{"title":"Qualitative Research In Online Language Learning: What Can It Do?","authors":"Ursula Stickler, R. Hampel","doi":"10.4018/IJCALLT.2019070102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJCALLT.2019070102","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the theoretical foundations of qualitative research in online language learning. It will look at the distinction between offline and online language learning and discuss whether different ways of knowledge generation are appropriate for those different learning environments. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies will be examined and their fit with various learning theories evaluated. Fundamental theoretical differences between epistemologies supporting a realist ontology and those favouring relativist ontologies will be presented and set in the context of online language learning research. Finally, an argument will be presented that in a sociocultural framework, going beyond quantitative research approaches is necessary to adequately understand the experiences of learners and teachers who share a common interest in novel digital environments.","PeriodicalId":43610,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91234613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Using Machinima as Teaching and Learning Materials","authors":"Sagun Shrestha, Tilly Harrison","doi":"10.4018/IJCALLT.2019040103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJCALLT.2019040103","url":null,"abstract":"Machinima, screencast animated videos made in a virtual world, are still not a very well-known phenomenon, and there has been little reseach in relation to their use as a teaching material in English language classrooms. This study aimed to investigate the potential for and challenges in using machinima in the pre-intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. Bespoke machinima were created for three classes in Nepal, and the lessons using them were observed. Two teachers and four students were given semi-structued interviews, and 20 students were asked to write a reflective note on their impression of the use of machinima. The findings of the study indicate that machinima are distinct from other materials in that they can be contextualized to address the needs, interests, and values of the learners. Student engagement is thus found to have been significantly higher.","PeriodicalId":43610,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84041836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Developing and Evaluating a Learner-Friendly Collocation System With User Query Data","authors":"Shaoqun Wu, Alannah Fitzgerald, A. Yu, I. Witten","doi":"10.4018/IJCALLT.2019040104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJCALLT.2019040104","url":null,"abstract":"Learning collocations is one of the most challenging aspects of language learning as there are literally hundreds of thousands of possibilities for combining words. Corpus consultation with concordancers has been recognized in the literature as an established way for language learners to study and explore collocations at their own pace and in their own time although not without technological and sometimes cost barriers. This paper describes the development and evaluation of a learner-friendly collocation consultation system called FlaxLC in a design departure away from the traditional concordancer interface. Two evaluation studies were conducted to assess the learner-friendliness of the system: a face-to-face user study to find out how international students in a New Zealand university used the system to collect collocations of their own interest and a user query analysis—based on an observable artefact of how online learners actually used the system over the course of one year—to examine how the system is used in real life to search and retrieve collocations.","PeriodicalId":43610,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73234473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Computer-Assisted Synonymous Phrase Learning","authors":"Mei-Hua Chen","doi":"10.4018/IJCALLT.2019040101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJCALLT.2019040101","url":null,"abstract":"It is not uncommon to see lists of semantically equivalent phrases in pedagogical materials. However, empirical investigations of the effect of synonymous phrase learning on vocabulary development are rarely attempted. The current study promotes computer-assisted synonymous phrase learning by introducing PREFER, a corpus-based paraphrasing system. The organized information including synonymous phrases, Chinese translations, usage patterns, and example sentences would help EFL learners develop vocabulary knowledge in terms of form, meaning, and use. The performances of 49 EFL first-year college students were evaluated using a 15-set multi-select test. The results showed that students consulting PREFER made greater progress than those consulting existing online tools. The improvements of the less proficient students were especially significant, which was to be expected. More importantly, the analyses of learners' errors indicated that their learning difficulties primarily resulted from the lack of attention to word form and the function words (i.e., word form and use) while learning vocabulary.","PeriodicalId":43610,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73898204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Computer-Mediated Communication in the L2 Writing Process","authors":"H. Çiftçi, Erhan Aslan","doi":"10.4018/IJCALLT.2019040102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJCALLT.2019040102","url":null,"abstract":"As current computer-mediated communication (CMC) research is omnipresent in the foreign/second language (L2) writing process, a synthesis of the research in this realm is needed to better understand and inform the current pedagogical practices with technology in language classrooms. This article presents a review of 38 studies identifying the major characteristics of CMC use in L2 writing process and aspects of L2 writing where CMC is embedded. The findings indicate that a variety of CMC-embedded L2 writing tasks were mainly integrated in the drafting and revising/editing stages of writing. Also, there has been a clear shift in recent years from blogs and wikis to other CMC tools, such as Google Docs, Facebook, Skype, and instant messaging. Also, existing CMC research on the L2 writing process mainly focuses on improvement in L2 writing ability/production, complexity/accuracy/fluency (CAF) measures, interactivity in L2 writing, and learners' editing/revision strategies. Finally, this review discusses pedagogical implications and offers suggestions for future research on CMC and L2 writing.","PeriodicalId":43610,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87508644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}