This case study explores how a Chinese-American novice teacher acted as mediator in a telecollaboration with student teacher (ST) peers in the USA who designed tasks for his English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in China. The novice teacher was instrumental in mediating the student teachers’ task design process by providing feedback regarding technological and institutional constraints, and the nuances of his target student population. He appropriated and adapted the tasks to make them relevant for his EFL learners. Against the backdrop of the three dimensions of professional capital – human, social, and decisional – the research questions explored how the novice teacher used the different types of knowledge of context (pedagogical, institutional, technical) in relation to task design, and his perception of his role as mediator. Within a sociocultural framework for telecollaboration studies, this exploratory case study shares characteristics of ethnography, action research, and narrative inquiry. Data triangulation included text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) data (Google Groups, emails), a narrative written by the novice teacher, and a semi-structured, reflective Skype interview with him. The findings indicate that he demonstrated high commitment, thorough preparation, continuous reflection, and development while navigating between his different roles of mediator, assessor, implementer, and field observer.

Previous research has documented that collaborative dialogue promotes L2 learning in both face-to-face (F2F) and synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) modalities. However, relatively little research has explored modality effects on collaborative dialogue. Thus, motivated by sociocultual theory, this study examines how F2F compares with SCMC regarding the generation of collaborative dialogue specifically in terms of its frequency and nature. Thirty-two Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) students participated in this study and completed two types of collaborative tasks (i.e. dictogloss and jigsaw) in dyads in both modalities. The analyses of learners’ exchanges focused on language-related episodes (LREs), the instantiation of collaborative dialogue. The identified LREs were categorized based on their focus, outcome and type. A follow-up questionnaire was conducted to elicit students’ perspectives. The results revealed that LREs were more frequent in SCMC than in F2F. Furthermore, the analyses of the nature of LREs indicated some cross-modality differences: whereas SCMC LREs had the features of orthographical, correct and self-correction outcomes, F2F LREs were characterized by incorrect and request for assistance outcomes. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for the future research were also discussed.

Learner agency, the capability of individual human beings to make choices and act on these choices in a way that makes a difference in their lives (Martin, 2004), is instrumental in second language learning because attainment is only arrived at by learner choice (Pavlenko & Lantolf, 2000). If attainment is understood as learner engagement in synchronous, collaborative, spoken interaction which is thought to lead to gains in second language acquisition (SLA), then design considerations that harness learners’ agency towards that end is important. This study explores the relationship between learner agency and two different task types, namely an information-gap task and an opinion-sharing task in two peer-to-peer synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) spoken interaction events. Students’ choices and how students act on these choices during tasks are analysed using a discourse analysis approach. Audio recordings of four dyads as cases were examined using three analytical dimensions: language functions of verbal interaction, cognitive processing and social processing. The results show that most learners used their agency to reconfigure the tasks from spontaneous to planned interaction, with some choices and actions relating to technology impacting detrimentally on interaction time in the target language. The different tasks were found to filter and channel different types of agency that learners could exercise, namely representational, organisational, and strategic agency as speech acts, and directional agency as a physical act. These types consisted of different natures and purposes and are presented as a framework. The information-gap task supported strategic agency and an opinion-sharing task supported personalisation and identity construction or representational agency.

This study sought to determine the difference in text-based negotiated interaction between non-native speakers of English (NNS-NNS) and between non-native and natives (NNS-NS) in terms of the frequency of negotiated instances, successfully resolved instances, and interactional strategy use when the dyads collaborated on Facebook. It involved 10 native English speakers and 30 learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). NNS-NNS dyads consisted of five H-H pairs and five L-L pairs (H and L representing high- and low-proficiency learners). Similarly, NNS-NS dyads comprised five H-N pairs and five L-N pairs (N being native speakers). All dyads were required to use text chats to complete the given reading tasks synchronously in chatrooms on Facebook. The results suggested that negotiated instances, successfully resolved instances, and interactional strategy use occurred more frequently in H-H pairs than in L-N, L-L, or H-N pairs. In terms of strategy use, H-H, H-N, and L-N dyads were likely to engage in negotiated interaction by employing strategies such as clarifying unclear expressions or checking their comprehension, while L-L used interactional mechanisms infrequently and tended to use strategies such as continuers and asking for assistance. The research concludes with the pedagogical implications of the results.

Corrective feedback (CF), a response to linguistic errors made by second language (L2) learners, has received extensive scholarly attention in second language acquisition. While much of the previous research in the field has focused on whether CF facilitates or impedes L2 development, few studies have examined the efficacy of gradually modifying the explicitness or specificity of CF as a function of a learner’s response to the feedback. Yet, the type and extent of CF needed by a learner, as suggested by Vygotsky (1978), sheds light on whether a learner is developing his or her abilities in a particular area and the ways in which they do it. This paper reports on a study that explores the design, effectiveness and learners’ perception toward a graduated (Aljaafreh & Lantolf, 1994) approach to CF, i.e., feedback that progresses from very general and implicit to very specific and explicit, in an intelligent computer-assisted language learning (ICALL) environment. The results show that the graduated approach to CF is effective in helping learners to self-identify and self-correct a number of grammatical issues, although an onsite tutor provides necessary remedies when the ICALL system occasionally fails to do its part. Implications for CF research, particularly on the notion of individualized feedback, are also discussed.

The aim of the paper is to investigate the role of dictionary form (paper versus electronic) in language reception, production and retention. The body of existing research does not give a clear answer as to which dictionary medium benefits users more. Divergent findings from many studies into the topic might stem from differences in research methodology (including the various tasks, participants and dictionaries used by different authors). Even a series of studies conducted by one researcher (Dziemianko, 2010, 2011, 2012b) leads to contradictory conclusions, possibly because of the use of paper and electronic versions of existing dictionaries, and the resulting problem with isolating dictionary form as a factor. To be able to argue with confidence that the results obtained follow from different dictionary formats, rather than presentation issues, research methodology should be improved. To successfully generalize about the significance of the medium for decoding, encoding and learning, the current study replicates previous research, but the presentation of lexicographic data on paper and on screen is now balanced, and the paper/electronic opposition is operationalized more appropriately. A real online dictionary and its paper-based counterpart composed of printouts of screen displays were used in the experiment in which the meaning of English nouns and phrases was explained, and collocations were completed with missing prepositions. A delayed post-test checked the retention of the meanings and collocations. The results indicate that dictionary medium does not play a statistically significant role in reception and production, but it considerably affects retention.

It is usually the case that learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) are exposed to language materials in class only, and of course in such a short space of time, they do not always find enough chance to practice English grammar features and become aware of their grammar mistakes. As a potential solution to this problem, the current study inspects the impact of using cell phones, specifically text messages (via short message service) as supplementary tools, on Iranian elementary level EFL learners’ grammar learning. In the first phase of the study, 60 students aged 14 were randomly divided into experimental and comparison groups. Throughout the 12 weeks of treatment, the participants in the experimental group received 120 text messages containing grammar exercises, whereas the participants in the comparison group received a similar number of vocabulary messages as a placebo treatment and were otherwise treated exactly the same as the experimental group. A researcher-made grammar test was used to estimate whether presenting grammar exercises via text messages has any impact on language learners’ grammar learning. The results demonstrated that there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the grammar learning of the participants who practiced grammar points through text messages and those who did not. The researchers also interviewed various stakeholders, comprising ten students, five parents, the teacher, and the school principal. A qualitative content analysis was carried out to find themes relevant to the stakeholders’ beliefs about making use of text messages for learning grammar. The findings suggest that text messages can be useful for learning grammar points, since they engage learners’ interest and encourage them to study more in order to text the correct answers when they are outside their classrooms.