Technology-Mediated L2 Strategy Instruction and Its Potential to Enhance Evaluation and Research

This paper discusses the potential of technology-mediated forms of L2 strategy instruction (SI) to not only facilitate SI but to enhance evaluation of SI interventions and L2 strategy research more generally. It uses results from a recent empirical study to show how computer-based forms of SI may offer remedies for problematic features of evaluation, including access to process data showing how learners actually perform strategy-related tasks, the timing and frequency of collection of learner perception data, and most importantly, data about task perception and meta-cognitive monitoring, which can position L2 strategies within frameworks for self-regulated learning. The underlying premise of this article is the need to revitalize the field of L2 learner strategies with new methods for evaluation and research that can better capture the complex nature of L2 strategy use

Conceptualizing Formative Blended Assessment (FBA) in Saudi EFL

This chapter sets out a conceptual framework for the design and use of ‘blended assessments’ that seek to create formative activities that can be characterized by shifting modalities of presentation, variations in time and action, and moves from individual to group work. The study’s framing is built upon longitudinal participatory action research based on the research questions. In addition to auto-ethnographic observations, 13 Saudi participants—three course coordinators, seven instructors, and three students—were asked to participate in focus groups and individual interviews. Using qualitative data analysis software, three core characteristics of formative blended assessment were identified: (1) multi-modal activities, flexibility, and peer encouragement, for example, were seen to be an ‘advantage’; (2) alignment of pedagogies and assessment tasks were perceived in a ‘compatibility’ theme; and (3) the possibility of dishonest behaviors and administrative challenges were classed under ‘complexity

English Language Learner Motivation in the Digital Technology Classroom

This chapter investigates learner motivation in an English as a foreign language writing classroom in an Indonesian university. Its originality arises from the fact that no substantive studies have explored learner motivation in the digital classroom in Indonesian higher education. A mixed methods data collection process was conducted involving 144 students from three-year groups who responded to an online questionnaire. Two classes from Year 1 (47 students) were taken as a sample to observe the learning process between an existing group that was introduced to the learning of English writing through Edmodo. The other group used traditional materials for their writing tasks. The findings are significant in that the high levels of motivation reported by the students were not reflected in the way they completed their writing tasks as the use of technology affected their motivation in complex ways. In conclusion, the study encourages future research in Indonesia that measures English students' motivation and technology-mediated writing task performance through longitudinal studies