Research has noted that virtual reality (VR) environments can lessen language learners' foreign language anxiety (FLA). However, previous research has relied primarily on participants' qualitative opinions, leading to a lack of studies empirically assessing how VR impacts anxiety and, consequently, second language (L2) oral production. This pilot…

Public speaking is considered the most anxiety-provoking speaking activity for English as a foreign language (EFL) learner. While traditional lecture-based classrooms hinder EFL learners' constant practice and frequent interaction due to large class sizes and limited time, recent developments in technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI),…

Feedback plays a central role in learning. Crucial to this is the nature and timing of the feedback. This experimental study explores the efficacy of immediate computer-mediated feedback within a virtual reality environment designed to facilitate the development of pre-university students' presentation skills. Two conditions were established to…

To address the problem of limited opportunities for practicing second language speaking in interaction, especially delicate interactions requiring pragmatic competence, we describe computer simulations designed for the oral practice of extended pragmatic routines and report on the affordances of such simulations for learning pragmatically…

This research was aimed at investigating the pedagogical roles of computer games (Hao et al, 2019, Chen & Hsu, 2019). It explored the impact of computer "mixed with language" (White et al, 2019) training, using simulation games, upon language acquisition and diverse daily-life knowledge. In a teacher preparation university of western…

Recent CALL technology reviews cover a plethora of technologies available to language learners to improve a variety of skills, including speaking. However, few technology-enhanced self-access tools are available for pragmatic development, especially in oral modality. Recognizing the benefits of structured practice for second language development,…

In recent years, in Russia and abroad, we may have noticed the following tendency: the complex of education-related sciences become increasingly interested in learning about the environment which surrounds a human, its role, its potential and its possible use in education. The initial message is represented by the notion that the outside…

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) once meant principally text-based communication mediated by computers, but rapid technological advances in recent years have heralded an era of multimodal communication with a growing emphasis on audio and video synchronous interaction. As CMC, in all its variants (text chats, video chats, forums, blogs, SMS,…

This paper sets out to construct and present the evolving conceptual framework of the SpeakApps projects to consider the application of learning analytics to facilitate synchronous and asynchronous oral language skills within this CALL context. Drawing from both the CALL and wider theoretical and empirical literature of learner analytics, the…

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Second Life (SL) for improving the oral output of overseas Chinese students learning Mandarin Chinese (hereafter referred to as Mandarin). More than 1000 overseas Chinese students attend a university in northern Taiwan every year to learn Mandarin as a heritage language after graduating…

As one of the emerging technologies, the Second Life virtual world provides learners of English as a Foreign Language with a unique opportunity of learning authentic language with native and non-native speakers of English in a virtual environment. It enables them to learn the target language in a real-life-like social communication environment. To…

This article seeks to assess the impact of V-Pal (Virtual Partnerships for All Languages) on the student language learning experience within a conventional UK higher education (HE) curriculum. V-Pal is an innovative computer-mediated language scheme, based on a reciprocal, distance-learning language project, run by the University of Manchester in…

The aim of various approaches implemented, whether the classical "three Ps" (presentation, practice, and production) or communicative language teaching (CLT), is to achieve communicative competence. Although a lot of software developed for teaching spoken English is dressed up to raise interaction, its methodology is largely rooted in tradition.…

This article previews the emergence of "homo virtualis." Drawing on data from seven research studies, peer-reviewed published research articles, and selected excerpts of 30 months of field notes taken in Second Life [SL], the article examines virtual learning environments and embodiment through the lens of interactions of avatars with…

Describes the development of a speech-activated multimedia system for foreign-language training. The model allows students to engage native speakers on CD-ROM in lengthy face-to-face dialogs using natural spoken language. (Author/VWL)