The growing presence of Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication (SCMC), defined as 'real-time, synchronous conversation that takes place online' (Baralt & Leow, 2016, p. 200), via video-chat programs such as Skype in online language courses has been documented in the literature (Ziegler, 2016c). While research up to now has shown that…

Understanding how children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) improve oral language skills in relationship to tutor prompting has not yet been investigated. The study examined how variation in language prompt use by tutors during a storybook reading intervention influences growth in vocabulary and emergent literacy for young children with ASD.…

This study investigated a computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) software that utilized automatic speech recognition (ASR) and accent conversion technology to improve pronunciation of second language learners. Such speech processing method is capable of addressing the typical shortcoming of ASR technology for second language pronunciation…

The ongoing trend in research regarding feedback has been to explore quantitative assessment. Garnering support more recently is qualitative narrative feedback in support of formative assessment. This type of feedback offers insight into expectations as well as offer additional knowledge gained. It enables students to improve their performance…

This study addresses low literacy achievement in students in kindergarten and first grades. The study was designed to help identify how general education teachers can use specific daily research-based oral vocabulary acquisition strategies to close the literacy gap. This quantitative research helped to determine if the implementation of an oral…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was: (1) to document the design and implementation process of an online video-based pre-arrival course that was intended to cultivate Asian students' willingness to communicate in American Classrooms; (2) to assess the effectiveness of the course by measuring students' oral proficiency and willingness to…

Oral testing administration plays a significant role in foreign language programs aiming to foster the development of students' speaking abilities. With the development of language teaching software, the use of computer based recording tools are becoming increasingly used in language courses as an alternative to traditional face-to-face oral…

Although many studies have suggested positive effects for speaking or output practice on L2 grammar development, the question of how speaking affects L2 grammar remains. This study specifically examines how output affects the explicit and implicit knowledge of Spanish indirect object pronouns (IOPs). It also investigates levels of L2 grammar…

The goal of this dissertation is to test the five stages of Processability Theory (PT) for second language (L2) learners of Spanish and investigate how instruction can facilitate the development through the stages. PT details five fixed stages in the acquisition of L2 morphosyntax based on principles of speech processing (Levelt, 1989) and modeled…

This dissertation describes the details of a study that explored what possible effects might occur in the area of oral language skills when kindergarten-age children from low socioeconomic backgrounds are exposed to sophisticated vocabulary and are engaged actively through dramatization and movement with a school's existing literacy curriculum. A…

The traditional language laboratory consists of computer-based exercises in which students practice the language individually, working on language form drills and listening comprehension activities. In addition to the traditional approach to the laboratory requirement, students in the study participated in a weekly conversation hour focusing on…

This quantitative, causal-comparative study examined the possible cause and effect relationship between educational programming, specifically one-way Spanish immersion and traditional English-only, and native English-speaking fifth graders' vocabulary and reading comprehension. Archival data was used to examine students' reading achievement as…

Recent psycholinguistic findings showed that (a) a multi-modal phonetic training paradigm that encodes visual, interactive information is more effective in training L2 learners' perception of novel categories, (b) decreasing the acoustic variance of a phonetic dimension allows the learners to more effectively shift the perceptual weight towards…

This inquiry analyzed the relationships between individual differences and gains made in oral proficiency of adult, second language learners of Spanish during one semester studying abroad. Oral proficiency was measured using a pre/post-SA Computerized Oral Proficiency Instrument (COPI, CAL, 2009). Gain scores were correlated with two cognitive…

Dynamic assessment (DA) is based on Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural theory and his Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). ZPD is the range of abilities bordered by the learner's assisted and independent performances. Previous studies showed promising results for DA in tutoring settings. However, they did not use proficiency-based rubrics to measure…