Vol. 40 No. 2 (2023)

Published: 2023-05-25

Editorial

• Current Themes and Trends in CALL ResearchBryan Smith, Ana Oskozi-vi
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Articles

• Future-Proofing Language TeachingHow the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Changed Our ProfessionUrsula Stickler, Martina Emke137-152
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• Game-Informed Approach to Teaching Request-Making in EnglishA Comparison of Feedback MechanicsNaoko Taguchi, Daniel H. Dixon153-177
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• Visualizing Linguistic Complexity and Proficiency in Learner English WritingsThomas Gaillat, Antoine Lafontaine, Anas Knefati178-197
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• Distance Students’ Language Learning Strategies in Asynchronous and Synchronous EnvironmentsLijuan Chen, Claire Rodway198-217
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• Toward Blended Language Learning FrameworksA Systematic ReviewJessica DeMolder, David Wiseman, Charles Graham, Camellia Hill218-237
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• Foreign Language Learning in the Digital WildsA Qualitative Research SynthesisGilbert Dizon238-256
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Book Reviews

• ‘The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Technology’ Edited by Nicole Ziegler and Marta González-LloretLillian Jones257-261
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• ‘Researching and Teaching Second Language Writing in the Digital Age’ Mimi LiTanya Tercero262-265
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Learning Technology Reviews

• EduflowHanon Junn266-276
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• Storyline 360Tamara Michelle Powell277-288
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Papers are invited for a special issue of CALICO, the journal of the Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium, on ‘Technology-Mediated Task-based Language Teaching and Learning. We are pleased to invite proposals for the special issue of volume 42 of the CALICO Journal, which will be published in February 2024. With this call for proposals, we are looking for (a) guest editor(s), who will produce an issue on a timely and compelling CALL-related theme that will resonate with our readership and move the field forward. If you are interested in becoming a guest editor, please submit a proposal addressing the following points:

(1) name(s) and affiliation(s) of the guest editor(s)
(2) topic of the special issue
(3) rationale for the topic (500 words maximum)
(4) short CV of each guest editor (with particular emphasis on published research on the topic of the special issue and editing experience)
(5) draft Call for Papers for the special issue

The editors invite papers exploring innovative approaches to designing, implementing, and evaluating technology-mediated task-based language teaching and learning. Papers may report on empirical studies or theoretical pieces that challenge our current thinking about TBLT. Quantitative, qualitative, mixed-, and multiple-method designs are
welcome. Quantitative studies examining learner process data are especially welcome as are all designs targeting less commonly taught languages, including ASL and other sign languages of the world. Studies relying purely on survey or questionnaire research will not be considered. Full-length manuscripts of no more than 7,500 words (all inclusive) will be invited by the editors after evaluating expressions of interest (see timeline below).

As a starting point, we use González-Lloret and Ortega (2014) in our framing of the five definitional features of a task in the context of technology and task integration. These features include the following: 1. Primary focus on meaning; 2. Goal orientation; 3. Learner-centeredness; 4. Holism; and 5. Reflective Learning. We also assume the non-neutrality of technology and acknowledge the importance of curriculum in task-technology integrations. Forward-thinking topics relevant to technology-mediated task-based language teaching and learning may include but are not limited to:

Initial expressions of interest and informal inquiries are encouraged and should be sent to the editors, Ana Oskoz oscoz@umbc.edu and Bryan Smith bryansmith@asu.edu. Formal proposals are due June 30, 2023. All proposals will be evaluated by the CALICO Journal’s editorial board with a final decision by July 30th, 2023. Please see the complete timeline below.

Initial expressions of interest/proposals of no more than 750 words. This proposal should address the theoretical framework employed, justification for the study, research questions, methodology, findings (where available), and
implications for future research or pedagogy. For theoretical pieces, ensure the proposal includes a clearly articulated problem and a proposed solution.

Timeline:
    •       10 October 2023: Initial expressions of interest/proposals
    •       1 December 2023: Invitation for full manuscripts
    •       1 June 2024: Full manuscript due to editors
    •       15 June 2024: double-blind review process  
    •       1 August 2024: Round one peer review due to editors
    •       1 November 2024: Revised drafts due to editors
    •      28 February, 2025: Final revised manuscripts due
    •       2025: Special Issue Publication

Please note that abstract acceptance does not guarantee publication of the submitted manuscript. All manuscripts will be subject to a double-blind peer review process.

Special Issue Title: Social media pathways: Using social media to help language learners access target-language communities

Co-editors: Ellen Yeh (Columbia College Chicago) and Nicholas Swinehart (University of Chicago)

This CALICO Journal special issue explores and investigates CALL practices through the concept of “social media pathways”: using social media to help language learners access target-language communities, both virtual and physical. Social media tools have the potential to help language learners retrieve and critically assess crowd-sourced information from the local community of a target culture (Yeh & Mitric, 2021), enhance intercultural communicative competence (Lomicka & Ducate, 2021), foster social media literacy (Vanwynsberghe et al., 2015; Yeh & Swinehart, 2020), form language learner identities (Thorne et al., 2015), as well as develop sociocultural and pragmatic processes of language socialization (Sykes, 2019; Thorne et al., 2009). Social media can therefore serve as a “pathway” for connecting language learners to target-language communities. This can mean helping learners acquire the context-specific pragmatics and social media literacy necessary for successful interaction with target-language speakers in online communities (Sykes, 2018), or helping students learn about specific areas, cultures, and practices to prepare them for face-to-face interaction (Godwin-Jones, 2016).

This special issue uses a broad definition of social media to refer to any application or technology through which users participate in, create, and share media resources and practices with other users by means of digital networking” (Reinhardt, 2019), which can include blogs, social networking sites, virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life and virtual reality platforms), collaborative project platforms (e.g., Wikipedia), content communities (e.g., YouTube), affinity spaces (e.g., Reddit, Discord, and fan fiction), and online games (e.g., Minecraft, World of Warcraft). While this definition is broad, this special issue focuses on the integration of “authentic” social media environments–those not created or used exclusively for language learning purposes–into curricula and students’ digital practices through bridging activities (Thorne & Reinhardt, 2008), language learners-as-ethnographers (Roberts et al., 2001), or other approaches that attempt to scaffold learners’ understanding of and participation in complex linguistic environments. Through the use of “real-life language, the active engagement in authentic material, the participation in communities in the target language, and boundary crossing” (Miller et al., 2019, p. 551), the social media pathway connects language learners with the target language communities in extensive ways, while always working towards increased knowledge of and/or participation within those communities.

Themes of relevance to social media and target-language communities include, but are not limited to:

• Innovative approaches to using social media to increase language learners’ access to and participation within target language communities.
• Effective ways of developing social media literacy for participatory culture in both virtual and face-to-face target language communities.
• Bridging students’ in-class and out-of-class digital literacy practices to increase language learners’ social and cultural interaction with target language speakers and communities in authentic ways.
• Developing pragmatic awareness in diverse social media contexts.
• Integrating social media literacy learner training and teacher training into pre-service and in-service teacher preparation programs.

This special issue invites full-length (no more than 7,000 words, all-inclusive) articles, with preference given to empirical studies. Authors are strongly encouraged to contextualize their contribution within appropriate theoretical and developmental frameworks.

Submission deadline for abstracts is October 3, 2022.

• October 3, 2022: Submit an initial proposal of no more than 750 words to the guest editors.

• Abstracts should be submitted via email (Word or PDF format only) to both co-editors: Ellen Yeh (eyeh@colum.edu) and Nicholas Swinehart (nswinehart@uchicago.edu).
• If authors have any questions or queries, please contact the guest editors at the email addresses above.

• October 17, 2022: Notifications for inviting full manuscripts
• February 1, 2023: Full-length manuscripts due; must comply with CALICO’s formatting guidelines
• August 15, 2023: Full-length final draft of manuscripts due
• February, 2024: Special Issue publication

Special Issue to be published in February of 2024. Please note that abstract acceptance does not guarantee publication of the submitted manuscript. All manuscripts will be subject to a double-blind peer review process. Please send questions about the volume to co-editors Ellen Yeh (eyeh@colum.edu) and Nicholas Swinehart (nswinehart@uchicago.edu).

References

Godwin-Jones, R. (2016). Integrating technology into study abroad. Language Learning & Technology, 20(1), 1-20. http://dx.doi.org/10125/44439

Lomicka, L., & Ducate, L. (2021). Using technology, reflection, and noticing to promote intercultural learning during short-term study abroad. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 34(1/2), 35–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2019.1640746

Miller, A. M., Morgan, W. J., & Koronkiewicz, B. (2019). Like or Tweet: Analysis of the use of Facebook and Twitter in the language classroom. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 63(5), 550–558. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-018-0341-2

Reinhardt, J. (2019). Social media in second and foreign language teaching and learning: Blogs, wikis, and social networking. Language Teaching, 52(1), 1–39. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444818000356

Roberts, C., Byram., M, Barro, A., Jordan, S., & Street, B. (2001). Language Learners as Ethnographers. Multilingual Matters.

Sykes, J. M. (2018). Interlanguage pragmatics, curricular innovation, and digital technologies. CALICO Journal, 35(2), 120–141. https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.36175

Sykes, J. M. (2019). Emergent digital discourses: What can we learn from hashtags and digital games to expand learners’ second language repertoire? Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 39, 128–145. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190519000138 

Thorne, S. L., Black, R., & Sykes, J. (2009). Second language use, socialization, and learning in Internet interest communities and online games. The Modern Language Journal, 93, 802–821. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00974.x

Thorne, S. L., & Reinhardt, J. (2008). “Bridging activities:” New media literacies, and advanced foreign language proficiency. CALICO Journal, 25(3), 558–572. https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v25i3.558-572

Thorne, S. L., Sauro, S., & Smith, B. (2015). Technologies, identities, and expressive activity. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 215–233. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190514000257

Vanwynsberghe, H., Boudry, E., & Verdegem, P. (2015). De impact van ouderschapsstijlen op de ontwikkeling van sociale mediageletterdheid bij adolescenten [The impact of parenting styles on the development of social media literacy among adolescents]. Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap, 1(43), 84–100.

Yeh, E., & Mitric, S. (2021). Social media and learners-as-ethnographers approach: increasing target-language participation through community engagement. Computer Assisted Language Learning. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2021.2005630 

Yeh, E., & Swinehart, N. (2020). Social media literacy in second language environments: Navigating anonymous user-generated content. Computer Assisted Language Learning. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2020.1830805