Translanguaging as a Pedagogical Practice for Successful Inclusion in Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Classrooms

The research was developed and implemented to investigate the attitudes and views of both Greek and immigrant students with regard to performing translanguaging and its role in their communication, as well as in enhancing their intercultural awareness and sensitivity, in an attempt to explore whether translanguaging can lead to a successful inclusion of students with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds at school. To clarify it more, the research focused on investigating whether translanguaging improved and enhanced 1) students' interaction and 2) collaboration on joint projects/tasks within and outside the school context. The researcher made use of 1) semi-structured interviews with students, while 2) special observation protocols were used by the researcher to record authentic interaction and communication of students and teachers in practice and to explore trends towards raising intercultural awareness and sensitivity in environments that encourage translanguaging.

An appraisal of the Language Contact Profile as a tool to research local engagement in study abroad

Assessing the type and quantity of out-of-class foreign language (L2) interaction that learners engage in is crucial in study abroad research. This assessment has commonly been performed with the Language Contact Profile (LCP). This article critically appraises the LCP as a measure for providing reliable data to correlate language interaction with language gains. Information about the L2 use of U.S. university students studying in Argentina was obtained using quantitative (LCP) and qualitative (interview, authentic interaction, and observation) measures. The results suggest that some LCP items were ambiguous and limited in their ability to capture fluctuations in students’ local engagement throughout the semester. The LCP also provided internally inconsistent participant reports of out-of-class L2 use. Notably, the results highlight the importance of considering discourse quality when comparing hours of interaction reported by different students, suggesting that numerical comparisons across participants cannot be interpreted to necessarily lead to comparable language gains.

Control, Communication, and Knowledge-Building in Asian Call Centers

Communication within international call centers can be significantly complicated by breakdowns that result from multiple layers of corporate language. This case study explores training sessions and documentation developed and delivered by an American team responsible for training international call center workers located in the Philippines. Findings show that attempts to standardize and control workplace language can limit meaningful two-way communication, leaving workers to both question what they are told and invent new ways of communicating. Recommendations are presented in this study for a workplace writing model that can overcome language differences through authentic interaction.

Interactive alignment: A teaching-friendly view of second language pronunciation learning

Interactive alignment is a phenomenon whereby interlocutors adopt and re-use each other's language patterns in the course of authentic interaction. According to the interactive alignment model, originally proposed by Pickering & Garrod (2004), this linguistic coordination is one way in which interlocutors achieve understanding in dialogue, occurring at the level of the lexicon, grammar, and pronunciation. The goal of this paper is to extend this model to second language (L2) pronunciation and to discuss its possible implications for L2 pronunciation teaching.

Becoming Real: Using the Artistic Pedagogical Technology of Photovoice as a Medium to Becoming Real to One Another in the Online Educative Environment

Over the past decade, online education has become common place. Critics of online education point to the possible loss of social interaction and interpersonal connections in this educational medium. Broadly, our research focus is how human to human interactions can be sustained and even enhanced in online classrooms. Specifically, this paper focuses on how one Artistic Pedagogical Technology called Photovoice (Perry & Edwards, 2010) may support these valued social interactions. Using a purposive sample of 46 graduate students in a large online university, online interactions resulting from the teaching strategy of Photovoice were analyzed for presence of authentic voice and authentic interaction. Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) authenticity criteria were adapted to evaluate Photovoice as an authentic medium. The results of this study show support for the use of Photovoice as a medium for becoming “real” or authentic to one another and as a modality of sustaining authentic interaction in the online environment.

Virtual language learning: potential and practice

How realistic is it to achieve good quality language learning and teaching using technology? This paper looks at the advantages and disadvantages of using CD-ROMs and Web-based materials in the quest for providing meaningful interactive language learning strategies to students. It will demonstrate that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, at least in terms of pedagogy, and that there is no need to reject technology despite difficulties and frustrations because the latest developments in technology, especially on the WWW, have significantly increased the potential for even more authentic interaction in the classroom. Illustrations from our Vietnamese course are included.