufficient feedback to improve. There were differences in use of support tools and in appreciation of Mondly features across experiences.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speakers: Genggeng Zhang
Exploring the Comprehension of Technical Texts
Miscomprehension on aviation maintenance manuals can lead to fatal accidents. This study investigates aviation maintenance students’ on-line reading comprehension of technical texts in authentic and simplified versions. The presenter introduces the rationales behind the reading experiment and presents exploratory findings that inform reading comprehension, English for Specific Purposes pedagogy, and technical writing.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speakers: HeeJin Bang
How Can Self-guided Digital Games Help Develop Chinese EFL learners’ English Skills?
The efficacy of a digital game for Chinese children learning English as a foreign language was tested in a mixed-methods pretest/posttest study. Children used the game for 15-20 minutes/day for 6 months. Data from assessments showed significant improvements in listening comprehension and speaking skills, while parent survey data corroborated the assessment results, indicated children’s overall engagement in the game, as well as their development of interest, motivation, and confidence in learning English. Specific activities in the game and parenting practices that promoted effective engagement are explained, and implications for designing effective digital EFL learning activities are discussed.
5:45 PM – 6:15 PM
Speakers: Michael Hofmeyr
Understanding Processes of Second Language Acquisition in Digital Game-based Peer Interaction
A growing body of research in CALL has been investigating the potential of digital games to facilitate language learning. While past studies have presented convincing evidence that playing such games can improve learning outcomes and increase motivation, the processes by which gameplay may facilitate L2 acquisition remain poorly understood. To help clarify these mechanisms, a study was conducted with a small group of learners playing the cooperative puzzle game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. Spoken learner output was analysed using an interactionist SLA framework and several negotiation strategies thought to be beneficial for L2 development were identified and quantified.
5:45 PM – 6:15 PM
Speakers: Stephen Tschudi, Julio C Rodriguez, Richard Medina, Ana Oskoz, Dan Soneson, Scott Payne, Andrew Ross
Beyond Coding: The Hackathon as a Vehicle for Innovation
Software applications should reflect stakeholder needs. Inviting stakeholders to think through the design (or redesign) of institutional apps, such as a university’s mobile app, can help the designer not only optimize the app, but also garner useful recommendations for (re)design of institutional practices and relationships. This session introduces the concept of using the student hackathon, a competitive event eliciting innovative software designs from multiple competing teams, as an engine for generating innovations that extend beyond coding to “hacking” the institution itself. Examples will show how a successful student hackathon event has shaped the conception of a new institutional virtual dashboard.
5:45 PM – 6:15 PM
Speakers: Eugenie Mainake, Shannon McCrocklin
Analyzing EFL Teachers’ Technology Preparedness to Promote CALL in Indonesia
Studies have shown that teachers’ limited knowledge and skill to utilize technology inhibited CALL-based EFL instructions (Park & Son, 2009; Cahyani & Cahyono, 2012; Ridwan, 2017). This study explored Indonesian EFL teachers’ technology skills, perceptions of CALL usefulness, and current needs for CALL-based pedagogy. EFL high school teachers (N=42) from Maluku, Indonesia participated. The findings indicated that teachers have adequate knowledge and skills to use technology and favorable attitude towards CALL-based EFL instructions. Teachers’ concerns included insufficient facility support and skill training. The study suggests introducing more affordable technology tools, collaboration with stakeholders, and teachers’ training for fruitful CALL-based instructions.
5:45 PM – 6:15 PM
Speakers: Oksana Vorobel, Tuvi Voorhees, Deniz Gokcora
Analyzing Teaching Presence in Diigo in an ESL Writing Course
This case study investigates teaching presence in an online context in an ESL writing course. Specifically, we focus on the three constituents of the teaching presence—design and organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction—in Diigo, a social bookmarking tool, used for the development of reading and writing in L2. The community of inquiry model serves as a conceptual framework. The findings and discussion show the role of a teacher in developing a community of inquiry, affordances of Diigo, and modified coding schemes for assessing teaching presence in language courses. We conclude with the implications for research and practice.
6:30 PM – 7:15 PM
Plenary Talk
Speakers: Bob Godwin-Jones
Advances in Language Technologies: A Global Reality for CALL? And for Language Teachers?
The fast pace of development in artificial intelligence, massive collections of speech data, and the power/ubiquity of online devices appear to be ushering in a future in which human communication, mediated through smart tools, is made transparently comprehensible, no matter the languages spoken. That is enabled through sophisticated translation apps, portable/wearable speech translators, and intelligent language bots/assistants now available. The constant improvement in quality, the range of languages supported, and the convenience of use of these language tools have led some to question the practical need to learn a second language. In this talk I will discuss what these developments mean for CALL researchers and for instructed language learning today.
Virtual Day Three, June 4th
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
Plenary Talk
Speaker: Steve Thorne
Technologies and Morphologies of Action: Amplification, the Wild, and Rewilding
This presentation examines a range of issues at the confluence of three streams of research and pedagogical innovation: 1) technology, 2) human development, and 3) language use and learning. Across human history, information and communication technologies have had enormous effects on the processes they mediate and enable. Digital technologies in particular have amplified possibilities for communication in the areas of audience, impact, and speed while also facilitating the emergence of distinctive linguistic, multimodal, cultural, interactional, and cognitive practices. Moreover, in many regions of the world, digital technologies have become entwined with everyday action and interaction, specifically in the use and interpretation of semiotic resources for the construction, negotiation, and contestation of meanings, identities, and relationships. The broader argument is that technologies are constitutive forms of human culture that mediate and shape cognition, communication, and material action. In this talk, I describe the history and contradictory appraisals of digital media and then present empirical studies of L2 and plurilingual language use and learning. Included are case studies of “learning in the wild” (in the sense of Hutchins, 1995), focusing primarily on interaction in environments outside of formal education, which then come to inform pedagogical interventions that attempt to “rewild” instructed language learning. Together, these projects apply multiple approaches (i.e., sociocultural and activity theory, usage-based linguistics, ethnomethodology, posthumanism), evince social justice commitments, and address foreign, second, and indigenous language contexts.
2:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Speakers: Richard Medina, Madeleine Achgill, Scott Payne, Linnea Benson, Daniel Ferro, Ainsley Gordon
The Language Flagship Dashboard: Deploying Student-led Co-design to Find Nuance and Create Better Software for Advanced Language Learners
This session features student presenters chronicling and critically reflecting on their experiences as key stakeholders and co-designers of an educational software platform for members of the Language Flagship community. The discussion will include: 1.) a description of the co-design process; 2.) the architecture and features of the Dashboard platform; 3.) the agile software development approach used; 4.) results of student-led, user research during beta-testing phases; and 5.) the roadmap for future development.
2:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Speakers: Claudia Kost
Open Educational Resources for a Task-Based First-Year German Language Curriculum with an Integrated Blended Learning Component
At the Technology Showcase, we will present our newly created OER for introductory German. Starting in Fall 2020, we will move towards a blended learning format in our introductory language courses and replace the traditional textbooks in our first-year German classes with an OER that features an integrated blended learning component. Our OER covers materials for two semesters and is an introduction to the German language and German-speaking cultures. The main goal of these courses is to develop basic communication skills in German, comparable to the A1 and A2 levels of the CEFR.
2:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Speakers: Dan Nickolai, Lillian Jones
Automating L2 Corrective Feedback with iSpraak
This demonstration will showcase the web application iSpraak for Google Chrome. This is an online CAPT tool for language educators and SLA researchers that leverages Google’s multilingual speech recognition engine with the aim of evaluating student speech and providing meaningful and immediate corrective feedback. The program encourages students to work on the intelligibility of their output and provides instructors and researchers with reporting tools to analyze the frequency and nature of errors. The developer will be on site to answer questions and provide conference attendees with the opportunity to use the program.
2:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Speaker: Tetiana Tytko
Can Reading be Collaborative? Implementing Computer-assisted Collaborative Reading in L2 Instruction
Online instruction has recently become the only means of successful instruction in the U.S. and globally. This situation induced the present study that compares L2 students’ perception of face-to-face collaborative reading tasks with their web-based equivalents and explores the technological tools enabling online collaboration while working on reading tasks. Collaborative learning is ubiquitous in ESL/EFL instruction, though unfairly overlooked in teaching reading. After integrating technology, a question remains if computer-assisted collaborative reading is more effective than face-to-face, and how it can be enhanced. Considering students’ responses, this study discusses pedagogical implications for ESL/EFL classrooms in regard to online L2 instruction.
2:15 PM – 3:30 PM
Speakers: Carmen King Ramirez, Barbara Lafford, James Wermers
Online Language Instructor Performance Reviews
In this panel presentation the authors of the forthcoming book, Online Language Instruction: Training and Assessment (Georgetown University Press, 2021), will preview an original evaluation rubric designed for online language instructors. The explanation of the rubric will highlight why adaptable online assessment processes are vital for the initial training and continued support of virtual instructors. Each panelist will discuss a unique component of online instructor evaluation and provide examples of how that component can be implemented in institutional assessment practices.
2:25 PM – 2:55 PM
Speaker: Gillian Lord
Promoting Campus Globalization through Beacon Technology
This session reports on an interdisciplinary project that uses beacons (blue-tooth devices that emit signals to corresponding apps) to internationalize a university campus. Through beacons, app development, and student involvement, we are now able to provide campus information in multiple languages and multiple modalities. In this session we discuss the design and implementation of the beacon project, including the development of the corresponding app and the role of language students, to highlight how this innovative use of a new(-to-higher education) technology is helping to globalize campus information and to raise the profile of foreign language teaching and learning on campus.
2:25 PM – 2:55 PM
Speakers: Ellen Yeh, Nick Swinehart
Instagram vs Reality: Exploring Local Culture through Various Lenses
This study aims to help 30 English language learners improve their ability to critically evaluate social media content by exploring a local community through a variety of different lenses: analyzing social media content, exploring the local community, and interact with residents of the community. Based on the theoretical frameworks of critical pedagogy (Freire, 2006; Thornton, 2006) and intercultural communicative competence (ICC; Byram, 1997), the study investigated ways to foster ELLs’ critical consciousness by promoting a deeper and multifaceted understanding of the sociocultural issues in a community. Pedagogical implications point to the beneficial impact of this critical evaluation training for ICC.
2:25 PM – 2:55 PM
Speakers: Adriana Picoral, Bruna Sommer-Farias, Aleksey Novikov, Shelley Staples
Interactive Data-Driven Learning (iDDL): A Report on Creating and Using Interactive Corpus-based Activities
This project reports on the pedagogical applications of iDDL (interactive data-driven learning), an open educational tool that allows embedding of corpus data in teaching materials. This presentation starts with a description of a multilingual academic learner corpus, an open educational resource designed to help language instructors incorporate corpus data into their teaching. Our discussion includes teachers’ perceptions on designing and implementing iDDL materials in their language classrooms. Implications for future teacher training and other ways of tackling technical issues are also discussed.
Learner corpora have untapped potential for language teaching by providing instructors with large amounts of representative learner data (Granger, 2002), which can be used to produce data-driven learning (DDL) materials (Johns, 1991; Gilquin & Granger, 2010; Flowerdew, 2015). DDL consists of incorporating authentic examples of language use (i.e., corpus data) into classroom activities. One of the issues hindering a more prominent use of DDL by instructors is the paucity of usable open educational resources (Leńko-Szymańska, 2017). This is especially true for less commonly taught languages (LCTLs), such as Portuguese and Russian (Spina, 2017). As a way to bridge this gap, we introduce interactive DDL (iDDL), which is a new tool that allows embedding of corpus data in teaching materials.
This presentation starts with a description of a multilingual academic learner corpus, an open educational resource designed to help language instructors incorporate corpus data into their teaching. This learner corpus is comprised of 2,075 texts produced by 255 students of Portuguese (536,168 words total) and 812 texts by 100 students of Russian (111,705 words total), spreading across different topics and language proficiency levels. We then share teachers’ perceptions on the implementation of both ready-made and their own iDDL materials. We report on field notes taken during training sessions, and survey responses answered by the instructors (N=12). This presentation concludes with issues, technical and otherwise, involved in designing and implementing iDDL activities and how these challenges may be overcome.
2:25 PM – 2:55 PM
Speaker: Zhi Li
Investigating the Impact of TESOL Graduate Students’ First-hand Experiences with a Social Chatbot on their Design of Chatbot-related Learning Activities
Situated in a CALL course in a TESOL master’s program in Canada, this mixed-methods study explores how TESOL graduate students’ experiences with a chatbot impacted their perceptions of the chatbot as a language learning tool and their design of chatbot-related language teaching/learning activities. Students’ first-hand experiences with the chatbot are studied with a corpus-based analysis of the chat scripts from four sessions of student-chatbot interactions, as well as an analysis of questionnaire responses and reflection essays. These findings are then used to triangulate a qualitative analysis of the students’ chatbot-related activity design.
3:05 PM – 3:35 PM
Speaker: Isabeau Fievez
Learn French with Netflix: Incidental Vocabulary Learning through Viewing L2 Television in an Informal Context
This study investigates the effects of watching an entire season of a TV-series on Netflix ( 307’ spread over two weeks), with L2 on-screen text and access to glossaries on the vocabulary acquisition of 120 Dutch learners of French. Vocabulary gains were measured with a form and a meaning recall test in a pre- post-test design. Results will be discussed in relation to different factors that may influence learning gains from exposure to L2 audiovisual input: word-related factors (i.e. frequency of occurrence and recency), behavioural factor (i.e. use of the glossaries) and learner-related factors (i.e. prior vocabulary knowledge and viewing comprehension).
3:05 PM – 3:35 PM
Speaker: Christopher Daradics
Designing Mixed-Reality Experiences for Language Development
Previous research offers significant insight into the benefits of simulations, games, and language play for language teaching and learning (e.g., Reinhardt, 2019; Sykes, & Reinhardt 2012). Extending this work to emergent media, this presentation explores mixed-reality experiences for language development. Mixed-reality experiences, (i.e., the combined implementation of augmented, virtual, and analog tools) offer an emergent context that integrates complex narrative structures and gaming mechanisms to create innovative opportunities for collaboration. Drawing on 125 hours of data from five mixed-reality experiences, this presentation synthesizes key takeaways for experience design and offers implications for application to language teaching and learning.
3:05 PM – 3:35 PM
Speakers: Julie Sykes, Stephanie Knight
Complex Learning Scenarios: Emerging Lessons from Mixed Reality Interventions
Game-based approaches to language learning have been shown to facilitate the development of social skills and knowledge (for a recent review see Reinhardt, 2019). Mixed-Reality Complex Learning Scenarios (MRCLSs) are immersive, play-oriented experiences in which participants work together to complete multi-step tasks to discover and unpack critical information about language functions. This presentation reports on initial pilot study data examining the effectiveness of MRCLSs in a beginning Spanish high school classroom. Specifically, we will examine pre-, during-, and post-data to measure the development of learners’ language, intercultural competence, metalinguistic processes. The session concludes with implications for future research and pedagogy.
3:05 PM – 3:35 PM
Speaker: Samantha Alducin
LingroFolio & Contraseña: Promoting 21st Century Skills via a social learning platform and digital Spanish Program
Join us for an introduction to LingroFolio, a social learning and ePortfolio tool embedded within LingroLearning’s digital Foundational Spanish program, Contraseña (Lord/Rossomondo), where students post motivating, personalized and engaging projects that serve as replacements to mechanical drill exams and that allow them to showcase their language skills, and subsequently reflect on their learning. In addition to reviewing the theoretical and practical applications of LingroFolio, we will preview how Contraseña itself prepares students to meet the needs of the 21st century by giving them materials that foster communication, allow them to be successful, provide opportunities to share inclusive perspectives, and are accessible and affordable.
3:05 PM – 3:35 PM
Speaker: Elisa Dossena
A Digital Platform for a Multimodal Pedagogy in an Advanced Italian Language Course
This presentation showcases an online multimedia platform used in a course of advanced Italian through contemporary film. A digital platform is the perfect learning environment for this approach. On the platform, students engaged with clips and entire films along with exercises, grammar, vocabulary applications, interactive readings, and digital discussion boards. The platform made students interact with the films and each other through exercises and activities built within film sequences.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Julio C Rodriguez, Richard Medina, Naiyi Fincham, William Comer
Technology Initiatives in The Language Flagship
This presentation will showcase technology processes and products developed through three initiatives in The Language Flagship program that have a common goal: supporting the attainment of high levels of language proficiency. The products include mobile apps to support microlearning experiences for learners of Arabic, Chinese, and Russian and resources to support simulated learning experiences in Chinese and Korean. All products are open-source and their content is shared through CC licensing. The initiatives addressed in this presentation will also serve to illustrate the application of guidelines for improving language learning in 31 Flagship programs through the strategic integration of technology.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Nawaf Almustori, Haia Alzaidi
Appraising the Validity of Using Automated Writing Evaluation for Formative Assessment
Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) software are increasingly being used for formative assessment in writing courses. This increasing adoption is coupled with constant and ongoing development of the AWE software and their functionalities. However, research needs to validate this adoption and development. This study seeks to validate the use of ETS Criterion for formative assessment in college-level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing courses by appraising evidence at multiple levels of inference. The inferences targeted are evaluation, generalization, explanation, extrapolation, utilization and ramification inferences. Targeting multiple inferences would provide a more complete picture of the validity of using such a software for formative assessment purposes.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Deniz Gokcora, Sally Everson
A COIL Project Involving Education and Social Justice: A Case Study in a Community College Context
This presentation reports on a collaborative online international program between a community college development course and a freshman composition course at a four-year university. Using CUNY Academic Commons, CBox platform, students worked on two major projects which required them to compare their college education experiences reflecting on Rodriguez’s “The Achievement of Desire” and make an oral presentation by selecting a mutually agreeable social injustice topic. Finally, students were given a Global Competencies Initiative survey at the end of the course. The results show that the technological tools motivated students to engage in collaborative learning and created meaningful student learning opportunities.
4:00 PM – 5:15 PM
Speakers: Jeffrey Maloney, Lara Ducate, Kelly Arispe, Nike Arnold, Greg Kessler, Phil Hubbard, Senta Goertler
Global Realities of Teacher Training for CALL: Where Are We, Where Have We Been, and Where Are We Going?
This panel discussion will focus on the global realities of CALL teacher education past, present and future. Despite recent publications in this area, there is currently a lack of important moves forward from a theoretical and field-wide perspective. Each panelist will provide an overview of their area, along with suggestions for areas of future research. Areas addressed include technology standards, teacher education courses, rural and marginalized teacher training, telecollaboration, K12 teachers and CALL, and future-proof training. The major purpose of the panel will be to kick-start discussion surrounding how researchers and professionals can address CALL teacher education moving forward.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: Jacob E Larsen, James Nemiroff, Alison Kirwen
Bringing the 16th and 17th Centuries into the 21st: Using Augmented Reality in a Spanish Literature Class
Research suggests that augmented reality (AR) has a positive impact on student motivation, engagement and academic achievement consistent with current theories of second language acquisition which emphasize localized, contextual learning and meaningful real-world connections. Our study explored the use of an AR application, HP Reveal, in a Spanish literature class and will report on student attitudes and engagement as well as instructor impressions of its impact on student performance and motivation. Support staff for the project will also discuss the demands on staff time and what support materials and processes are needed to realize this project.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: Angelina Rubina, Nina Moreno
Instructor Involvement and Inter-student Communication for Multi-literacy Development: A Twitter Thread Story
With the continuous development of media-based interaction, the view on literacy is rapidly expanding (Chapelle & Sauro, 2017), and research on computer-mediated communication literacy is gaining popularity (Kern, 2006). However, previous research lacks accounts of the effects of (i) inter-student interaction on Twitter (reacting to instructor’s tweets only vs. both instructor’s and peers’ tweets), and (ii) the type of instructor involvement on Twitter (explicit vs. implicit feedback) on learners’ motivation and grammar development. Addressing these issues, the current experiment involves N=182 undergraduate L1 English-L2 Spanish learners, who interacted with 18 Twitter posts under different conditions during a nine-week period.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: Chris Brown, Nadezda Novakovic
Data Display and Refinement of the Web-based ILR Self-assessment Instrument: A Follow-up Report and Discussion
The LTC program at SDSU-LARC has found in preliminary research using task-based, criterion-referenced self-assessment tools that some students greatly overestimate their reading and/or listening proficiency at the end of an intensive/immersive course. The program continues to pilot its ILR-based self-assessment protocol in Qualtrics and has added a data display application for learner and instructor review of pre- and post-course self-assessment profiles. This ongoing study has accrued more data points and begins to look at the utility of the data display application for teachers and learners. This presentation will be a follow-up report on these new aspects of the project.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speaker: Karim Ibrahim
Developing Intercultural Competence in Virtual Spaces: The Affordances of Simulation Video Games
This paper reports on a multiple-case study that investigated the potentials of simulation video games to facilitate intercultural development among L2 learners. Informed by the Intercultural competence model (Byram, 1997) and ecological approaches to L2 learning (e.g. Van Lier, 2004), data about seven L2 learners’ intercultural interactions with a game were collected through think-aloud protocol, interviews, gaming journals, and walkthroughs. The findings suggested that simulation games embody cultural values and practices, and can offer an engaging context for intercultural interactions. The presentation will review the study and discuss the implications of its findings for utilizing video games in L2 classrooms.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speaker: Julio C Rodriguez
Technology Center, University of Hawaii
The Language Flagship is a national initiative to change the way Americans learn languages through a groundbreaking approach to language education for students from kindergarten through college. Within The Language Flagship, the Language Flagship Technology Innovation Center or “Tech Center”, located at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, serves as a hub of innovative means for integrating existing technologies into language teaching and learning. The Tech Center works across all 23 Flagship institutions in collaboration with several partners in the private sector , the government , and academia. In this regard, The Tech Center operates as an incubator and dissemination vehicle for ideas and digital tools that have the potential to transform language education. Although the ultimate goal of the Tech Center is to serve the specific needs of the Flagship community, much of our work and many of our projects are relevant to the world language education community at large. Watch this video to learn about free digital tools and resources that you can use to enhance your practice as a language educator.
5:10 PM – 5:40 PM
Speakers: Susanne DeVore, Stephen Tschudi
Technology to Facilitate Domain-specific Individualized Instruction: Advanced to Superior Mandarin
ACTFL Superior proficiency requires domain-specific language, so learners working toward this level need language instruction related to specific academic fields. Within the context of a Chinese language program with students from many academic majors, a carefully scaffolded system for individualized, domain-specific instruction has been developed and implemented. Technology is key to this system in two ways: first, an array of online resources provides field-specific reading and listening options to students; second, online forms systematically collect students’ written and spoken work and organize it into digital portfolios that facilitate instructor feedback. This presentation describes the socio-culturally oriented system and its implementation.
5:10 PM – 5:40 PM
Speakers: Lisa Frumkes, Tracee Miller
Partnering with Duolingo for Student Engagement
Duolingo is the world’s most popular language-learning app, used by 500 million learners studying 40 languages. At this session, we’ll demonstrate our latest features and hear from some of Duolingo’s linguists, teachers, and learning scientists about how we create curriculum as well as how we support writing skills. Then, discover how Duolingo leverages its data corpus to improve effectiveness. Explore how you might use Duolingo in your classroom to complement your curriculum while motivating students to practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing for the sheer fun of it!
5:10 PM – 5:40 PM
Speakers: Hamideh Mohammadi, Gillian Lord
Technologically-Mediated Explicit Instruction of L2 Pronunciation in Advanced Spanish Classes
As interest in L2 phonology continues to grow, so too do the questions associated with the acquisition of foreign language sound systems. One of these enduring questions relates to the role and effectiveness of explicit instruction in acquiring L2 sounds.Previous studies show that explicit instruction can be beneficial at beginning levels, and that the application of technology and computer programs are indisputably effective in learning process. However, more research needs to be done with respect to the use of technology in acquisition of in foreign language pronunciation. Therefore, we have yet to fully explore the types of instruction and technology that may be most beneficial for advanced learners. This study adds to the relatively limited work carried out thus far on upper level classes, by exploring the effects of technologically-mediated explicit instruction at an advanced level. Preliminary results confirm that that the intervention was successful; however individual differences including attitude and motivation still seem to contribute to differential outcomes.
5:10 PM – 5:40 PM
Speakers: Valérie Pruvost, Amy Chambless
Augmenting Culture through Digital Design, Global Learning, and Collaborative Innovation: An Augmented Reality Pilot
In this presentation, we discuss a pilot project aimed at incorporating Augmented Reality and Digital Design into advanced language and culture courses within our Romance Studies Department. We discuss its theoretical basis in terms of global learning and an evolving definition of research; we lay out its design, including our project-based-learning approach; summarize its implementation; and discuss its relationship to our larger mission of building a “language lab of the future,” no longer defined by the walls of a mere “facility,” but rather a method for diffusing the learning and use of immersive technologies throughout language departments around the world.
5:50 PM – 6:05 PM
Speaker: Blanche Gao
Mission Possible: Learning Academic Vocabulary via A Mobile Augmented Reality Game
This poster presents the design of Mission Possible, a mobile augmented reality (AR) game that aims to support secondary and post-secondary school students to learn and practice academic vocabulary in a second language (SL). This game is self-designed by the researcher with a focus on English as an SL. This study is theoretically grounded in several SL learning theories, such as game-based language learning, technology-mediated task-based language learning, and embodied language learning. This study contributes to the empirical design of game-based language learning and offers insights for educational game designers to consider the affordances of AR in learning SL vocabulary.
5:50 PM – 6:05 PM
Speaker: Adam Sheard
Collaborative Learning with CLNotes
Learn about how to create and deliver student-centered and multimodal language learning resources, activities and assessment tools using the software Collaborative Learning Notes. As a takeaway, attendees will learn how to utilize the potential for modern technological approaches to language learning to automate activity, resource and summative assessment tasks, engage in real-time formative assessment, and customize all course materials to each student at just a click of a button. All of this is designed to allow teachers to teach more efficiently, and learners to learn more effectively.
5:50 PM – 6:05 PM
Speaker: Shamila Naidoo
E-Assessment of L2 IsiZulu Listening Comprehension – A Quantitative Analysis
E-assessment is a comparatively new technique in the teaching and learning of L2 African languages at the tertiary level. Described, by Nunan (1997), as a ‘Cinderella skill’, this paper focuses on listening comprehension, more specifically the e-assessment of listening comprehension. This paper discusses the adoption and integration of e-assessments into L2 isiZulu and presents the results of a quantitative analysis of two listening comprehension assessments. The identification and application of principles relevant to the development of online listening comprehension material and the construction of online questions are discussed. The difficulty indices of the two assessments are quantified and compared, and the marks obtained are critiqued.
5:50 PM – 6:05 PM
Speaker: Irina Mikhailova, Natalia Barley
Technology Integration during a Disruptive Change in an Intensive Foreign Language Learning Environment
The authors evaluate the dynamics of educational technology integration in an intensive foreign language program during nine months after an emergency transition from f2f to online instruction. Using Puentedura’s 2012 SAMR (Substitute, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) model, the authors analyzed foreign language teachers’ classroom observation records and interviewed teachers who used technologies for innovative purposes. The results outline overall trends of the change in technology integration within the program as well as present individual and organizational factors conducive to technology-driven innovation. Implications for faculty professional development and innovation management during disruptive organizational changes are discussed.
6:15 PM – 7:00 PM
Plenary Talk
Speaker: Gillian Lord
Fostering Translingual and Transcultural Competence through Technology Integration and Innovation
According to enrollment data published by the Modern Language Association, enrollments in languages other than English in the U.S. dropped almost 16% between 2009 and 2016, and 652 language programs were closed or eliminated during the same period of time. Even enrollments in Spanish, the most commonly studied language in higher education, fell at all institutional levels for the first time in the history of the MLA survey. While the English-learner population in the U.S. continues to grow, the political and global health situation of recent years has also significantly impacted higher education enrollments in English language classes. The field of language teaching and learning finds itself in an unprecedented state of crisis.
Following the Modern Language Association’s (2007) recommendations, and in the face of this nationwide crisis, language programs have begun to undertake serious self-reflection with respect to our curricula and our pedagogical approaches. This process is all too often revealing an uncomfortable truth: that we cannot continue on the path we have been on, and that our survival may depend on our willingness and our ability to re-envision our approach to teaching languages, literatures and cultures. More specifically, we must explore ways to rethink our curricula, and even our very profession, to better foster the “translingual and transcultural competence” that the MLA recommended.
In this talk, I explore how CALL can help. Technology is not a panacea, and CALICO members are far too savvy and sophisticated to think it could or should be. However, effective integration of technology at all levels of our curricula does have the potential to help us rethink and reform. And as with most crises, it will fall to the innovative thinkers to find solutions to move us forward. By working towards a state “normalized” CALL (e.g., Bax 2011) that would see technology as an essential, desired and natural component of every aspect of language teaching and learning, we can come closer to achieving the goals set forth in the MLA’s 2007 report. As a field, we should be striving for a fully integrated curriculum; a foundation for lifelong learning; the ongoing expansion of languages taught; K-16 alliances that promote and facilitate the study of languages across all areas of the educational community; and the expansion of our general curricula to include transdisciplinary coursework. I will argue, as have others (e.g., Garrett 2009, Lafford 2009, Lomicka & Lord 2019, Otto 2017), that achieving these lofty but necessary goals will only be possible through true CALL integration. I will also discuss a number of successful examples of technology-based curricular innovation, and suggest a framework for continued work and scholarship in this area.
References
Bax, S. (2011). Normalisation revisited: The effective use of technology in language education. International Journal of Computer-Assisted language Learning and Teaching, 1(2), 1-15.
Garrett, N. (2009). Computer-assisted language learning trends and issues revisited: Integrating innovation. Modern Language Journal, 93, 719-740.
Geisler, M., Kramsch, C., McGinnis, S., Patrikis, P., Pratt, M., Ryding, K., & Saussy, H. (2007). Foreign languages and higher education: New structures for a changed world: MLA Ad Hoc Committee on Foreign Languages. Profession, 234-245. Retrieved February 7, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25595871
Lafford, B. (2009). Toward an ecological CALL: Update to Garrett (1991). The Modern Language Journal, 93(s1), 673-696.
Lomicka, L., & Lord, G. (2019). Reframing technology’s role in language teaching: A retrospective report. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 39, 8-23. doi:10.1017/S0267190519000011
Otto, S. (2017). From past to present: A hundred years of technology for L2 learning. In C. Chapelle & S. Sauro (Eds.), The Handbook of technology and second language teaching and learning (pp. 10-25). Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.
Virtual Day Four, June 5th
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
Plenary Talk
Speaker: Francesca Helm
Gesturing Towards Social and Epistemic Justice in CALL
One of the many global realities that the pandemic has highlighted is the interdependence of our societies, as well as the disparities and coloniality of power. In the pivot to emergency remote education we saw global and local inequities in access to education (Bozkurt et al. 2020), an increase in the use of technology for the surveillance of students (Silverman et al. 2021), encroachments of commercial publishers and software providers in public education (Williamson & Hogan, 2020), limitations on academic freedom (Scholars at Risk, 2021), and student isolation and despair.
The social justice turn which has been emerging on the horizon of language teaching and CALL (Ortega, 2017) has become more pressing, as has the need for critical approaches to CALL, attention to cognitive and epistemic justice (Santos 2007; Souza 2019) and a pedagogy of care (Bali, 2020). In this talk, taking inspiration and learning from transnational, translocal and translingual practices and networks of solidarity and collaboration I consider how and what we might learn from such practices as we seek to effect change through our language teaching and critical engagement with CALL.
2:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Speaker: Grant Castner
Encouraging and Facilitating Reading Out Loud in the Language Classroom with Educational Technology
Reading aloud (also called oral reading) is an undervalued skill in the language acquisition process. For students learning a non-native script particularly, consistent reading aloud is fundamental to developing speaking and reading proficiency, but these students do not often obtain sufficient practice in this area. The design of the assessment application Extempore allows for language instructors to readily facilitate and assess oral reading practice both in and out of the language classroom. This presentation will showcase why oral reading should be emphasized in language classrooms and how instructors can use tools like Extempore to develop students’ oral reading skills.
2:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Speakers: Jeremy Robinson, Nicole Cundiff, Mariana Rodriguez, Kelsey Leppert
Major Trivia: A Series of Trivia Games for L2 Content Vocabulary Development
Major Trivia is a series of free online trivia games (in development) focused on helping learners develop second language vocabulary knowledge in specific content areas. Each game, corresponding to a unique content area, will be available in multiple languages. Target languages include commonly taught languages, in addition to other select languages. This presentation will demo the games, discuss project rationalization, the design and development process, and efforts surrounding publicity and outreach.
2:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Speaker: Tanya Tercero
Creating an Interdisciplinary Framework for Designing and Teaching an Online Writing Course for L2 Learners
Drawing on the disciplines of Second Language Writing, Second Language Acquisition, Rhetoric and Composition, Distance Education, and CALL, I present an interdisciplinary framework for designing and teaching an online writing course for L2 learners whose perceptions of and experiences with their online writing courses necessarily inform the framework as well. The interdisciplinarity of the framework has implications for the re-branding of CALL, an interdisciplinary field itself, into the transdisciplinary field Hubbard and Colpaert (2019) propose, especially with the internationalization of higher education and increase of online courses offered (and taken by L2 learners).
2:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Speakers: Hyejin Yang, Heyoung Kim
Ellie: An AI Chatbot for English Learners
This showcase aims to introduce an AI chatbot, called ‘Ellie,’ which has been developed for English learners to practice their speaking skills. In this session, we will demonstrate the different types of English speaking tasks that are integrated into the AI chatbot, and how to speak with the AI chatbot to complete the given tasks. Audiences will have opportunities to use the AI chatbot as an English conversation partner during the showcase.
2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Speakers: Kelly Arispe, Robert Elliott, Geoff Lawrence, Rose van der Zwaard, Kimberly Morris, Anne Bannink
Innovative Uses of Digital Technology Informing Reflective Teaching Practices
This panel focuses on the use of innovative technologies by language teachers and language teacher educators to impact teaching effectiveness through reflective practice. Panelists provide a range of methods and models to understand and mitigate the challenges language teachers face. Specifically, we report on four different approaches where technologies help teachers become more aware of their practice as well as one study which reveals national trends that promote and/or inhibit CALL teacher adoption.
2:25 PM – 2:55 PM
Speaker: Melanie Wong
Exploring the Interstitial Learning Spaces of a Technology-Enhanced Classroom
The following presentation discusses the findings from an ethnographic case study (Duff, 2008; Heath and Street, 2008) of a grade 6 technology-enhanced classroom. The findings from this study indicate that in K-12 technology-enhanced classrooms students move between a variety of learning spaces and engage in rich literacy practices (e.g., playing Five Nights at Freddy’s, using Minecraft). The boundaries are never clear and often invisible. The results from this study have significant implications for K-12 educators, researchers and policy makers.
2:25 PM – 2:55 PM
Speaker: María-José Arrufat-Marqués
Eye-tracking and Pragmatic Oral Production
Tracking emotion development during pragmatic production of conventional expressions (CEs) has received scant attention in SLA. CEs are employed in specific situations, focusing on their social contextual usage (Bardovi-Harlig, 2012). With a pretest-posttest-delayed posttest research design, data were collected from 46 undergraduates divided into a control and experimental groups with an oral discourse completion task and Retrospective Verbal Protocols (RVPs). IntraFace -a face recognition software- was used to analyze RVPs data qualitatively to recognize its preestablished emotions -happiness, sadness, neutrality, surprise, and disgust- during task completion. Results showed participants reacting happily to familiar situations; and awkwardly, neutrally or sadly to unknown situations. Taking these results into account, the potential use of IntraFace is explored for further research in SLA studies.
2:25 PM – 2:55 PM
Speaker: Robin Couture-Matte
Integrating Intelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs) into a Quebec Secondary ESL Classroom: Outcomes and Challenges
This presentation is a classroom report on the use of an intelligent personal assistant (Amazon Echo) with learners of English as a second language (ESL) in the province of Quebec, Canada. Three intact groups of students (25-30 students) enrolled in an enriched ESL program at the secondary level (aged 15-17) carried out three tasks with the objective of developing their pronunciation of phonetically challenging words. The outcomes of the project point towards the benefits of using IPAs in the context of pronunciation practice. The challenges encountered as well as the strategies used by students to carry out the tasks with the IPA will be discussed.
2:25 PM – 2:55 PM
Speakers: Inigo Yanguas, Julio Torres
Peer Interaction and CMC Collaboration in a Written Task-based Environment
This study investigates the role of different SCMC conditions by examining L2 learners’ levels of engagement (e.g., elaborate or limited LREs) and text quality (complexity, accuracy) as a result of an interactive real-world task. Twenty-five dyads of L2 Spanish intermediate learners were randomly assigned to a video chat, audio chat or text chat condition. Each dyad completed a decision-making task in which they needed to collaborate in order to reach a common goal. Further, we measured participants’ Spanish proficiency, language dominance (bilingual language profile), language learning background, computer use and their perceptions of the task. Preliminary results will be discussed.
3:05 PM – 3:35 PM
Speakers: Mery Díez-Ortega, Yue Dong
Emerging Technologies and L2 Speaking Skills: A Research Synthesis
This presentation will discuss the findings of a critical research synthesis of CALL studies regarding the teaching and learning of L2 speaking skills using technology as part of a collaborative research initiative by the CALICO Graduate Student SIG. In this research synthesis, CALL studies published between 2010 and 2019 in five top CALL journals were critically analyzed. Questions related to aspects of oral production, types of technology used, theoretical perspectives, and methodologies were investigated. The findings will be discussed and suggestions for future research directions in the domain of teaching and learning L2 speaking skills in CALL will be provided.
3:05 PM – 3:35 PM
Speaker: Liudmila Klimanova
Translanguaging in Multi-Party Video-Mediated Telecollaboration: Triggers, Consequences, and Implications
The paper examines translanguaging practices in a multi-party Zoom video chat as a dynamic process in which multilingual speakers navigate complex social and cognitive demands through strategic employment of multiple languages. Six 1-hour video conferences between groups of bilingual participants were recorded and transcribed using CMC conversational analysis. Each instance of code-switching was analyzed for possible triggers, duration and function of the language switch, and its position in the interactional turn-taking sequence. Findings will be synthesized with the view to conceptualize translanguaging practices in a telecollaborative video-chat as an integrated communicative micro-ecology in the context of a multilingual “community of practice”.
3:05 PM – 3:35 PM
Speaker: Masato Kikuchi
Innovative VW Design for Communicative Language Practice
I will demonstrate an innovative model of how a language learning VW in SL can be designed in which a learner produces meaningful language output in the form of text chat that affects the surrounding 3D objects to respond virtually according to what he/she says. This is an experience that is different from more conventional language exercises in which learner’s language production is assessed in terms of its accuracy and appropriateness based on the expected language model (i.e., correct answer). The current VW design is implemented for the Japanese language training (transitive and intransitive verb expressions).
3:05 PM – 3:35 PM
Speakers: Michelle Lees, Andria Lorentzen
The Reality of CALL in Japan: Notes from Within the Japanese Public Schooling System
The realities of government policy and technology in the Japanese public schooling system do not always reflect people’s perceptions of an advanced, technologically sophisticated nation. Two mixed-methods research studies investigated the availability and usage of technology in the English classroom, as well as teacher’s perceptions of the role of technology in education. Results indicated that although teachers had a positive attitude towards technology, external factors such as time, training, and experience resulted in reluctance to utilise it when teaching. This paper has developed a number of practical recommendations to promote technology usage in the EFL classroom.
3:25 PM – 4:40 PM
Speakers: Tuvi Voorhees, Lawrence Williams, Vedran Dronjic, Hsin-Chou Huang
Second Language Reading and Technology
The nature of the relationship between second language reading and technologies not only affects the nature of second language reading practices but also has a significant impact on language educators’ understanding of reading processes in the second language as well as how to approach the teaching second language reading. This panel, sponsored by the CALICO Second Language and Technology Special Interest Group (SLAT- SIG), will explore research into the relationship between technology and second language reading. The panelists will discuss implications for second language reading research and practice. The panel presentations will be followed by an open question and answer session.]
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speaker: Cristina Pardo
Placing Students in Spanish Classes Using Web-Based Listening Classroom-Based Tasks
Building on video-recorded lectures that Spanish teachers use in their classes to teach beginning, intermediate and advanced courses, a research team from a public large university developed a pilot Spanish placement test. The tasks were creating using the software Camtasia Studio within the Canvas LMS. 666 participants watched the lecture only once and then responded multiple-choice items. The study employs qualitative and quantitative data sets to provide a better understanding of the best practices assessing listening. The study integrated teacher’s perspectives as well as students’ performance data in the listening skills to reinforce the validity of the study results.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Jeffrey Maloney, Farhana Ahmed
Evolving Perceptions and Developing Practices: Fulbright FLTAs and Technology Fulbright FLTAs’ Technology Use
This presentation reports on Fulbright foreign language teaching assistants’ evolving perceptions of technology use in language teaching. The contexts that these international educators are confronted with both in and out of the classroom is the focus of examination. Preliminary findings of surveys of FLTAs usage, views of tech-mediated language teaching, and factors that influenced their perceptions as they complete their one-year assignments in the USA will be presented. Discussion of FLTAs’ anticipated barriers at their home institutions will also be included. Implications for furthering FLTA success in teacher training programs, gaps and areas for further research will conclude the presentation.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Lisa Frumkes, Liudmila Klimanova
Get to Know IALLT
Your friendly IALLT representatives to CALICO are hosting a live session to
- share information about the International Association for Language Learning Technology,
- catch up with IALLT and CALICO friends,
- and chat with anyone curious about IALLT.
Please join us!
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speaker: Crystal Marull
“I’ll try to get those chocolates to you!” – Leveraging Technology to Create Virtual Immersive Environments
The integration of authentic environments via telecollaborative language coaching can effectively establish personalized relationships between students and native speakers that drive the development of linguistic and cultural competencies. This approach provides a sense of a virtual study abroad experience for students. This presentation demonstrates best practices for incorporating these sessions into formative and summative course activities of an online Spanish program. Specifically, we share activities designed on the VoiceThread that prompt students to revisit content from coaching sessions to increase comprehension and metalinguistic strategies and to develop a cultural and global awareness about themselves and their coaching partners.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speaker: Liss Kerstin Sylven
Extramural L2 Learning and YouTubers’ In-game Vocabulary
Digital gaming in L2 English is beneficial for L2 English learning. On YouTube, videos are available of individuals engaged in gameplay. Watching such YouTube videos is a popular source of knowledge and inspiration for gamers worldwide. Thus, both gaming in itself and watching such videos may contribute to L2 learning, and research needs to take both of these sources into account. This study focuses on vocabulary use in such gaming videos. Findings will contribute to furthering our understanding of English language proficiency patterns observed among many L2 English learners. Pedagogical implications for L2 English teaching and learning will be discussed.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speaker: Shaun Ko
L2 Pragmatic Learning in World of Warcraft
This study examined 7 NNES players’ pragmatic development during three months immersion in World of Warcraft. Data were collected through a written discourse task and gameplay conversations were audio-recorded. Semi-structure interviewers were conducted to probe into learners’ perception of learning affordances of WoW. Results indicated learners’ significant progress in making appropriate communicative activities such as requests and suggestions which are appropriate for their in-game needs. Results also showed learners make significant progress in oral speech act production as the number of words and conversational turns decreased over three phases of data collection.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speaker: Angelina Craig-Flórez
Beyond the Textbook: A Hybrid Redesign of Intermediate II
Why are we so scared to let go of the textbook below the “bridge courses”? If we often encourage our students to read on-line-newspapers, listen to podcasts, watch series on Netflix, use web-based platforms to connect with native speakers around the world etc., why then not use all of these rich authentic materials as in-class learning resources to enhance our students’ learning experience, promote real intercultural communication and explore global realities? Our presentation will showcase our new hybrid course redesign for Spanish Intermediate II. Using only authentic materials, we have redesigned a course that creates a community of inquiry, promotes inclusiveness, and provides a true blended-learning experience.
4:50 PM – 6:05 PM
Speakers: Madeline Spring, Anna Backus, Elizabeth Yeung
Chinese Flagship Tutoring with Artificial Intelligence (AI): Pedagogical Expectations/Student Perspectives
This panel discusses the high stakes role of individualized tutoring in Language Flagship programs, and how integrating Ponddy Reader into the Chinese Flagship’s tutoring program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has affected students’ metacognitive awareness of reading strategies, and deepened their grasp of Chinese character composition and word collocation. The affordances of including AI in Flagship tutoring for establishing and augmenting learner agency will be considered both through the instructor’s pedagogical expectations and experiences and most importantly from the perspectives of the end users — the students.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speaker: Susanne DeVore
Using NLP to Identify Grammatical Features of Registers and Modalities in Mandarin
From a usage-based theoretical perspective, language learners acquire prototypical grammatical patterns first and then expand to less common structures. In English, substantial work has been done to identify prototypical grammatical features of different registers and modalities (ex: Biber, Gray, & Poonpon, 2011)). This study extends that work to Mandarin. Based on the Ontonotes’ Mandarin corpus, which includes native Mandarin speakers’ written and spoken production in formal and informal registers, this study uses NLP techniques to quantitatively identify grammatical features that are characteristic of each modality and register. This information can then be used to inform instructional materials design.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speakers: Steph Link, Mohammad Rahimi, Mohaddeseh Mehrzad
Impact of Automated Versus Teacher Feedback on Higher and Lower-Level Revision and Long-term Improvement
Increasing interest in automated writing evaluation (AWE) largely stems from the belief that AWE can allow teachers to devote more feedback to higher-level (HL) writing skills while the technology addresses lower-level (LL) skills, such as grammar. Our study showed, however, that AWE as a complement to teacher feedback did not have a significant impact on the amount of HL teacher feedback compared to when AWE was used alone. We align our work with state-of-the-art research in the field and contribute to a broader discussion about how AWE can be best provided to support second language writing development.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speakers: Euan Bonner, Erin Frazier, Ryan Lege
A Framework for Successful Implementation of Virtual Reality in Language Learning
Virtual reality (VR) offers unique opportunities for immersive activities previously not possible in the language classroom. However, as with any new instructional medium, it is difficult to employ these technologies effectively. There is often a gap between teachers’ understanding of how to use the technology and the pedagogical needs of the classroom. This presentation introduces the VR Application Analysis Framework that assists with the analysis and implementation of commercial off-the-shelf VR applications into language classroom tasks. The four key aspects, immersive capacity, cognitive load, purpose, and communicative capability will be presented and accompanying activities shared.
5:45 PM – 6:15 PM
Speaker: Antonie Alm
Has L2 Netflix Binge-watching Become a Global Reality? Exploring “Engagement with Language” in Informal Online Language Learning
Available in 190 countries, Netflix enables language learners around the globe to watch foreign language programmes dubbed in their own language (L1), subtitled, or with L2 captions. In this presentation I explore how language learners engage with language in self-selected Netflix TV-series. Based on Svalberg’s concept of Engagement with Language (EWL), I will discuss the results of a study conducted in New Zealand with university students of German and Spanish who engaged with Netflix TV-series prior to and during an intermediate level language course, drawing on various online affordances to engage with language.
5:45 PM – 6:15 PM
Speaker: Xiangying Jiang
The Effectiveness of Duolingo Courses
At Duolingo, our mission is to develop the best education and make it universally available. We also hold ourselves accountable for the quality of our product. Our largest courses are aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and our teaching method intends to expose learners to meaningful content without always needing to consciously focus on language rules. In this presentation, we will report on a research study that we have been conducting to assess the proficiency of users who have recently finished the A2-level English courses for Spanish and Portuguese speakers.
5:45 PM – 6:15 PM
Speakers: Lillian Jones, Robert Blake
Computer-Assisted Vocabulary Retention Using Collocations
Theoretical and applied linguists have recently turned to collocations to capture linguistic structure and explain increases in L2 fluency (Ellis 2001, 2002; Bosque 2001). However, few studies have considered collocations as a method to increase retention of individual vocabulary items. By focusing attention on pairing individual words with an associated collocation, we suggest that gains in vocabulary breadth and depth might be obtained. These claims are explored in this presentation of a 10-week classroom study that used a cloud-based, open-source, digital vocabulary program to expose intermediate L2 Spanish learners to new vocabulary items uniquely paired with a commonly associated collocation.
6:25 PM – 7:10 PM
Plenary Speaker
Speaker: Scott Payne
Flourishing Language Learning in a Post-pandemic World: Insights from the Private Sector
Virtual Day Five, June 6th
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
Plenary Talk
Speakers: Carol Chapelle
Global Realities and Virtual Possibilities in Language Assessment
The exploration of virtual language learning activities by CALICO members can make important contributions to professional practice in language assessment. The connection between these two areas of applied linguistics is highlighted in this presentation by examining current practices in virtual language learning through the lens of language assessment. After providing an orientation to assessment for learning, I will demonstrate how virtual learning activities offer useful perspectives on the constructs of interest in learning, technology-mediated methods for assessing these constructs, and assessment use that is systematically integrated into teaching-learning-assessment cycles to contribute to learning. In short, I will demonstrate the role of technology in bringing to life ideals of assessment for learning and in presenting many opportunities for research and development.
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speaker: Shelley Xu
Exploring Verbal and Non-verbal Features of WebQuests for English Language Learners During Reading Instruction
This study, grounded in the dual-coding theory (Paivio, 1986), examined 75 WebQuests developed and implemented by teachers of English language learners (ELLs). A WebQuest is a lesson that incorporates online resources (Dodge, 1995). Each WebQuest had activities of phonics, vocabulary, or comprehension of narratives and informational texts. ELLs with varied language proficiency levels navigated a WebQuest. The WebQuests during which ELLs met success had verbal features, such as sentence length and structure, and online resources at ELLs’ proficiency levels. The non-verbal features included effective use of PPT features. Instructional and research implications addressed a global reality of limited technology support.
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speaker: Elin Ericsson
Teenage Students’ Experiences of Speaking English to a Virtual Human in a Spoken Dialogue-Based System
Speaking is often looked upon as the most difficult skill to teach and acquire, but still acknowledged as the most important skill to master in a foreign language. Virtual humans as conversational agents (CA) within dialogue-based computer-assisted language learning (DB-CALL) enable new possibilities for practising speaking in simulated everyday-life situations followed by instant feedback. So far, however, there is little research on young students interacting with virtual humans in a foreign language. The aim of this presentation is to contribute with the results of a study that addresses this knowledge gap; Teenage students\’ experiences of practising speaking English as a second language with a virtual human as conversational agent in a spoken dialogue-system (SDS).
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speaker: Farah Akbar
Interactional Feedback in Naturalistic Synchronous Text and Voice-Based CMC
This longitudinal study investigated the effects of NS interactional feedback within and across text-based and voice-based SCMC, and whether the NNS perception of feedback and/or recognition of the target of feedback rendered the feedback ineffective. Data consisted of 1) chat transcripts of 15 English NS-NNS dyads who participated in 30-minute chat sessions once a week for 10 weeks; 2) five stimulated recall interviews with each participant. NS primarily used reformulations in the text-based environment but preferred elicitations in the voice-based environment. Apart from morphosyntax, NNS were relatively accurate in their perception of lexical, semantic, and phonological feedback.
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speaker: Seyed Abdollah Shahrokni
Evidence for Second Language Socialization in Multiplayer Online Game Play
This presentation reports on an ethnographic case study examining second language socialization (SLS) in a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG). This 3-year study focused on the social dynamics involved in a faction community comprised of 11 members who passed through 4 gaming stages: War, peace, world end, and immigration. The results suggested that the norms of the faction, that is, communication, collaboration, skills, support, rules, closeness, trust, status, and shared experiences provided a supportive environment for SLS. Besides, the results of an in-depth interview with a non-native English speaker member suggested that his gameplay supported his language development.
2:15 PM – 3:30 PM
Speakers: Deniz Gokcora, Julie Sykes, Olga Scrivner
Language Learning and Teaching in the Virtual and Augmented Reality Contexts
How can language instructors prepare students to fully immerse in real-life environments? In this LTLT SIG sponsored panel, presenters will discuss a) the use of augmented reality tools that afford students to learn how to integrate their own experiences in and outside the classroom, b) instructors’ designing and evaluating immersive augmented and virtual reality content through mobile technologies, c) the three types of mixed-reality experiences – facilitated, pop-up, and event-driven – to suggest ways how each might be meaningfully implemented for language teaching and learning. The panel will conclude with a synthesis of topics discussed and a Q&A session.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speaker: Ryleigh Lightbourn
A Network of Variables : A Sociocritical Analysis of Twitter in French Language Acquisition
In the pursuit of adapting second language pedagogy to the Web 2.0’s quickly evolving digital landscape, researchers have favoured testing the impact of digital tools over the variables influencing the student experience with technology. My presentation will instead rely on the sociocritical approach (Collin, Guichon, & Ntébutsé, 2015) to pursue a holistic analysis of the network of factors influencing the participation and the experience of ten students using Twitter in a first-year university French class. Drawing from interviews and survey data, the results of my mixed-method case study indicate a correlation between learner beliefs, participation and experience.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speakers: Farhana Ahmed, Kris Pierre Johnston, Geoff Lawrence, Christina Cole
CALL Expert and Instructor Perspectives of Technology in EAP: A Comparative Analysis and Discussion
This presentation is part of an ongoing analysis of findings from a government-funded research study documenting the largely undefined use of technologies in post-secondary EAP programs across North America. The presentation will investigate tensions between CALL experts and EAP instructors in the field. Beliefs concerning technology and its value for EAP pedagogy, limitations and constraints on teaching and learning that inhibit technology use at personal as well as institutional level, will be explored. Envisioned potentials of technology and policy and planning regarding technological integration will conclude the discussion.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speakers: Aysel Saricaoglu, Ozkan Kilic
Keystroke Logging in L2 Writing Complexity Research: A Process-Product Approach
This presentation reports on a process-product approach to the investigation of L2 writing complexity. It uses keystroke logging methodology to examine students’ writing process behavior (i.e., pausing behavior and revision behavior during the writing process) in relation to their written product features (i.e., complexity of the produced texts). Thirty-four high-intermediate level EFL learners participated in an argumentative writing task. Based on the findings, the implications of the study for L2 writing complexity research and L2 writing pedagogy will be discussed.
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Speaker: Svetlana Koltovskaia
A Multiple Case Study of Student Engagement with E-rater Feedback
The presentation reports on a multiple case study on ESL university students’ engagement with ETS e-raterⓇ feedback integrated into Turnitin. Student engagement was operationalized using three interconnected dimensions: behavioral, cognitive, and affective. Data from multiple sources, including students’ written texts, screencasts that captured students’ revision process, and students’ text revision reflections were collected and analyzed. The findings suggest that while behaviorally, students corrected their errors based on e-rater feedback, their cognitive engagement was somewhat moderate. Affectively, students experienced both positive and negative reactions toward e-rater feedback. E-rater feedback could have a positive impact on writing if active engagement is present.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Michael Winans, Daeun Shin
Using Grammarly for Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback (DWCF): Reducing L2 Writer Dependence and Teacher Workload
Employing Grammarly for DWCF, students in four first-year composition courses for English learners utilized a grammar checker to promote writer autonomy and reduce teacher workload. Weekly emails provided aggregated data illuminating gradual student improvement and focus errors, from which students produced plans for improvement of errors, weekly freewrites, and three reflections over the semester. Additionally, three formal projects with multiple drafts were analyzed for the focus errors with qualitative support from reflections and freewrites. Preliminary results show focus errors negatively correlate with subsequent occurrence, a raised awareness of linguistic accuracy and progress, and improvement of writing proficiency
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: Lilia Khalitova, Gulnara Gimaletdinova, Gulnara Sadykova, Albina Kayumova
Young Russian Heritage Learners Developing Language Skills with Technology: Parents’ Voices from Around the World
The report presents the results of the study that examined the use of technology among Russian heritage learners aged 8 and younger. The study involved 21 parents from 13 countries who completed an online survey focused on how children develop and maintain language of their mothers and how parents define their role in mediating child-technology interaction. The data demonstrated high involvement of mothers in keeping the heritage language of their children. Parents shared the view that child-technology interaction required their active involvement as knowledge mediators but most parents did not encourage children to use mobile or computer applications for learning.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speakers: YouJin Kim, Sanghee Kang
A Mobile-Assisted Multimodal Task in an EFL Classroom Context: Predicting Factors and Task Outcomes
The purpose of this study is to investigate predictive factors (e.g., English writing proficiency, L1 narrative ability, digital literacy, motivation) of the quality of mobile-assisted task outcome. Forty-eight Korean high school students completed a narrative digital-video-making task using a mobile application, KineMaster. The results showed factors such as students’ English writing proficiency and L1 narrative ability significantly predicted quality of language use and quality of task fulfillment of digital video-making task performance. Pedagogical implications of mobile-assisted multimodal task in foreign language classrooms are discussed.
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Speaker: Mengdi Wang
Computer-Mediated Communication and Task-Based Language Teaching In Chinese As a Second Language learning: The First Cycle Study of Adolescent Learners of Chinese at Beginner Level in Ireland
Ireland’s new strategy for foreign language education, Languages Connect, identifies Chinese as a curricular language for the coming years in the country. This new project aims to generate innovative solutions to those challenges faced in Ireland (e.g. a shortage of meaningful communication in/out of class). This paper presents the findings of the first cycle of a Design-Based Research(DBR) project to develop a computer-mediated and task-based collaborative initiative for adolescent learners of Chinese at beginner level in Ireland.
4:00 PM – 5:15 PM
Speakers: Michaela Nuesser, Shuai Tang, Denis Melik Tangiyev, Jay Ritch, Jin Dong, Dongping Zheng, Zeyu Cui, Yang Liu
Languaging and Translanguaging in and with Virtual Reality
Drawing on the distributed language approach (DLA) (Cowley, 2017), the panel aims to explore emerging languaging and translanguaging patterns while Chinese and English are used to experience in blended virtual reality (VR) environments and games. Language learning and teaching have been focused on forms and meaning, and leave use in experiential environments to learners themselves. Our VR projects, one designed by our own team, a virtual panda reserve, one utilizing a commercial VR game, both offer a differing semiotic ecology for multiscalar coordination and processing. These features suggest that VR may offer unique affordances for embodied, embedded and situated languaging.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speaker: Tetiana Tytko
Multidimensional L2 Learners’ Engagement in Technology-mediated TBLT Tasks
This study investigates dimensions of L2 learners’ engagement in technology-mediated and traditional TBLT tasks. The findings indicate enhanced learner engagement in both communicative tasks, with a significantly higher level of engagement in the technology-mediated tasks. Pedagogical ramifications for ESL/EFL classrooms are also discussed in regard to TBLT implementation.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: Xiaomeng Zhang, Bryan Smith
Task-based Mobile Telecollaboration in a Geographically Proximate Setting: A Chinese-English Proof-of-Concept Study
This presentation will outline results of a semester-long mobile-based intra-institutional Telecollaboration study between learners of English and learners of Chinese. This proof-of-concept study required participants to use the mobile app WeChat in a series of cross-cultural activities, with participants serving as “cultural experts” of their home culture. Instances of text-, video-, and audio-based Language Related Episodes will be presented across their categories (lexical, form, discourse, pronunciation), modality (text, audio), and focus (self, other). We will argue for the use of mobile technologies in Telecollaboration research and the advantage of employing geographically proximate learners rather than those separated by time zones.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speakers: Miriam Akoto, Mimi Li
Collaborative Multimodal Writing and Peer-Assessment: Students’ Perceptions of This New Writing Pedagogy
This presentation discusses an empirical study that explored collaborative multimodal writing and peer assessment in the French as a Foreign Language (FFL) context. Students from an Elementary French class worked in pairs and jointly created a postcard describing their vacation activities using Google Docs, followed by students’ assessments of each pair product. Based on the analyses of triangulated data from questionnaires and interviews, supplemented with the peer assessment forms and students’ multimodal products, this study sheds light on the affordances of collaborative multimodal writing and peer-assessment for L2 learning and writing development. Pedagogical recommendations are also addressed.
4:25 PM – 4:55 PM
Speaker: Kevin Wong
Learning L2 Vocabulary from Educational Media: All Contexts Are Not Equal for Bilingual Preschoolers
The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential of educational media to provide preschool-aged Dual-Language Learners (DLLs) with vocabulary in a new language. Adopting a within-subjects design, 50 DLLs viewed nine video clips that used three distinct instructional contexts for word learning: Expository (Sesame Street), Participatory (Bubble Guppies), and Narrative (Martha Speaks). Findings indicate DLLs were able to learn words in a new language on screen. The effects of instructional contexts on L2 word learning were moderated by L2 proficiency. Results suggest instructional contexts are mechanisms that differentially facilitate word learning on screen for DLLs. Implications are discussed.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Speakers: Sumei Wu, Meei-Ling Liaw
Promoting Teacher Intercultural Learning: Strategic Use of Video in Synchronous Online Discussions in Telecollaboration
This presentation focuses on guided reflection in telecollaboration to describe ways educators can design and facilitate deep-level interactions for impactful learning in synchronous (real-time) online communication. Major challenges are presented concerning synchronous online discussions. Kang and van Es’s (2019) framework of Principled Use of Video offers principles for designing video-imbedded reflection tasks and protocols to facilitate discussions. We examined how strategically using video can engage teachers in pedagogy-focused online interactions. Themes emerged from teacher interaction transcripts highlight ways teachers’ combined the use of video and associated protocols for critical reflection on their culturally-situated teaching practices and intercultural learning experiences.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Virtual Room 2
Speakers: Hajime Kumahata, Naoko Ozaki, Yuki Waugh
Virtual Study Abroad at Home: Inter-university Experiential Learning
Two universities experimented with the virtual inter-university study abroad program during summer 2020. Online tools bridged students residing worldwide to experience the language, arts, & cultures of Japan. In order to realize the concept of “Little Japan to the U.S.”, we utilized the potentials only available to online instructions by engaging students in joint conversation practices and hands-on cultural activities by guest lecturers from Japan. In this presentation, we will introduce examples of our lesson plans with students’ voices and the publicly accessible web-based final projects. We will also share practical ideas for lesson planning including challenges and possibilities.
5:05 PM – 5:35 PM
Virtual Room 3
Speakers: Jun Chen Hsieh
Technology-enhanced Language Learning on Digital Storytelling Performance and Affective Domains among EFL Learners: Robot-assisted versus PowerPoint-assisted Mode
This mixed-methods study reports on digital storytelling performance, positive/negative emotions, and learner perceptions as the result of different presentation modes (robot-assisted versus PowerPoint-assisted). The results from multiple data sources (pre-/post-tests, PANAS-C, interview) revealed that the students benefited from both presentation modes, yet the robot-assisted mode was more advantageous in contributing to higher storytelling outcomes and more positive emotions. Despite the positive emotions experienced in both presentation modes, the results of the negative affect were more mixed, as the students in both group highlighted feeling scared and afraid in digital storytelling preparation and presentation.
5:45 PM – 6:00 PM
Virtual Room 1
Speakers: Mery Díez-Ortega, Huy Phung
Multiʻōlelo: Promoting L2 Research Visibility and Accessibility
Multiʻōlelo is a multilingual crowd-sourcing platform aiming to publish language-related content in multiple languages for multiple audiences. Generally, traditional forms of scholarships, such as journal articles, are difficult to obtain and often hard to read for people outside academia. Multiʻōlelo hopes to promote digestible and accessible dissemination of language research findings, from multilingual and multicultural perspectives, encouraging different forms of scholarship for public access. During this showcase, we will discuss how the site contributes to the open-science movement, how it could be applied in different educational settings (e.g., graduate courses, teacher PLCs), and provide guidelines for contributions.
5:45 PM – 6:00 PM
Speakers: Erik Goodale, Tim Kochem, Jeanne Beck
The Use of ASR and NLP in the Teaching of Suprasegmental Features of Pronunciation: A Critical Literature Review
This critical literature review examines how researchers have tried to develop computer-assisted pronunciation training tools using natural language processing (NLP) to aid language learners in the perception and production of suprasegmental features. We found a persistent gap still exists between the NLP software available to participants in research studies to what is available to teachers and students. Also, there seems to be more development of NLP tools for language assessment rather than instruction. We recommend that more commercialized pronunciation systems utilizing NLP be made publicly available utilizing developed or developing technologies for the purposes of oral proficiency judgements.