This article analyses how robot-learner interaction in robot-assisted language learning (RALL) is influenced by the interaction behaviour of the robot. Since the robot behaviour is to a large extent determined by the combination of teaching strategy, robot role and robot type, previous studies in RALL are first summarised with respect to which…

Speaking in a foreign language is considered challenging to both teach and learn. Virtual humans (VHs), as conversational agents (CAs), provide opportunities to practise speaking skills. Lower secondary school students (N = 25) engaged in an AI-based spoken dialogue system (SDS) and interacted verbally with VHs in simulated everyday-life scenarios…

Overcoming the reluctance of teenage learners to speak in the language classroom is a challenge for many teachers. This article reports on a study in which 60 Swedish pupils, aged 15-16, took part in a Storyline project based on a young adult fantasy novel. In the Storyline approach, a fictive world is created when learners, taking on the roles of…

This paper presents the outcomes of a short intercultural exchange project involving pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher training establishments in Sweden and Israel. The project comprised three online meetings recorded in "Zoom" in which student teachers gave feedback on each other's project assignments involving…

In this project we developed web services on the ICALL platform Lärka for automatic generation of Swedish spelling exercises using Text-To-Speech (TTS) technology which allows L2 learners to train their spelling and listening individually at home. The spelling exercises contain five different linguistic levels, whereby the language learner has the…

This paper quantifies differences in speaking rates in a first and second language, and examines the effects of slower rates on the speakers' abilities to convey information. The participants were 14 fluent (CEF B2/C1) English L2 speakers who held the same oral presentation twice, once in English and once in their native Swedish. The temporal…

Reviews current practice in the study of phonological interlanguage. The methodology of 22 pieces of research is surveyed in terms of subjects, range of phonological features, "synchronic" and "diachronic" approaches, techniques and materials, audio-recording and transcription. The article discusses the advantages and…