Social presence is considered an important quality in computer-mediated communication as it promotes willingness in learners to take risks through participation in interpersonal exchanges (Kehrwald, 2008) and makes communication more natural (Lowenthal, 2010). While social presence has mostly been investigated through questionnaire data and…

This paper addresses issues of language use and negotiation and utilizes cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) as a framework to analyze and understand the complexity of the mediational and collaborative structures constituting computer supported collaborative writing in a second language (CSCWL2) activities. Following an introduction to CHAT…

Computer technology improves the process of SLA by providing access to an ample amount of input within a communicative context in which participants can engage in synchronous and asynchronous conversations (Payne & Whitney, 2002; Sykes, 2005). This research project aims to investigate the role of alignment in learning a second language within the…

Proposes a model for a computer-assisted language learning software design based on interactionist theories of first and second language acquisition. Comparison of the conversational discourse generated by two groups of students working on negotiable- and non-negotiable outcome programs found that the negotiable-outcome software generated…