With a recent interest in virtual reality, educators have begun to explore how using technology can mitigate feelings of Foreign Language Anxiety, or FLA. For this dissertation, the author has co-created a virtual reality conversation scenario to test with novice and intermediate-level Spanish students at the University of Wyoming. The research…

Learning an L2 is often said to transform an individual into a new (and improved) version of the self. This mixed-method study investigated (1) whether, and if so, in what way such a transformation occurs within the L2 learner self; and (2) whether current theories of self and motivation in the fields of SLA and psychology adequately address L2…

This study examines the impact of High-Immersion Virtual Reality (HiVR) as a tool for teaching English L2 pragmatics to international students enrolled in an Intensive English Program at a US university. This research focuses on integrating HiVR into explicit L2 pragmatics instructional treatments. A quasi-experimental design was employed to…

Strategic competence, or the cognitive resources necessary for utilizing language knowledge, is widely recognized as an essential component of second language (L2) ability. However, research on strategic competence in the context of L2 speaking assessment has been limited, and findings have been inconsistent, making it challenging to discern the…

Many specialists have put out a call to action for more specialized training in L2 pronunciation pedagogy, as many language educators are ill-equipped to meet the instructional demands that pronunciation teaching requires (Foote et al., 2011; Henderson et al., 2015; Murphy, 2014, 2017). While language teacher professional development has started…

Given the literature review on over and under representation of ELL students in Special Education, this research aimed to study how teachers identify between ELL students who present with language proficiency learning difficulties and students who might exhibit learning disabilities. This qualitative study added to existing literature on…

Although studies in higher education have paid attention to the complexities of learning disciplinary language and discourse, little attention has been given to learning professional discourse in a second language (L2). Recent studies on language socialization have addressed this gap by focusing on L2 students' emerging communicative competence in…

The assessment of oral proficiency in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) contexts remains a central challenge for researchers, test developers, and classroom teachers (Knoch & Macqueen, 2020). This problem is apparent especially in Tourism and Hotel Management (THM) programs, where students are tested mostly based on grammar, vocabulary, and…

Studies have shown that language assessment literacy (LAL) is important for language teachers since they make important classroom decisions to improve student learning based on their assessment. However, some studies have shown that teachers need more knowledge and skills in assessment. Teachers also seem unconfident in assessing their students…

The vast development of digital technology and the widespread use of social network platforms have reshaped how we live in the world. For L2 learners to maximally utilize their language proficiency to function effectively as members of modern society, they need not only the necessary L2 knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) but also essential…

Disparities exist in healthcare related to language barriers and lack of cultural understanding between caregivers and recipients. Increasing the linguistic and cultural diversity of caregivers may decrease the healthcare disparities observed. The research study described in this manuscript was conducted to explore the undergraduate student…

Grounded in discourse analytic and language socialization paradigms, this dissertation examines issues of language and social identity construction in children attending a Russian Heritage Language Orthodox Christian Saturday School in California. By conducting micro-analysis of naturally-occurring talk-in-interaction combined with longitudinal…

The qualitative research describes the experience of an instructor, participants, and researcher in a community college-based Chinese language class. Tse's (2000) Foreign Language Autobiographies (FLA), classroom observations, student vignette interviews and observations accompanied by field notes were the sources of data for this study.…