Collaborative writing and text quality in Google Docs

Linking research on task-based collaborative L2 writing and computer-mediated writing, this study investigates the relationship between patterns of collaboration and the linguistic features of texts written during a computer-supported collaborative writing task using Google Docs. Qualitative analyses provide insights into the writing process of successful collaborative groups. Twenty-eight first-year learners of German at a U.S. university participated in the study. Working in small groups, they completed a creative writing task, developing a hypothesized ending to a German feature film. The results suggest that collaboratively-oriented groups produced texts with more propositional content and better coherence than less-collaborative groups. These findings confirm previous observations that learner-to-learner engagement encourages meaning-making. They also expand existing research by connecting collaborative patterns to the quality of L2 output. Other linguistic features typically used for evaluating writing quality in task-based language learning research (i.e., grammatical or lexical accuracy, syntactic complexity, or lexical diversity) did not seem to be related to collaborative patterns. The article concludes with pedagogical and research insights into computer-supported collaborative writing among lower-proficiency L2 learners and the possibilities and limitations of Google Docs for analyzing data in such environments

Managing Small Language Programs in Changing Times

Note: Editor Dennis Looney provided permission via email 13 Nov 2018 to deposit the published version in the KU ScholarWorks digital repository. Correspondence on file with corresponding author Marc L. Greenberg.The discussion excerpts part of a plenary discussion, Small Programs in Varied Contexts: A Roundtable, that took place during the 2016 ADFL Summer Seminar West on 3 June at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. The discussion sought perspectives from leaders of programs from a variety of institutions, public and private, including a community college, liberal arts colleges, and research universities distributed throughout the United States. The panelists included Carol Reitan, a French specialist and former chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures at the City College of San Francisco; Sahie Kang, professor of Korean and director of the School of Korean at Middlebury College; Mahmoud Abdalla, professor of Arabic and director of the Arabic Language School at Middlebury College; Omar Ka, a specialist in French, Wolof, and African linguistics at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a member of the ADFL Executive Committee; Zsuzsanna Abrams, a specialist in German and applied linguistics and former department chair at the University of California, Santa Cruz; and Colleen Ryan, professor of Italian at Indiana University, Bloomington. The context of the discussion is what might have been referred to in another period as a crisis in higher education but what instead has become the new normal: shrinking budgets; pressure to raise efficiency and provide accountability metrics; competition for students anxious about rising tuition, debt, and postgraduate employment; and increased competition to gain student-credit- hour production and majors to generate tuition revenue. All this presents itself on the background of the dissonance between the growing real-world need for language and intercultural competence, on the one hand, and student ambivalence to foreign language study, on the other. The discussion below proceeds from the questions I posed to the panel: “What has worked for you in your program? What creative strategies might you recommend to other chairs or faculty members managing small programs?

Deutsch im Blick

Deutsch im Blick (http://coerll.utexas.edu/dib/) a web-based German program developed at the University of Texas, and its companion site, Grimm Grammar (http://coerll.utexas.edu/gg/) are free open educational multimedia resources (OER), which require neither password nor fees. Deutsch im Blick includes 307 videos (American students in Germany, native German interviews, vocabulary and culture presentation videos) recorded vocabulary lists, phonetic lessons, online grammar lessons (600 pages) with self-correcting exercises and audio dialogues, online grammar tools, and diagnostic grammar tests. Deutsch im Blick is an online, non-traditional language learning program for beginning and early intermediate students of German. It is quite different from your traditional language textbooks, so it might take some getting used to. However, you’ll enjoy learning German as long as you like to play with language, explore how vocabulary and grammar work together to create meaning, and are curious about the cultures of the German-speaking countries. The main premise of Deutsch im Blick is that learning a foreign language should focus on learning language in use. Thus, all activities are guided by real-life, plausible language situations: How would native and non-native speakers use the vocabulary, grammar and sociolinguistic rules in everyday contexts to make sense of what others tell them and to make meaning themselves?Deutsch im Blick was developed at the University of Texas Austin in the German Department. It has been funded and created by Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services at the University of Texas, and was financially supported by the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE Grant P116B070251 & P116Y090057) as an example of an open access initiative.Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learnin

Creating a Social Context Through Film: Teaching L2 Pragmatics as a Locally Situated Process

Pragmatics is an underrepresented area in L2 instruction, in spite of disciplinary emphasis on communicative skills (de Pablos-Ortega, 2011; Eisenchlas, 2011). Films have been shown to be capable of mitigating this lack of pedagogically prepared materials (Abrams, 2014; Kambara, 2011; Fernández-Guerra, 2008; Grant & Starks, 2001; Washburn, 2001), and may provide scaffolding for teaching pragmatics as a dynamic, context-dependent phenomenon. In line with current research in pragmatics, wherein participants’ motivations, communicative purpose, and social context play significant roles in communication (Boxer, 2002; Kecskés, 2006, 2012; LoCastro, 2011; Scollon & Wong-Scollon, 2003), the present study compares how authentic filmic materials—in contrast with textbook models—help participants develop pragmatic skills that reflect a locally contextualized, emergent view of interaction. Collaborative dialogues of thirty first-year learners of German at a U.S. university were analyzed using interactional sociolinguistics (Piazza, Bednarek, & Rossi, 2011; Tannen, 2005, 2006). Results indicate that film-based dialogues prompted more pragmatically nuanced interactions than did textbook tasks

Asynchronous CMC, Collaboration and the Development of Critical Thinking in a Graduate Seminar in Applied Linguistics

A primary objective of graduate education, and often promoted by peer collaboration tasks, is the development of critical thinking skills. The present study compares how graduate students enrolled in a qualitative research design course in applied linguistics utilized asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) and face-to-face interactions to critique field-specific research, to design and conduct their own research projects, and to engage in professional discourse in and out of class. The analyses reveal that 1) it was impossible to measure the development of critical thinking skills within one semester, and 2) rather than ACMC serving as a spring-board for such development prior to or in collaboration with classroom exchanges, ACMC and face-to-face interactions served different social and intellectual purposes in the process of practicing critical thinking skills. While face-to-face exchanges were preferred when discussing previous research, only in the ACMC context were students willing to critique each other’s work

Topic Modulation in Spontaneous L2 Writing: Interest, Confidence, Fluency, and Complexity

There are many who deserve my sincerest gratitude for helping make this goal a reality. Above all, I express my gratitude to the God of all mankind, a loving and perfect being, who gave me fortitude to continue when the course was challenging, and provided renewed hope as my belief in myself wavered. I cannot sing praises sufficient of Professor Abrams, whose kind and forthright suggestions and directions in writing proved so indispensable. Her ability to be thorough and fast in returning drafts is unmatched. Thank you for your encouragement and assistance. What an adventure this has been! I am grateful to the members of my committee. Each played a vital role throughout the course of my doctoral studies – to Dr Horwitz and Dr. Moore, who first introduced me to the high standards of scholarship expected at UT; to Dr. Birdsong, who made me stretch beyond myself to discover that I am capable of more; and to Dr. Svinicki, who truly put humanity back into human learning phenomena. Thank you, all. I wish to express gratitude to the entire Department of Germanic Studies at UT for providing this interdepartmental student a home among your ranks. I count mysel

Language and Interaction in the Adult ESL Classroom

This dissertation is dedicated to my parents and sister for their unlimited love and support. Thank you. Acknowledgements As I complete my dissertation, it becomes more so evident that, without the help and encouragement of many people, I would not have been able to accomplish this project. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those people. I am forever grateful to my chair, Dr. Diane L. Schallert for her unwavering guidance and support from the conception of my study to the very end. Her sharp ideas, enthusiasm, and warm encouragement have constantly inspired me through this long journey and helped me stay on track at times of agony and doubts. The many hours spent discussing the details of my study with her have surely been a learning experience I will never forget. I would also like to thank Dr. Elaine K. Horwitz for her great support throughout my study in the FLE program and Dr. Keith Walters for his invaluable advice and delightful laughs. I also appreciate the insightful suggestions and moral support from Dr. Abrams and would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Maxwell for her enlightenin