Dear Colleagues:

I am very pleased to announce the newest Issue of the IALLT Journal for
Language Learning Technologies, a peer reviewed academic journal published
by the International Association for Language Learning Technology (IALLT).
The IALLT Journal is online and open-access and is available to the
worldwide public at http://www.iallt.org/iallt_journal

Issue 2 of Volume 42 features articles that address current issues within
the field of language learning technology: interpersonal communication
within a wiki environment, the use of technology to access and work with
authentic materials, and an evaluation scheme for assessing the
appropriateness of off-the-shelf games within a language curriculum.

In the Issue’s opening article, Mimi Li argues for the application and
analysis of the “Discussion” feature of a wiki site, focusing on politeness
strategies that participants use in accomplishing their collaborative task.
She looks at the types of politeness strategies employed by a small group
of English language learners who are originally not close friends and
illustrates how their politeness levels and strategies evolve as they
develop online relationships as well as how the strategies apply to
specific tasks.

In our second article, Haiyong Liu, Pierluigi Erbaggio, Sangeetha
Gopalakrishnan, and Sandra Hobbs argue for the importance of using
authentic materials within both language and a culture-oriented classes,
and for using instructional technology to take provide access and increase
student engagement with these materials. They illustrate the use of
technology in a French culture course, an Italian language course, and a
Chinese language course and discuss how these materials help create an
environment that is independent, social, and student-owned.

Turning to multimedia games, Felix Kronenberg develops nine criteria for
evaluating commercial off-the-shelf games for their appropriateness and
suitability for language learning. After discussing the criteria he then
applies them to three specific games and illustrates how they may or may
not fit in to a language curriculum

This issue concludes with our regular column by Judy Shoaf  on Legal Issues
& LLT.  The topic is once again very timely and deals with a case currently
before the Supreme Court involving the “first sale” doctrine. Since the
case revolves around the country of origin of copyright protected
materials, the Court’s decision may have profound consequences for
accessing materials produced outside the United States.

If you are interested in submitting an article for consideration in the
IALLT Journal, please send all inquiries and submissions to
[log in to unmask].

Dan Soneson
Managing Editor, IALLT Journal