刊讯｜SSCI 期刊《语言学习与技术》2023年1-2期

LANGUAGE LEARING & TECHNOLOGY

Volume 27, Number 1-2, 2023

LANGUAGE LEARING & TECHNOLOGY（SSCI一区，2022 IF：3.8，排名：14/194）2023年第1-2期共刊文13篇。其中，2023年第1期共发文4篇，其中研究性论文3篇，媒体评论1篇。研究论文涉及自动语音评估、自动语音识别、基于任务的写作互动、多模态和基于数字环境的语言教师发展等。LANGUAGE LEARING & TECHNOLOGY 2023年第2期共发文9篇。研究论文涉及沉浸式语言学习、线上语言教学、多媒体展示、计算机辅助语言教学活动、虚拟现实环境和基于动画纪录片的语言学习等。欢迎转发扩散！

往期推荐：

目录

Issue 1 

Announcements

■ Automatic pronunciation assessment vs. automatic speech recognition: A study of conflicting conditions for L2-English, by Enrique Cámara-Arenas, Cristian Tejedor-García, Cecilia Judith Tomas-Vázquez & David Escudero-Mancebo, Pages 1-19.

■ Topic management in L2 task-based written interactions, by Makoto Abe, Pages 1-18.

■ Multimodal glosses enhance learning of Arabic vocabulary, by Juman Al Bukhari & John A. Dewey, Pages 1-24.

Media Reviews

■ Review of Language teacher development in digital contexts, by Lynn Nakazawa, Maria Laura Zalazar & Kristin Rock, Pages 1-4.

Issue 2

Articles

■ Emerging spaces for language learning: AI bots, ambient intelligence, and the metaverse, by Robert Godwin-Jones, Pages 6-27.

■ Sociotechnical structures, materialist semiotics, and online language learning, by Ron Darvin, Pages 28-45.

■ Geosemiotics as a multiperspectivist lens: Theorizing L2 use of semiotic resources in negotiation of meaning with mobiles from outside the classroom, by Helen Lee & Regine Hampel, Pages 46-71.

■ Multimodal representation in virtual exchange: A social semiotic approach to critical digital literacy, by Müge Satar, Mirjam Hauck & Zeynep Bilki, Pages 72-96.

■ Integrating semiotic resources in CALL activity designs Ruslan Suvorov, University of Western Ontario, by Paul Gruba, Pages 97-117.

■ Negotiation of meaning via virtual exchange in immersive virtual reality environments, by Hsin-I Chen & Ana Sevilla-Pavón, Pages 118-154.

■ An ecological perspective on the use of memes for language learning, by Yiting Han & Blaine E. Smith, Pages 155-175.

■ Virtual world-supported contextualized multimodal EFL learning at a library, by Siao-Cing Guo, Pages 176-198.

■ Learning a foreign language and locality through an animated documentary film, by Solvita Burr, Pages 199-225.

摘要

Automatic pronunciation assessment vs. automatic speech recognition: A study of conflicting conditions for L2-English

Enrique Cámara-Arenas, University of Valladolid

Cristian Tejedor-García, Radboud University Nijmegen

Cecilia Judith Tomas-Vázquez, University of Valladolid

David Escudero-Mancebo, University of Valladolid

Abstract This study addresses the issue of automatic pronunciation assessment (APA) and its contribution to the teaching of second language (L2) pronunciation. Several attempts have been made at designing such systems, and some have proven operationally successful. However, the automatic assessment of the pronunciation of short words in segmental approaches has still remained a significant challenge. Free and off-the-shelf automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems have been used in integration with other tools with the hopes of facilitating improvement in the domain of computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT). The use of ASR in APA stands on the premise that a word that is recognized is intelligible and well-pronounced. Our goal was to explore and test the functionality of Google ASR as the  core component within a possible automatic British English pronunciation assessment system. After testing the system against standard and non-standard (foreign) pronunciations provided by participating pronunciation experts as well as non-expert native and non-native speakers of English, we found that Google ASR does not and cannot simultaneously meet two necessary conditions (here defined as intrinsic and derived) for performing as an APA system. Our study concludes with a synthetic view on the requirements of a reliable APA system. 

Key words Automatic Pronunciation Assessment (APA), Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Automatic Assessment Tools, Second Language (L2) Pronunciation

Topic management in L2 task-based written interactions

Makoto Abe, Hokkaido University

Abstract How online interactants advance their talk in written interactions has been extensively investigated in different areas, including language learning. Applying a conversation analysis technique, this study examined how second language (L2) learners managed topics in L2 task-based text-chat interactions and the effects of L2 proficiency on their interactional practices. Participants were 53 dyads, comprising 106 Japanese learners of English across three proficiency levels. The findings demonstrated that only highproficiency learners jointly constructed differences in topicality between on- and off-task interactions, by implementing resources available in the textual communication medium. Mid- and low-proficiency learners tended to recycle similar formats to create new sequences. In addition, low-proficiency learners never showed orientation to topic transition in an observable way; mid-proficiency learners did show an indication of such an orientation to topic transition, although they failed to achieve it interactionally. The findings were partially verified by quantifying the question format How about you?, which was predominantly used by low- and mid-proficiency learners. Based on the findings, this study proposes a hypothetical developmental pathway and pedagogical implications for teaching and assessment of interactional competencies in L2 written interactions.

Key words Topic Management, Text Messaging, Interactional Practice, Conversation Analysis

Multimodal glosses enhance learning of Arabic vocabulary

Juman Al Bukhari, University of North Georgia

John A. Dewey, University of North Georgia

Abstract In second language acquisition, a popular method of introducing new vocabulary is by embedding the words in a natural text. Supplementary information (e.g., definitions, illustrations, synonyms, etc.), or glosses, can be included in the margins of the texts to highlight and improve retention of the new words. Previous studies suggest multimodal glosses facilitate learning, although the question of which glosses are most effective remains an active research topic. In the present study, we focused on a sample of university students studying Arabic as a second language. In two experiments, we found that (a) recognition and recall of target vocabulary words were superior when target words were accompanied by a combination of text and picture glosses compared to text-only or picture-only; and (b) including information about the Arabic root word from which the target word was derived in the glosses provided an additional memory benefit. Overall, this study adds further support for glosses as a teaching tool by generalizing to the case of Arabic. Our results also show how glosses that highlight root information can be useful for improving recognition and recall of Arabic vocabulary specifically.

Key words xxx, xxx, xxx, xxx

Emerging spaces for language learning: AI bots, ambient intelligence, and the metaverse 

Robert Godwin-Jones, Virginia Commonwealth University

Abstract Looking at human communication from the perspective of semiotics extends our view beyond verbal language to consider other sign systems and meaning-making resources. Those include gestures, body language, images, and sounds. From this perspective, the communicative process expands from individual mental processes of verbalizing to include features of the environment, the place and space in which the communication occurs. It may be—and it is increasingly the case today—that language is mediated through digital networks. Online communication has become multimodal in virtually all platforms. At the same time, mobile devices have become indispensable digital companions, extending our perceptive and cognitive abilities. Advances in artificial intelligence are enabling tools that have considerable potential for language learning, as well as creating more complexity in the relationship between humans and the material world. In this column, we will be looking at changing perspectives on the role of place and space in language learning, as mobile, embedded, virtual, and reality-augmenting technologies play an ever-increasing role in our lives. Understanding that dynamic is aided by theories and frameworks such as 4E cognition and sociomaterialism, which posit closer connections between human cognition/language and the world around us.

Key words Artificial Intelligence, Chatbots, Place-based Language Learning, Sociomaterialism

Sociotechnical structures, materialist semiotics, and online language learning

Ron Darvin, The University of British Columbia

Abstract Based on a study of the digital literacy practices of immigrant Filipino students in Vancouver, this paper focuses on how learners with unequal access to resources engage with different tools to locate information and find opportunities for language learning online. Data was collected through interviews and observations of participants as they used YouTube, Google Search, and Google Translate to decode unfamiliar words and find resources for learning. Framed through a materialist semiotic lens, this study examined how the students negotiated their resources on these platforms to achieve different intentions. Findings show that the way learners navigate these spaces can vary based on the devices they use (laptop vs. mobile phone), the user interface (browser vs. app), and the orientation they choose (landscape vs. portrait). The material dimensions of the screen determine the arrangement of semiotic forms, and varying configurations of devices, interfaces, and orientations shape the information made available to the learner and the digital literacy practices of scrolling, clicking, and shifting tabs. Recognizing how the online environment of a platform can shift across these layers of mediation, this paper conceptualizes the linguistic and semiotic forms that constitute design as sociotechnical structures which provide various learning affordances and constraints.

Key words Digital Literacy, Materiality, Semiotics, Equity

Geosemiotics as a multiperspectivist lens: Theorizing L2 use of semiotic resources in negotiation of meaning with mobiles from outside the classroom

Helen Lee, The Open University

Regine Hampel, The Open University

Abstract The theorization of how multimodal learning intersects with online teaching environments has emerged as a key research area in relationship to the creation of opportunities for L2 online interaction. However, there are few studies which have examined how cross-cultural dyads harness and orchestrate semiotic resources across mobile technologies from real-world locations. This paper reports on how the geosemiotics framework provided a multiperspectivist lens (i.e., one which allowed for multiple perspectives which included taking account of embodied communication, material place, and learners’ deployment of mobile devices and cameras to convey visuals). The theory of negotiation of meaning was also introduced to comprehend how L2 meaning is negotiated multimodally in ways potentially beneficial to second language acquisition. In this qualitative study, speaking tasks were supported by tablets and smartphones from outside the classroom. The aim was to foster negotiation of meaning through dyads locating and sharing public semiotic resources situated in places included cafés and museum. Findings show that learners co-deploy different semiotic resources to clarify task information and engage in word search and negotiation of lexis—with non-understanding also triggered by embodied and visual resources. Conclusions consider implications in fostering negotiation through pedagogic task design which harnesses semiotic resources in “place.”

Key words Multimodality, Mobile Language Learning, Videoconferencing, Negotiation of Meaning

Multimodal representation in virtual exchange: A social semiotic approach to critical digital literacy

Müge Satar, Newcastle University

Mirjam Hauck, The Open University

Zeynep Bilki, TED University

Abstract For agentive and influential involvement in online communities, language learners and teachers need to develop critical digital literacy (CDL), conceptualized by Darvin (2017) as an awareness of “how meanings are represented in ways that maintain and reproduce relations of power” (p. 5) and thus privilege some and marginalize others online. Virtual exchange (VE) provides an ideal socio-cultural and socio-semiotic context for fostering CDL (Hauck, 2019) as it is an educational intervention that is—by default—digitally mediated. In this contribution, we examine the employment of semiotic practices for multimodal representation and how they “shape power relations with others” (Bezemer & Jewitt, 2009, p. 1), thereby drawing on a social semiotic approach (Bezemer & Kress, 2016) to CDL (Bilki et al., 2023). Our insights stem from a six-week VE between two higher education institutions in Turkey and the UK, which brought together 48 future English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. The task-based exchanges yielded a rich dataset which allows us to illustrate how CDL is materially achieved through transformative processes observed in multicultural, multilingual, and multimodal interactions. Our findings speak to Kern’s (2014, 2015) appeal for a relational pedagogy and highlight the need to promote CDL in EFL teaching and teacher education to foster critical reflection on meaning-making conventions while exercising agency to establish powerful online relations with others.

Key words Multimodal Representation, Virtual Exchange, Social Semiotic Approach, Critical Digital Literacy

Integrating semiotic resources in CALL activity designs Ruslan Suvorov, University of Western Ontario

Paul Gruba, University of Melbourne

Abstract Grounded in the three-tiered transdisciplinary SLA framework of the Douglas Fir Group (2016), we explore how the concept of ‘semiotic resources’ may be integrated into CALL activity designs. Starting at the macro level, we discuss how language ideology may influence where to situate semiotic resources within initial design considerations. We next move to the meso level, the site of community and social negotiation, to look at how the departmental culture and personal orientation may influence design choices. Our attention then turns to the micro level where we define the roles semiotic resources may play through concepts used in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Moving from theory to practice, we describe how 14 pre-service ESL/EFL teachers in a graduate-level course designed CALL activities. Based on an analysis of their CALL activity designs and research-informed commentaries, we show how students were concerned with designs that highlighted textual aspects of semiotic resources. Such results, not surprisingly, point to the ways macro and meso levels may influence how semiotic resources surface within micro-level activity designs. We conclude by discussing the importance of taking a transdisciplinary approach to promoting language learning as semiotic learning in CALL designs and propose several areas for future research.

Key words Transdisciplinary SLA, Semiotic Resources, SFL, CALL Activity Design

Negotiation of meaning via virtual exchange in immersive virtual reality environments

Hsin-I Chen, National Taipei University of Technology

Ana Sevilla-Pavón, Universiat de València, IULMA

Abstract This study examines how English-as-lingua-franca (ELF) learners employ semiotic resources, including head movements, gestures, facial expression, body posture, and spatial juxtaposition, to negotiate for meaning in an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment. Ten ELF learners participated in a TaiwanSpain VR virtual exchange project and completed two VR tasks on an immersive VR platform. Multiple datasets, including the recordings of VR sessions, pre- and post-task questionnaires, observation notes, and stimulated recall interviews, were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively with triangulation. Built upon multimodal interaction analysis (Norris, 2004) and Varonis and Gass’ (1985a) negotiation of meaning model, the findings indicate that ELF learners utilized different embodied semiotic resources in constructing and negotiating meaning at all primes to achieve effective communication in an immersive VRspace. The avatar-mediated representations and semiotic modalities were shown to facilitate indication, comprehension, and explanation to signal and resolve non-understanding instances. The findings show that with space proxemics and object handling as the two distinct features of VR-supported environments, VR platforms transform learners’ social interaction from plane to three-dimensional communication, and from verbal to embodied, which promotes embodied learning. VR thus serves as a powerful immersive interactive environment for ELF learners from distant locations to be engaged in situated languacultural practices that goes beyond physical space. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

Key words Immersive Virtual Reality, Multimodality, Negotiation of Meaning, Virtual Exchange

An ecological perspective on the use of memes for language learning

Yiting Han, Nanyang Technological University

Blaine E. Smith, Vanderbilt University

Abstract Internet memes—usually taking the form of an image, GIF, or video with text—have become an important type of semiotic tool for meaning making. Due to the fact that memes can help learners leverage semiotic modes in social contexts, they hold great potential for language education. Integrating ecological social semiotic frameworks, this comparative case study examined the semiotic affordances of using memes for language learning in the digital wilds, with a focus on self-identified highly-motivated learner-memers in a university-level student-run Chinese-English intercultural chat group. Data sources included meme artifacts, screen shots, and recordings of meme-related communicative practices as well as semi-structed interviews with each participant. Analysis suggests there were four affordances perceived and utilized by the participants, including linking learners to emergent semiotic repertoires, L2 user agency, increased motivation, and personhood development. Key to learners’ experiences was their awareness of perceived semiotic affordances and their agency to participate in meaning making for potentially meaningful learning experiences. We conclude with pedagogical implications for integrating the rich semiotic resources of memes into language classrooms.

Key words Social Semiotics, Memes, Multimodality, Ecological Perspective

Virtual world-supported contextualized multimodal EFL learning at a library

Siao-Cing Guo, National Taipei University of Business Yu-Ju Lan, National Taiwan Normal University

Abstract This study aims to investigate the influence of story creation on young EFL learners’ reading performance. Action research was adopted to examine the effects of two different story reading projects in a library setting in Taiwan. Each project comprised a group of 19 young EFL learner from Grades 4 to 6 (aged 10-12). The first group’s activities consisted of picture storybook reading and word games. The results obtained from the pre- and post-reading tests on the learners’ performance revealed an increase in their English reading scores. But the results of the learners’ motivation and anxiety questionnaire were unsatisfactory. To overcome this discrepancy, a 3D virtual construction task using Omni-immersion Vision, an online VR construction tool, was added to the reading activity. This let the students express their ideas through multimodal resources including text and images in their stories and their 3D virtual contexts. The results showed that the second group made improvements not only in their English language reading but also in their learning motivation, and they demonstrated lower levels of anxiety than the first group. It appears that a combination of multimodal stories and context construction in virtual worlds benefited EFL learners.

Key words Virtual Reality, Story Creation, Semiotics, Multimodality

Learning a foreign language and locality through an animated documentary film

Solvita Burr, University of Latvia Latvian Language Institute; University of Washington Department of Scandinavian Studies

Abstract This paper describes one 4-week long online language learning module which utilizes the animated documentary film My Favorite War (Burkovska-Jakobsen, 2020) and analyzes four students’ final essays. The learning module was created considering ethnographic views of cultural inferences (Spradley, 2016), the framework of social space (Lefebvre, 1991), multimodal theory (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006), and the model of learning activities, or knowledge processes (Cope & Kalantzis, 2015). It was developed for a Latvian language course at the University of Washington (Seattle, USA) in 2021. Its goals are to help students learn more about the target language and locals’ place-based experiences, and to promote students’ semiotic consciousness while developing their multiliteracies. However, the assignment’s assessment criteria related to the interaction of semiotic resources and of linguistic and non-linguistic information were not shared in order to find out if students would include these issues in their essays.Analysis of students’ essays show that after the learning module, students were able to comprehend (a) some individual compositional elements from the film; (b) symbolic and functional meanings of differently marked spaces; and (c) the main character’s feelings in various social spaces, internal conflicts, relationship models, and thoughts about family, work, war, historical truth, and independence. The described learning model can inspire educators worldwide to develop similar teaching practices for other less commonly taught languages.

Key words Less Commonly Taught Language, Soviet Latvia, Locals’ Spatial Experiences, Multiliteracies

期刊简介

Language Learning & Technology (LLT) is a free, fully-refereed, open journal which has been published exclusively online since July 1997. Published triannually (February, June, and October) by the National Foreign Language Resource Center at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the journal seeks to disseminate research to foreign and second language educators on issues related to technology and language education. The focus of LLT is not technology per se, but rather issues related to language learning and language teaching, and how they are affected or enhanced by the use of digital technologies. LLT has an editorial board of scholars in the fields of second language acquisition and computer-assisted language learning.

《语言学习与技术》(LLT) 是一份免费的、经过充分审阅的开放期刊，自 1997 年 7 月起在网上独家出版。由夏威夷大学国家外语资源中心在 Mānoa每年出版三次（二月、六月和十月），该期刊旨在向外国和第二语言教育者传播有关技术和语言教育问题的研究。LLT 的重点不是技术本身，而是与语言学习和语言教学相关的问题，以及数字技术的使用如何影响或增强它们。LLT 在第二语言习得和计算机辅助语言学习领域拥有一个由学者组成的编辑委员会。

Language Learning & Technology is currently sponsored and funded by the National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) and the Center for Language & Technology (CLT) at University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, and the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL) at the University of Texas at Austin. In its early beginnings, the journal started as a project sponsored by the NFLRC and the Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR) at Michigan State University and co-sponsored by Apprentissage des Langues et Systèmes d'Information et de Communication (ALSIC), the Australian Technology Enhanced Language Learning Consortium (ATELL), the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), the Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO), the European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning (EUROCALL), the International Association for Language Learning Technology (IALLT), and the University of Minnesota Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA).

目前，赞助和资助《语言学习与技术》的机构包括（美国）国家外语资源中心 (NFLRC) 、夏威夷大学马诺阿分校的语言与技术中心 (CLT) 以及德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校开放教育资源和语言学习中心 (COERLL)。在初创阶段，该期刊的赞助机构包括 NFLRC 、密歇根州立大学语言教育与研究中心 (CLEAR) 、语言学习和信息通信系统 (ALSIC)、澳大利亚技术增强语言学习联盟 (ATELL)、应用语言学中心 (CAL)、计算机辅助语言教学联盟 (CALICO)、欧洲计算机辅助语言学习协会 (EUROCALL)、国际语言学习技术协会 ( IALT) 和明尼苏达大学语言习得高级研究中心 (CARLA)。

官网地址：

https://www.lltjournal.org/

本文来源：Language Learning & Technology官网

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