Initiated in response to informal reports of vocabulary gains from gamers at universities in New Zealand and the Netherlands, this qualitative study explored how English language learners autonomously learn vocabulary while playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Using research processes inherent in Grounded Theory, data…

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…

There have been many promises about the benefits of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in classrooms. The assumption underlying those benefits is that computers would be used in a student-centered and a constructivist learning approach, departing from a teacher-centered teaching approach. The uses of computers in the classroom, however,…