Canadian Modern Language Review/ La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes
Volume 68, Number 4, November 2012
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/q74781g3p7m1/
Computer-mediated Discourse and Interaction in Second and Foreign Language
Learning and Teaching
Guest Editors
Lawrence Williams and Rémi A. van Compernolle
This issue contains:
Editorial / Éditorial
This special issue highlights discourse and interaction in computer-mediated
communication (CMC) language learning environments. Our decision to focus on
this area was motivated by a desire to promote research that demonstrates
and explores close analysis of discourse and the moment-by-moment processes
involved in interpersonal communication. Although a growing amount of this
type of research already exists, this branch of technology-enhanced language
learning remains relatively unexplored because only recently, with the
expansion of bandwidth, has communication networks in certain parts of the
world become more possible and accessible. The articles in this special
issue confirm that ‘the medium of communication does not appear to impair
interaction, but rather seems to create a new environment with different
features for the exchange and creation of information (e.g., Spears & Lea,
1994; Walther et al., 1994)’ (Salaberry, 2000, p. 33)…. Excerpt from
Editorial by Lawrence Williams and Rémi A. van Compernolle, Guest Editors
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/m22524352012299l/?p=532b96abd6c84be
8b0aca9b73d23df10
<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/m22524352012299l/?p=532b96abd6c84b
e8b0aca9b73d23df10&pi=0> &pi=0
DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.68.4.00i
Négociation et co-construction du sens en français langueétrangère (FLE)
lors d’une immersion dans un environnement virtuel d’apprentissage (EVA)
Aurore Mroz
Cette étude a visé à l’exploration des compétences critiques développées et
acquises par un groupe d’apprenants américains en français langue étrangère
(FLE) de niveau intermédiaire, dans le cadre d’une expérience pédagogique
d’immersion dans un environnement virtuel d’apprentissage (EVA), où les
étudiants avaient pour objectif la résolution d’un problème complexe de
manière coopérative. L’étude s’est concentrée sur le concept de négociation
et de co-construction du sens comme phénomène paradigmatique de compétences
critiques émergentes chez les apprenants en langue étrangère, et visait
d’abord à évaluer la nature des schémas discursifs du discours produit par
les apprenants au cours de leurs interactions par chat dans l’EVA, afin de
sonder ce que ces schémas indiquaient de la qualité des compétences
critiques de ces apprenants. Par ailleurs, cette étude visait à explorer le
point de vue des apprenants dans la perception qu’ils ont eu de l’impact de
l’immersion dans l’EVA sur le développement de leurs compétences critiques
en français, pour mieux informer l’utilisation qui doit être faite des EVA
dans les cours de langue étrangère. Cette étude a été basée sur un protocole
méthodologique mixte de recherche, favorisant la complémentarité de données
quantitatives et qualitatives pour permettre une validité et une crédibilité
accrues des résultats.
This study explored the developed and acquired critical competence of a
group of American learners of French as a second language (L2), intermediate
level, within a virtual learning environment (VLE). In this VLE, students
had to resolve complex problems in a collaborative way. The study focused on
the concept of negotiation and co-construction of meaning as a paradigmatic
phenomenon of emerging critical competence for learners of a foreign
language. It first aimed to evaluate the nature of discourse schemas
produced by these learners when chatting in the VLE in order to find out
what these schemas indicated about the quality of the critical competence of
these learners. Furthermore, this study wanted to explore the learners’
perception of the impact of their immersion within the VLE on the
development of their critical competence in French in order to better inform
the way VLEs should be used in foreign language courses. This study was
based on a mixed methods research protocol that favoured the complementarity
of quantitative and qualitative data in order to increase the results’
validity and credibility.
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/x818523043515631/?p=532b96abd6c84be
8b0aca9b73d23df10
<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/x818523043515631/?p=532b96abd6c84b
e8b0aca9b73d23df10&pi=1> &pi=1
DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.1275
Chatting in Paragraphs: Towards Academic Discourse in Foreign Language Chat
Adam Mendelson
This paper presents a case study of an individual student’s increasing
approximation of academic discourse during a third-semester Spanish class
that included chat-based instruction. During both chat-based activities and
oral discussions in class, the student’s language use became increasingly
characterized by longer turns and the use of subordination to express
opinions. At the same time, her engagement in online play decreased over the
course of the semester. This case suggests that, depending on the overall
instructional context in which text-based chat is integrated, this medium,
which is generally assumed to be social and informal, may actually be
flexible enough to also support the development of academic discourse.
Furthermore, the detailed description of language use and development across
online and off-line environments invites consideration of the relationship
between chatting and speaking.
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/lr4k60608t45548j/?p=532b96abd6c84be
8b0aca9b73d23df10
<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/lr4k60608t45548j/?p=532b96abd6c84b
e8b0aca9b73d23df10&pi=2> &pi=2
DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.1274
Telecollaboration for Professional Purposes: Towards Developing a Formal
Register in the Foreign Language Classroom
D. Joseph Cunningham, Nina Vyatkina
This study reports on the development of a professional spoken register
among learners of German as they participate in four synchronous Web
conferences with German-speaking professionals. The researchers investigated
the effect of interaction with expert German speakers combined with an
instructional intervention focusing on pragmatic competence on the
development of learners’ ability to communicate in a second language (L2)
professional register. The data reveal a positive effect on the strategic
use of modal verbs for expressing polite requests as well as a moderate
effect on learners’ use of the subjunctive mood to establish social
distance. These results add further support for the use of intercultural
online exchanges mediated by data-driven instruction in the foreign language
classroom and highlight the utility of a microgenetic approach to analyzing
spoken data.
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/x024138117j73157/?p=532b96abd6c84be
8b0aca9b73d23df10
<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/x024138117j73157/?p=532b96abd6c84b
e8b0aca9b73d23df10&pi=3> &pi=3
DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.1279
Book and Software Reviews / Critiques de livres et de logiciels
M. Nicolson, L. Murphy, & M. Southgate, Language Teaching in Blended
Contexts, reviewed by Julie McAllister
C. Falsgraf, Technology-Infused French: Foreign Language Instruction for the
Digital Age, reviewed by Janel Pettes Guikema
C. Meskill & N. Anthony, Teaching Languages Online, reviewed by Jonathon
Reinhardt
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/m6012543vhx01437/?p=532b96abd6c84be
8b0aca9b73d23df10
<http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/m6012543vhx01437/?p=532b96abd6c84b
e8b0aca9b73d23df10&pi=4> &pi=4
DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.68.4.451
The Canadian Modern Language Review ONLINE
http://www.utpjournals.com/cmlr
Hundreds of peer-reviewed articles, insightful book and software reviews,
calendars of forthcoming events and research-based articles, in all areas of
second language teaching and acquisition, from 1997 to the present await you
at this comprehensive resource.
CMLR Online features a comprehensive archive of past and current issues and
includes features that address the research needs of today’s second language
teachers, administrators and researchers, worldwide. Subscribers to CMLR
Online enjoy:
Enhanced features not available in the print version – supplementary
information, colour photos, videos, audio files, etc. encouraging further
exploration and research.
Early access to the latest issues – Did you know that most online issues are
available to subscribers up to two weeks in advance of the print version?
Sign up for e-mail alerts and you will know as soon as the latest issue is
ready for you to read.
Access in the office, at home and “on the go” – experience everything CMLR
Online has to offer from your desktop and mobile devices.
Everything you need at your fingertips – search through current and archived
issues from the comfort of your office chair not by digging through book
shelves or storage boxes. The easy to use search function allows you to
organize results by article summaries, abstracts or citations and bookmark,
export, or print a specific page, chapter or article.
Almost 70 years of support to researchers, language educators and policy
makers …
The Canadian Modern Language Review publishes peer-reviewed articles on
second language learning and teaching. It is a bilingual (French and
English) journal of international repute, serving researchers and language
teaching professionals interested in the learning and teaching of English
and French as second languages, as well as other modern, indigenous,
heritage, and community languages.
Contributors to the quarterly issues include authors from Canada and around
the world.
CMLR publishes 4 issues a year, offering its readership peer-reviewed
research articles that inspire debate and question contemporary approaches
in all areas of second language teaching and acquisition, including
- Applied Linguistics
- FSL and ESL studies
- Bilingual education
- L2 teacher education
- L2 research methodology
- International and indigenous languages
- Cultural contexts of L2 learning
- L2 pedagogy
- L2 assessment
- Multiple literacies
- Language policy
- Language learning
For more information about CMLR/ RCLV (in print or online) or for
submissions information, please contact
University of Toronto Press — Journals Division
5201 Dufferin St., Toronto, ON,
Canada M3H 5T8
tel: (416) 667-7810 fax: (416) 667-7881
Fax Toll Free in North America 1-800-221-9985
email: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
[log in to unmask]
<http://www.utpjournals.com/cmlr> www.utpjournals.com/cmlr
UTP Journals on Facebook www.facebook.com/utpjournals
Join us for advance notice of tables of contents of forthcoming issues,
author and editor commentaries and insights, calls for papers and advice on
publishing in our journals. Become a fan and receive free access to articles
weekly through UTPJournals focus.
Posted by T Hawkins, UTP Journals