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Many foreign language faculty identify technologies that they would like to introduce in their classes, but few are aware of the theoretical models that can help them choose and introduce those innovations more effectively. Such models have received limited attention in the computer-assisted language learning (CALL) literature, and have failed to adequately explore the complementarity between global and fine-grained approaches to adoption. To fill these gaps, the present paper introduces a novel integration of three adoption theories (Diffusion of Innovations, Technology Acceptance Model, and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology), providing a more robust explanation of the factors affecting technology adoption than current models offer individually. The integrated theories are applied to guide faculty adoption of a seemingly simple yet ultimately complex CALL technology (an online Spanish workbook) in a multi-section introductory college Spanish program. An analysis of that adoption process serves to illustrate the value of synthesizing global and fine-grained theoretical models to better explain adoption processes in any CALL context, while also identifying areas for development in adoption theories. Finally, this study offers guidelines for planning and implementing innovative technologies as well as directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As technology increasingly takes center stage of our lives, there are compelling reasons for incorporating technologies into the classroom. The prevailing of CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) has greatly changed the traditional teaching mode and added new contents into the existing teaching materials. As a significant skill for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners, there are abundant researches in writing, yet little documentation exists on the application of CALL in writing classroom. This paper reviews relevant theories and research, and then investigates three research questions by an empirical study. The results gained have some pedagogical implications in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of possibilities that computers and computer-assisted technology have opened up for second language (L2) learners over the years is intriguing. However, one must bear in mind that even though computer-assisted language learning (CALL) does create situations for computer- mediated interaction, can it really replace face-to-face interaction or just be an alternative resource? In larger numbers, with shrinking budgets, many universities are formulating online options for students in which one professor lectures to thousands of students online, and graduate assistants grade their assignments. While such an approach may be suitable for some content areas such as an Introduction to Psychology course, I think it could have different effects (though perhaps limited ones) in an L2 classroom, simply because face-to-face interaction is so vital. To date, some SLA researchers have argued for the importance of interaction in the learners L2 development. In his Interaction Hypothesis, Long (1983) advocated a critical role for interaction. He asserted that learners will make conversational adjustments during face-to-face interaction, which will in turn facilitate L2 learning. Mackey, Gass, and McDonough (2000) further argue that “through interaction, some aspects of their attention may become focused on the parts of their language that deviate from target language norms” (p. 473). So in relating CALL to the existing body of interaction research in SLA, one question stands out: Will CALL provide the same opportunities for learners as face-to-face interaction?

Research has shown that the use of technology can be a pioneering and innovative means of language learning and teaching. Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) provides learners with individualized instruction, naturalistic linguistic environment, and greater opportunities to actively engage in interaction with peers and teachers A number of studies (see Bhatia & Ritchie, 2009 for more details) have reported that students in the CALL setting tend to show less negative affect but higher levels of interest, motivation, and participation in learning the target language. However, such encouraging findings were observed primarily with students who had positive attitudes toward technology, as pointed out by Bhatia and Ritchie (2009). This highlights the fact that the application of technology to language learning and/or teaching settings must be preceded by proper user education or training in materials and technology tools. In other words, both students and teachers need to be given sufficient opportunities to practice and become familiar with the technology in use in the first place; the absence of these prerequisites can render any argument for the effectiveness of CALL insufficient.

Copyright of Revista Horizontes de Linguística Aplicada is the property of Revista Horizontes de Linguistica Aplicada and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Dr. Mimi Li shares her experiences of research on CALL as well as teacher training focused on digital pedagogy. She also discusses historical developments and existing challenges in teacher education in CALL, and future trends in CALL. Moreover, Dr. Li offers suggestions to teacher educators on program/course developments. In addition, this interview draws readers' attention to the new forum section of LLT "Language Teacher Education and Technology". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Idiomatic expressions like hit the road or turn the tables are known to be problematic for L2 learners, but research indicates that learning L2 idiomatic language is important. Relatively few studies, most of them focusing on English idioms, have investigated how L2 idioms are actually acquired and how this process is affected by important idiom properties like transparency (the degree to which the figurative meaning of an idiom can be inferred from its literal analysis) and cross-language overlap (the degree to which L2 idioms correspond to L1 idioms). The present study employed a specially designed CALL system to investigate the effects of intensity of practice and the reading modality on learning Dutch L2 idioms, as well as the impact of idiom transparency and cross-language overlap. The results show that CALL practice with a focus on meaning and form is effective for learning L2 idioms and that the degree of practice needed depends on the properties of the idioms. L2 learners can achieve or even exceed native-like performance. Practicing reading idioms aloud does not lead to significantly higher performance than reading idioms silently.These findings have theoretical implications as they show that differences between native speakers and L2 learners are due to differences in exposure, rather than to different underlying acquisition mechanisms. For teaching practice, this study indicates that a properly designed CALL system is an effective and an ecologically sound environment for learning L2 idioms, a generally unattended area in L2 classes, and that teaching priorities should be based on degree of transparency and cross-language overlap of L2 idioms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article attempts to present a flipped classroom (FC) model from a glottodidactic point of view in the context of a language school educational situation. The introduction to the article briefly explains the socio-economic context, the variable and dynamic nature that initiates and catalyses changes in both a formal and non-formal education system, and language schools belonging to the latter type. The first part of the article presents the FC phenomenon, its definition, features, as well as areas that directly influenced its evolution: constructivism and computer assisted language learning (CALL). Furthermore, it discusses the crucial consequence of the implementation of the FC model, i.e. changing the tasks of both the student and the teacher. The second part describes the implementation of a glottodidactic model developed by the educational and IT team in a particular language school, where it ultimatalely became the primary way of learning and teaching Spanish. It contains the following elements: presentation of the structure of glottodidactic materials available on an e-learning platform before meeting with a teacher, and the organisation of stationary lessons in relation to the traditional model commonly used in language schools. A proposal of the methodology of research on the described phenomenon is also presented. As a conclusion, it points out the positive effects of introducing the FC model into a language school, both from a didactic and economic perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The study underscores issues of teachers' perspectives, their understanding, awareness, utilization, and effectiveness of technological mediated mobile capabilities in foreign language acquisition (FLA). Seven teachers (FLA) from five nationalities were interviewed online, and the data collected and compiled along with notes were descriptively analyzed. The findings illustrate that although FLA teachers are ready to embrace changes and accept the usage of technology-mediated computer and mobile-assisted language learning (C/MALL) in online classes; however, this adaptability posits some challenges, which need technical support, training, interactions on its usage for language acquisition. The argument emphasizes the discourses between FLA teachers, parents, and institutions for creating a conducive environment and technological affordances for executing computer and mobile-assisted language learning in significant ways. Besides, it highlights the contradiction between the usage of Smart Mobile Devices (SMDs) for language acquisition and lack of efficiency and effective use of such devices by teachers, and the formalities of mobile use for teachers to include student-centered activities and students' immersion. Finally, the study presents implications and prospects for future studies based on the perception of FLA teachers, and parents towards the use of the computer or SMDS viewed as CALL or MALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of integrating technology in language instruction and its fundamental effect on the language learning dimensions has been widely acknowledged whereas learners’ motivation and attitude are expected to be improved in a web-based Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) environment. Therefore, this paper aimed to investigate the Iranian EFL learners’ motivation to learn English and attitude in a CALL environment. The participants of this study were 120 intermediate EFL learners from two private English language institutes in Isfahan, Iran. They were divided into two equal groups; one experimental group (EG) and one control group (CG). Then, a motivation questionnaire pretest was administered out to check the participants’ motivation at the beginning of the course. As the treatment, the EG learners were taught through CALL-based instruction and the CG learners were taught traditionally. After the treatment, a posttest of motivation and an attitude questionnaire were administered. The outcomes indicated that the CALL-based instruction promoted the participants’ motivation as checked by the Motivation Questionnaire. Moreover, as measured by a 20-item A-CALL attitude questionnaire, it was discovered that the learners in the EG had positive attitudes toward using CALL-based instruction. In light of the findings, a number of conclusions are obtained and several implications are put forward.

The present study sought to investigate whether Korean learners would benefit from tablet PC-based English learning and how they and their instructors would perceive the relatively new mobile technology as a language learning and teaching tool. To this end, 161 young learners and 57 instructors at private English institutes in several cities in Korea took part in the present study. For three months, the learners received one of two forms of instruction, one based on traditional paper-based materials and the other via tablet PC-based materials. Analyses of the listening and reading tests and of the questionnaire responses, followed by student interviews, indicate that the learners may benefit from tablet PC-based English programs, especially in their reading skills and their learning autonomy. Furthermore, the learners' beliefs in the effectiveness of tablet PC-based instruction were found to be stronger than among the instructors. Pedagogical implications and future research directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This small-scale, longitudinal study tested for the influence of video recording with a camcorder, and recording and self-viewing with an iPad. The study tested for changes in confidence, anxiety and foreign language (fl) willingness to communicate (wtc; McCroskey & Baer, 1985) using self-report measures before and after the intervention (N = 91 & 71, respectively). For the second administration, a second instrument was administered which asked about the influence of the camcorder / iPad intervention on confidence, anxiety, and wtc. The class that received the iPad intervention shows statistically significant increases in confidence and wtc, and a statistically significant decrease in anxiety. Furthermore, the Warppls structural equation modeling (sem) software results show that the iPad use had a strong positive influence on confidence and wtc and may also have lowered the level of anxiety of the students video-recorded directly (n = 9) with the iPad. The results indicate that video recording and self-viewing in the classroom with an iPad may promote confidence and wtc, and lower anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence that sociocultural aspects influence how adult second language (L2) learners use web-based language learning tools. Quantitative evidence from mouse-click and on-line gloss look-ups by 41 Arabic-speaking and 21 Korean-speaking learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) revealed different behaviors with a web-based reading and vocabulary tutor. Qualitative data from class observations, questionnaires, and interview data revealed different cultural views of reading and word learning. Using activity theory to interpret these data, we suggest that learners' perspectives on learning vocabulary from a written text can transform the Object of a vocabulary learning activity in different ways. Implications for teachers and computer scientists are that students' actions when using online tools may differ by sociocultural background. In addition, their actions may not align with longterm learning objectives, but may instead be directed toward short-term task completion requirements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This review summarizes evidence for the effectiveness of technology use in foreign language (FL) learning and teaching, with a focus on empirical studies that compare the use of newer technologies with more traditional methods or materials. The review of over 350 studies (including classroom-based technologies, individual study tools, network-based social computing, and mobile and portable devices) revealed that, in spite of an abundance of publications available on the topic of technology use in FL learning and teaching, evidence of efficacy is limited. However, strong support for the claim that technology made a measurable impact in FL learning came from studies on computer-assisted pronunciation training, in particular, automatic speech recognition (ASR). These studies demonstrated that ASR can facilitate the improvement of pronunciation and can provide feedback effectively. Additional studies provided strong support for the use of chat in FL learning. These studies showed that, with chat, both the amount of learners’ language production and its complexity significantly increased. The literature revealed moderate support for claims that technology enhanced learners’ output and interaction, affect and motivation, feedback, and metalinguistic knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The attitude of EFL learners towards CALL is one of the important elements that can be influential in implementing a CALL course. This study investigated the attitudes of three groups of young language learners towards CALL. In the control group, traditional classes were held while in the first experimental group computers were used for 15 minutes and in the second experimental group this lasted for 30 minutes. The results showed that generally young EFL learners had positive attitudes towards CALL but their attitudes were significantly different in the second experimental group. This shows that the duration of exposure to the computer-based activities can be an influential element in the EFL learners' attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Audiovisual input has received increasing attention from the Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and the Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) domains during the past few decades due to its vividness, authenticity, and easy accessibility. Videos with on-screen texts, as a widespread way of audiovisual input in second language (L2) teaching and learning, influence L2 learners’ performance in various aspects, including their vocabulary learning. The wide application and profound influence of such kind of input call for a systemic review on this important domain of research. Accordingly, this paper reviews the empirical studies on the effects of on-screen texts on L2 vocabulary learning. Specifically, it seeks to evaluate the role of different types of on-screen texts (i.e., subtitles, captions, and dual subtitles) and various modes of captions (i.e., full captions, keyword captions, glossed captions, annotated captions, and enhanced captions) in L2 vocabulary development. It also discusses other factors that concur with on-screen texts and influence L2 vocabulary gains from audiovisual input, such as learners’ vocabulary size, L2 proficiency, frequency of occurrence, number of viewing, instructional strategy, and test time. Finally, some suggestions are provided for future research.

Copyright of Revista EntreLínguas is the property of Revista EntreLinguas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Engineering design and communication courses are typically dynamic, active learning spaces that bring together a complex array of knowledge and skills. Their ambiguous nature has allowed, often contentiously, subjects such as language and communication, the arts, the humanities, and the social sciences to enter the discourse of engineering in a newly meaningful way. This article considers this development in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and, in particular, how the creativity and imagination required to succeed in engineering design might be cultivated in emergency distance learning. I consider a plethora of sources for guidance, with a special interest in how language and communication facilitates collaborative learning, creativity, and intersubjectivity and how that mediation is further mediated by educational technology in distance learning. I focus on the challenges faced and the resulting importance of training for both instructors and students. Finally, I argue that, despite our difficult circumstances, we should aim to encourage our students to exercise their imaginations, both independently and collaboratively, through our selection, framing, and facilitation of team design projects during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organisms filter the complexity of natural stimuli through their individual sensory and perceptual systems. Such perceptual filtering is particularly important for social stimuli. A shared "social umwelt" allows individuals to respond appropriately to the expected diversity of cues and signals during social interactions. In this way, the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms of sociality and social bonding cannot be disentangled from perceptual mechanisms and sensory processing. While a degree of embeddedness between social and sensory processes is clear, our dominant theoretical frameworks favor treating the social and sensory processes as distinct. An integrated social‐sensory framework has the potential to greatly expand our understanding of the mechanisms underlying individual variation in social bonding and sociality more broadly. Here we leverage what is known about sensory processing and pair bonding in two common study systems with significant species differences in their umwelt (rodent chemosensation and avian acoustic communication). We primarily highlight that (1) communication is essential for pair bond formation and maintenance, (2) the neural circuits underlying perception, communication and social bonding are integrated, and (3) candidate neuromodulatory mechanisms that regulate pair bonding also impact communication and perception. Finally, we propose approaches and frameworks that more fully integrate sensory processing, communication, and social bonding across levels of analysis: behavioral, neurobiological, and genomic. This perspective raises two key questions: (1) how is social bonding shaped by differences in sensory processing?, and (2) to what extent is sensory processing and the saliency of signals shaped by social interactions and emerging relationships? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports mixed method results from a small group of Japanese learners who used the action-learning framework of reflective journals to improve pronunciation. In particular, this study identified common language learning strategies used by Japanese EIL students to improve pronunciation and investigated how technology impacted on the language learning strategy choices that students make. Generally, technology generated positive attitudinal responses and potential learning opportunities were identified as a result of using technology and a computer-assisted pronunciation teaching (CAPT) program SpeaK!. As a result, students became more aware of their pronunciation strengths and weaknesses. This study, therefore, not only informs curriculum designers about this reflective approach to improve pronunciation, but also contributes to a growing body of research on what the students think and how they prefer to learn (Nunan, 1995). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a reflection on two technologies - automatic speech recognition (ASR) and Text-to-Speech (TTS) - to improve learners’ pronunciation, aiming for successful spoken communication. It sheds some light on the practical usage of these technologies, demonstrating their effectiveness, qualities, and limitations to assist teachers in deciding the most efficient digital resources applied to their students’ needs. A review of literature on previous empirical studies was carried out, with quantitative and/or qualitative studies conducted by researchers in the field, investigating teachers’ and learners' perceptions and the use of ASR and TTS as a pedagogical tool for pronunciation practice. As a result, it was concluded that a) the presented resources seem to have the potential to enhance pronunciation practice, both in terms of perception and production; b) technology can result in considerable benefits to learners, mainly as a supplement to pronunciation teaching; and c) the use of these digital resources is a way of giving learners the opportunity to focus on their specific difficulties and receive personalized feedback while becoming more autonomous in their learning process.

There is no doubt that there have been impressive technological developments in the last few years affecting our lives one way or another. During this outstanding period in technological developments the computer and the Internet have been developed as the leading ones. The integration of different technologies such as computers has long been established in the field of language teaching and learning. Moreover, the pedagogical values and contributions of computers in language learning have been supported by many scholars. In the same line, the present paper tried to provide some more insights regarding the integration of computer assisted language learning for language teachers as well as the learners. Accordingly, computer assisted language learning and its history were considered first. Then, the use of computer-assessed language learning based on behaviorist, communicative, and integrative approaches to language learning was considered. Finally, a detailed illustration regarding the advantageous of using CALL was investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Paper discusses on how students can learn Study Skills by integrating pedagogy and technology. Technology is an ever increasing part of English Language Teaching, thus with this integrated skills, the effectiveness of technology in learning study skills is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the field of Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) have had a considerable impact on the teaching methodologies in China. With an increasing emphasis on strengthening students' learning initiative and adopting a "student-centred" teaching concept in FLT, language teachers and researchers in China have resolved to explore effective and appropriate teaching models both in theory and practice. A range of reforms of college English teaching in China has demonstrated the shift of the teaching focus from enhancing students' reading ability to their listening and speaking abilities. More focus has been put on improving students' communicative language ability (CLA). This paper aims to examine the feasibility of the student-centred teaching model utilised in an English audio-video speaking class (EAVSC) in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) environments at the authors' university by carrying out two quantitative longitudinal case studies. Analysis of correlated data shows that this specific teaching model in general is both plausible and effective in improving students' communicative language abilities, especially in their speaking abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper describes two systems using embodied conversational agents (ECAs) for language learning. The first system, called Ville, is a virtual language teacher for vocabulary and pronunciation training. The second system, a dialogue system called DEAL, is a role-playing game for practicing conversational skills. Whereas DEAL acts as a conversational partner with the objective of creating and keeping an interesting dialogue, Ville takes the role of a teacher who guides, encourages and gives feedback to the students. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis, the generation of speech from text input, offers another means of providing spoken language input to learners in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) environments. Indeed, many potential benefits (ease of creation and editing of speech models, generation of speech models and feedback on demand, etc.) and uses (talking dictionaries, talking texts, dictation, pronunciation training, dialogue partner, etc.) of TTS synthesis in CALL have been put forward. Yet, the use of TTS synthesis in CALL is not widely accepted and only a few applications have found their way onto the market. One potential reason for this is that TTS synthesis has not been adequately evaluated for this purpose. Previous evaluations of TTS synthesis for use in CALL, have only addressed the comprehensibility of TTS synthesis. Yet, CALL places demands on the comprehensibility, naturalness, accuracy, register and expressiveness of the output of TTS synthesis. In this paper, the aforementioned aspects of the quality of the output of four state-of-the-art French TTS synthesis systems are evaluated with respect to their use in the three different roles that TTS synthesis systems may assume within CALL applications, namely: (1) reading machine, (2) pronunciation model and (3) conversational partner [Handley, Z., Hamel, M.-J., 2005. Establishing a methodology for benchmarking speech synthesis for computer-assisted language learning (CALL). Language Learning and Technology Journal 9(3), 99–119. Retrieved from: http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num3/handley/default.html.]. The results of this evaluation suggest that the best TTS synthesis systems are ready for use in applications in which they ‘add value’ to CALL, i.e. exploit the unique capacity of TTS synthesis to generate speech models on demand. An example of such an application is a dialogue partner. In order to fully meet the requirements of CALL, further attention needs to be paid to accuracy and naturalness, in particular at the prosodic level, and expressiveness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes an attempt to automate the large-scale assessment of oral language proficiency and listening comprehension for fairly advanced students of English as a second language. The automatic test is implemented as a spoken dialogue system and consists of a reading as well as a repeating task. Two experiments are described in which different rating criteria were used by human judges. In the first experiment, proficiency was scored globally for each of the two test components. In the second experiment, various aspects of proficiency were evaluated for each section of the test. In both experiments, rate of speech (ROS), goodness of pronunciation (GOP) and repeat accuracy were calculated for the spoken utterances. The correlation between scores assigned by human raters and these three automatically derived measures was determined to assess their suitability as proficiency indicators. Results show that the more specific rating instructions used in the second experiment improved intra-rater agreement, but made little difference to inter-rater agreement. In addition, the more specific rating criteria resulted in a better correlation between the human and the automatic scores for the repeating task, but had almost no impact in the reading task. Overall, the results indicate that, even for the narrow range of proficiency levels observed in the test population, the automatically derived ROS and accuracy scores give a fair indication of oral proficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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Copyright of Novitas-ROYAL is the property of Novitas Royal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article sets out to assist curriculum developers in creating courses that reflect a balanced understanding of the current theoretical and technological picture of teacher education for students of CALL. It looks mostly at technological contributions to courseware development from a Web 2.0 (social computing) perspective, but does not exclude traditional Web 1.0 technologies. In a similar way, following Sfard, Bax and others, it considers both 'acquisition' and 'participation' metaphors as relevant to course development as well as the literature on adult learning processes. It shows how this is manifested in practice via three vignettes, which provide an insight into how the agenda can be applied effectively in the practice of teacher education for CALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Eurasian Journal of Educational Research (EJER) is the property of Eurasian Journal of Educational Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper discusses research methods for a study focusing on computer-assisted language learning (CALL) field. Various methods are adopted to investigate how to use computers to develop language learners' listening and speaking skills in their English as a second language (ESL) learning. I present research questions, various approaches of data collection and analysis taken in this study. I aim to integrate the results from different data to carry out a holistic study. From a variety of research tools, I hope to explore the phenomenon of using computers for language learners to develop their language skills in depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A key point in the study of acoustic perception is whether brain responsiveness to sounds depends on sound acoustic structure or sound perceptive salience. Songbirds provide some evidence that higher auditory regions are sensitive to the subjective importance of the stimulus for the subject. In the present paper, we compare brain activation elicited by mate versus non-mate calls in female zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata. Using playback, we examined the responsiveness of the caudal telencephalon by measuring the evoked expression of the immediate early gene ZENK. Our results show that mate calls elicit a significantly higher ZENK expression than the calls of another male in hippocampus, but not in auditory areas. Using a hierarchical ascending classification, we show that this difference in brain activation is not explained by call acoustic structure, but relies on call identity. Thus, these results give evidence for a genomic response to calls in hippocampus that differentiate between call identity, and not between call structure. Our study gives further insight into the implication of the hippocampus in sound recognition in female songbirds. To cite this article: C. Vignal et al., C. R. Biologies 331 (2008). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract This paper addresses a fundamental dilemma in the design of intelligent language learning environments: the more freedom a system offers to learners in the use of the target language, the more unwieldy the data is which the learners produce and the less able the system is to support inferences about learners from that data. It is shown how in a platform where learners and teachers interact, the teachers' feedback which is archived in the system and indexed to the learners' target language production can constitute affordances that support a process of bootstrapping from raw language output to potential insights into the learners' interlanguage and gaps in their grasp of the target language. The approach is illustrated with three types of learner errors uncovered in the corpus of learner English through this bootstrapping heuristic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although much work in the area of EFL writing has been done, in this paper, I would like to propose a genre-based lesson plan for a writing course which I have used in an EFL classroom setting. This work is different from others in some instances. Firstly, in the stages of building knowledge of field (genre) and building knowledge of a similar field, I encourage students to seek for related information for their composition through CALL resources such as websites and email. These resources enable the students to work inside and outside class settings. Secondly, at the phase of exploring genre, I ask students to work cooperatively, and this activity ends with student-student and teacher-student conferences. Furthermore, before drafting, students are required to outline their composition using a recommended graphic organizer resulting from the student-student and teacher-student conferences. Lastly, I provide a cooperative writing task and end with student-student and teacher-student conferences to maximize students' ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development). In short, in the proposed lesson plan, I include cooperative and CALL principles to complement the genre-based approach to create more interactive writing tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper focuses on specific resident perceptions of call, including the compliance of training programs with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s (ACGME) resident work rules and the level of comfort residents have in contacting out-of-house staff radiologists for help during on-call hours. Methods: The authors designed a Web-based survey to examine radiology residents’ perceptions about call conditions with input from the 2003-2004 ACR Resident and Fellow Section Executive Council. The survey instrument was distributed to chief residents in the United States and Canada with the help of the ACR. Results: Eighty-five percent of respondents felt that the amounts of work and responsibility required for call were appropriate to their levels of training. Ninety-eight percent of US respondents felt that their programs were in complete compliance with the ACGME’s resident work guidelines. Eighty-nine percent were comfortable contacting the staff physicians on call when those staff physicians were out of the hospital. Respondents who felt uncomfortable calling their staff physicians were more likely to feel that the work and responsibility of call were excessive to their levels of training (χ2 = 11.301, P = .0033). Conclusions: The majority of residents indicated that they were adequately trained for call. Most residents were on call without in-house staff coverage but felt comfortable contacting on-call staff physicians if needed. Residents who felt uncomfortable contacting on-call staff physicians were more likely to feel that their training had not prepared them for call. A high percentage of radiology resident programs are in compliance with the ACGME’s resident work guidelines. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article is a discussion on the theme of "the call" that formed the basis for Dr. Ted George's series of presentations at the Canadian Hermeneutic Institute (CHI) in 2021. It takes up two poems, both entitled "Lot's Wife," that are interpreted from the point of view of nurses who have to make decisions routinely in response to the demands of patients in actual settings of practice. The poems, by Anna Akhmatova and Wislawa Szymborska, treat the theme in contrasting ways that allows for a series of interpretive reflections, first considering a two-sided contrast between external regulation and anguish, and secondly a diverse array of "calls" to decision and action. A version of the article was first presented at CHI 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed at examining the effect of Paragraph Punch on developing EFL students' writing paragraphs. The participants were eighty English language students of the English Department, Al-Balqa Applied University, who had enrolled in the Writing paragraph course. They were distributed into two assigned sections: the experimental group of (40) participants who have experience in using Paragraph Punch software, was taught according to the Paragraph Punch Software; while the control group of (40) was taught according to the traditional method. The data from the students in the pre-test and the post-test were analysed by using a t-test. The researchers aimed to find out either both groups are equivalent, by analyzing the pre-test, or how Paragraph Punch affected their skill in paragraph writing by analyzing the post-test. The results of the study showed that the software enhances the students' paragraph writing ability. Thus, it is recommended that EFL instructors should use Paragraph Punch as an alternative way to improve students' writing paragraphs. The researchers encouraged other researchers in TEFL to conduct other studies about the effect of using Paragraph Punch software on improving paragraph writing skills at different levels. After applying Paragraph Punch software in the current experiment, the researchers noticed some obstacles and problems facing the teachers and students in using Paragraph Punch software to write paragraphs. Thus, he also suggested conducting different studies to handle those problems and find solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Kształcenie Polonistyczne Cudzoziemców is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of HOW: A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English is the property of Asociacion Colombiana de Profesores de Ingles and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Research on interaction has provided important insights on how second languages may be acquired through interaction, and on how second language learners use their second language in various settings and tasks. Research into computer mediated communication (CMC) in a second language learning context has been a logical outcome of interactionist research. In CMC interactionist research it is typically the case that the products of data collection and objects of analysis are linear transcripts or chat logs. While these transcripts may help us to better understand the nature of learners’ interactions, they are essentially one-dimensional in nature, not allowing one to coordinate learners’ actions (utterances, gestures, changes in body posture, etc.) with the language they create during interactions. In this paper, we report on the use of a usability lab (UL) in gathering data on synchronous CMC (SCMC) among non-native English dyads. This UL allowed us to capture video, audio, and screen capture for all SCMC sessions. We demonstrate that this methodological approach coupled with a proposed coding technique brings to light many nuances of SCMC interaction that are obscured when relying on printed chatscripts alone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of EFL learners and teachers toward vlogs as a source of aural input for L2 listening practice inside and outside of classroom. A total of 389 EFL university students drawn from 29 listening/speaking classes and their teachers participated in this study. After four weeks of exploiting vlogs in the classroom, perceptions from students and teachers were collected through questionnaires, focus group-based discussion, and interviews. The findings of this study indicate that students found vlogs engaging, interesting, up-to-date while simultaneously being a source that will ensure learning. Teachers also had positive perceptions toward the use of vlogs in their classes to improve students' listening skill and vocabulary learning, as well as other aspects of the L2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lenguas Modernas is the property of Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Vowel reduction is a common pronunciation phenomenon in stress-timed languages like English. Native speakers tend to weaken unstressed vowels into a schwa-like sound. It is an essential factor that makes the accent of language learners sound unnatural. To improve vowel reduction detection in a phoneme recognition framework, we propose an end-to-end vowel reduction detection method that introduces pronunciation prior knowledge as auxiliary information. In particular, we have designed two methods for automatically generating pronunciation prior sequences from reference texts and have implemented a main and auxiliary encoder structure that uses hierarchical attention mechanisms to utilize the pronunciation prior information and acoustic information dynamically. In addition, we also propose a method to realize the feature enhancement after encoding by using the attention mechanism between different streams to obtain expanded multi-streams. Compared with the HMM-DNN hybrid method and the general end-to-end method, the average F1 score of our approach for the two types of vowel reduction detection increased by 8.8% and 6.9%, respectively. The overall phoneme recognition rate increased by 5.8% and 5.0%, respectively. The experimental part further analyzes why the pronunciation prior knowledge auxiliary input is effective and the impact of different pronunciation prior knowledge types on performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]