This activity uses podcasts to model narrative writing techniques. The challenges students face when exercising narrative writing skills are unique when compared to those of persuasive and expository writing; my students have repeatedly expressed their qualms with articulating experiences that engage their audience. Although students have…

Predicting and analyzing multimodal dialog user experience (UX) metrics, such as overall call experience, caller engagement, and latency, among other metrics, in an ongoing manner is important for evaluating such systems. We investigate automated prediction of multiple such metrics collected from crowdsourced interactions with an open-source,…

Compared with the study of acquisition of syntax and morphology, there is a relative lack of research on the acquisition of phonology, the L2 acquisition of word stress in particular. This paper investigates the production of word stress by 70 Chinese college students in their reading aloud. Altogether 350 minutes' recordings were collected and…

Using conversation analysis (CA), this study examines the less explored language teaching genre within an English as a foreign language (EFL) context: the writing center tutorials. Focusing the analysis specifically on tutor talk, this paper investigates the contingent production of third turns of second language (L2) tutors. Following the lead of…

Do learners of a second language (L2) need frequent contact with native speakers of that language in order to master its phonology? What if they hear audio recordings of native speakers and receive immediate corrective feedback about their perception? We used a randomized controlled experiment with 135 Chinese speakers (with English as their L2)…

There is increasing interest in the provision of online professional development (OPD) for teachers. This case study contributes to the field of research on professional development in the context of activities and discourses relating to mathematics teachers' synchronous oral communication online. The purpose of this article is to explore the…

The processes and patterns of strategies used by children when drawing on the computer with friends and acquaintances were investigated in a case study. The participants were five-and-six-year-old children and the study took place in their home settings. The data collection methods consisted of interviews, observations, audio recordings, video…

This study examined the effects of collaborative dialogue in learning the speech act of request. Seventy-four second-grade girls' junior high students were divided into three groups. The "collaborative group" (n = 25) received explicit metapragmatic information on request (request head act and modifications) followed by a dialogue…

It is widely agreed that there is a need to increase and widen science participation. Informal science learning environments (ISLEs), such as science museums, may provide valuable spaces within which to engage visitors--yet the visitor profile of science museums remains narrow. This paper seeks to understand the experiences of socially…

In mid-2012, the authors organized a two-week workshop in Papua New Guinea to provide training in basic techniques and technologies for language documentation, and to gain understanding of how these technologies might be improved in the future. An assessment of the workshop was conducted by Brooks with the central idea that the workshop's…

The Internet is used to create a grassroots counter-hegemony force. However, how individuals can effect changes to the development of language policies, especially in contexts such as China, is understudied. This study analyses three different forms of online activities -- self-generating content, interaction, and discussion -- to demonstrate how…

This longitudinal study examined whether and to what extent the production of voice onset time (VOT) for /p/, /t/, and /k/ in English was improved in second language (L2) learners by enrolment in a content-based instruction (CBI) program at a Japanese university. Measures of VOTs were elicited at the beginning, middle, and end of the academic year…

Pronunciation is important in all spoken communication in English because if we mispronounce a word, people will likely to misunderstand us. This paper is about teaching diphthongs by using recordings and brainstorming board race in Iraqi private colleges as well as how audio-visual media and games are used in learning. The integration of games in…

This article presents a focused analysis of teacher and student interaction in feedback conversations to contribute to an understanding of feedback as a dialogic process. Extending the work of previous research, two new and detailed coding frameworks--one for teacher feedback and another for student feedback--were developed to capture…

Sandwich programmes are an innovation in teacher education geared towards the production of high quality manpower. They are organized during school vacations so that teachers working full-time would also have the opportunity to advance academically and improve professionally. However, the intensive nature of the programme jeopardizes the…