This study explores the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) in Chinese as a second language (CSL) vocabulary learning from the international students' perspective. A new theoretical framework of VR-based vocabulary learning was designed and verified to serve the investigation. A total of 30 international students learning CSL in a Chinese…

With the rise of computer-assisted online learning tools such as the "Language Reactor," advanced captioning options such as dual subtitles (i.e. simultaneous display of on-screen texts in the first language and the second/foreign language) have gained much attention. However, little is known about how dual-subtitled viewing may be…

Automated writing evaluation (AWE) has been used increasingly to provide feedback on student writing. Previous research typically focused on its inter-rater reliability with human graders and validation frameworks. The limited body of research has only discussed students' attitudes or perceptions in general. A systematic investigation of the…

Feedback researchers have given little attention to how administration of language-focused instruction before writing in a second language combined with subsequent error correction after writing can affect the grammatical accuracy of learners' future writing. Moreover, the mode of the instruction (i.e., teacher instruction or game-based…

We tested the effectiveness of the spaced-repetition flashcard application, Anki, on improving 62 university-level learners' second language (L2) learning in a semester-long beginning Spanish course. Using effective study strategies is critical for L2 learning, but college students learning an L2 often study with strategies that are only useful…

The research discussed in this article is specifically aimed at non-Afrikaans-speaking international students served by the Language Centre at Stellenbosch University. As a result of students who would like to become proficient in Afrikaans during their stay in South Africa, many of them choose the course "Beginner Afrikaans Vlak 1"…

This paper reports an experiment designed to evaluate an attempt to improve the effectiveness of an existing L2 idiom-learning tool. In this tool, learners are helped to associate the abstract, idiomatic meaning of expressions such as "jump the gun" (act too soon) with their original, concrete meaning (e.g. associating "jump the…

There is much evidence to support the occurrence of learning in connection with collaboration, both in face-to-face and online teaching situations, but much less research on how such collaboration develops over the duration of a course. Using Dillenbourg's concepts of "situation," "interactions," "mechanisms," and…

A number of studies have suggested the possible benefits of using concordancers in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing. To date, however, there is still limited understanding of how EFL writers may make use of such tools along with dictionaries when engaging in a writing task. To better understand the question, this study investigated a…

The flexible language learning system we have devised at our university combines different elements: individual work on a virtual learning environment, pair-work and counseling sessions. The implementation of the system involves a new conception of the different "actors" roles. Teachers become tutors or counselors with new specific…