Teacher-moderated online chats are a common option for conducting writing conferences with students. The efficacy of chat sessions is impacted by the expectations for and structure of these sessions. This corpus-based study used a move analysis to determine the purposes and organization of 129 chats between 3 experienced teachers and 106 students…

While mobile devices have become increasingly integral to students' lives, there is an apparent disconnect between this trend and our second language (L2) pedagogy. The present study investigates potential benefits of a nontraditional assignment, texting, on vocabulary acquisition and motivation in adult learners of Spanish. Quantitative results…

The paper tackles a central question in the field of Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning (ICALL): How can language learning tasks be conceptualized and made explicit in a way that supports the pedagogical goals of current Foreign Language Teaching and Learning and at the same time provides an explicit characterization of the Natural…

This quasi-experimental study examined whether there was any difference in the quantity and quality of the written texts produced by two groups (N = 18) of intermediate Chinese language learners. Over one semester, students in the experimental (E) group wrote weekly updates and comments in Chinese on a designated Facebook group page, while…

Over the last decade, a small body of SLA research has examined the effects of task planning on L2 production. This research has revealed positive results concerning the effect of pre-task and online planning on oral and written production. However, no studies to date have investigated the joint effects of pre-task and online planning. In…

The qualitative study reported in this article explored the use of technology for language learning in a third-year French class at a public university in the Midwest of the USA. To address the need for a more holistic study of technology for language learning (Basharina, 2007; Thorne, 2003), an Activity Theory framework was employed to…

This study examines student preferences and behavior when navigating online multimedia modules dedicated to teaching cultural aspects associated with an L2, and the contribution of the online multimedia format of the modules to raising interest in these cultural topics. It focuses on student options regarding reading texts on the modules' main…

In a project-based approach to teaching a foreign language at the university level, students are often required to participate in several task-based writing activities. In doing so, language learners not only write incorrect forms, but also correct forms of the same structures, both of which provide useful information on their strengths and…

This article explores the configuration of a university foreign language lab given the dramatic changes in the last decade with regard to digital recording technology and the web as a basis for social networking. Resources and procedures are described for completing class assignments, making content available, carrying out assessment, including…

Learning to perform academic writing in university content classrooms is a major challenge facing nonnative-English-speaker (NNS) students. Computer-mediated communication (CMC) offers new possibilities for bidirectional peer-to-peer scaffolding in which students interact and negotiate meaning concerning academic writing and thus represents a new…