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ABSTRACT Online virtual worlds provide a unique environment for language instruction and learning, yet there are few longitudinal studies that chronicle the workings of existing communities on avatar-based graphical platforms. This study focuses on Cypris Chat, a nonprofit English learning and teaching group within Linden Lab’s Second Life. In this study, I discuss the structure of this community, the factors behind this group’s development from five members in 2008 to 882 in 2016, and the reasons for its appeal as a virtual world language learning group. I also examine the ways in which teaching and learning take place there. Although the study is primarily descriptive and ethnographic, it also makes use of three theoretical frameworks to analyze different aspects of the group. The digital habitats framework of Wenger, White, and Smith (2009) was used to judge Cypris’ efficacy as a working online community. Lim’s (2009) Six Learnings framework was utilized to explore how adequately the group made use of affordances specific to learning opportunities in virtual worlds. Finally, Holzman’s (2010) interpretation of sociocultural learning theory was used to analyze recorded discourse of formal and informal language learning activities. Data were collected through interviews of 21 Cypris staff and members; a majority of participants were adults of Japanese nationality, but members from Europe and the Middle East also participated. Participant observation and my personal experiences with Cypris’ history were also utilized, both to inform the development of interview questions and to determine the long-lasting appeal of the group; observations drew on my eight years experience as resident researcher and volunteer tutor at Cypris. Finally, disparate learning activities, both formal lessons and informal impromptu interactions during extracurricular conversations and games, were recorded, and select incidents were analyzed through discourse analysis. Results suggest that members’ perception of the importance of both formal activities and informal socializing outside of class was crucial to the continued existence of the group. Additionally, they also suggest that the group’s long-lasting appeal is related to the adventurous spirit of key members identified as Internet early adopters. As for teaching and learning within the community, observations indicated that tutors and learners alike took advantage of both traditional instructional methods and the unique affordances of the Second Life environment, both within and outside formal instruction at Cypris. Conclusions suggest that both Wenger et al.’s (2009) digital habitats and Lim’s (2009) Six Learnings frameworks are robust measures of online learning communities, and Holzman’s (2010) interpretation of sociocultural learning theory was shown to be applicable to both exploration of learning through play and informal interactions as well as more structured lessons in online virtual world learning groups like Cypris. This study contributes to the body of research on models of online language education, multimodal learning in virtual worlds, and the potentially revolutionary possibilities and challenges inherent in language learning communities such as Cypris. / Applied Linguistics

This dissertation examines the developing understandings of teacher candidates being prepared to teach ELs in general education PreK-12 classrooms. As the ethnic and linguistic diversity in U.S. classrooms continue to increase, it is crucial that teacher candidates receive high-quality, effective training in teaching culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Relatively few states currently require general education preservice teachers to participate in any formal training related to teaching ELs. The states that do have requirements and the teacher education programs within those states have the potential to provide valuable data on how the training being provided mediates the meaning making of teacher candidates preparing to enter the field of teaching. Conducted during the fall of 2016 and using survey data, class assignments, interviews, and fieldwork observations from 11 preservice teachers (eight early childhood majors; three secondary education majors), this study describes patterns in the ways that the teacher candidates made sense of artifacts (e.g., articles, experiences, interactions) available to them in a state-mandated undergraduate foundational course on teaching ELs and the accompanying fieldwork. The study uses sociocultural theory to explore how the teacher candidates use course and fieldwork artifacts to learn about ELs and about teaching ELs. By gathering data from early in the course through the end of the course, this study is able to describe the perspective transformation experienced by most of the focal participants, providing evidence of increased empathy, more nuanced beliefs, and new strategies for differentiating instruction for ELs. Despite having differing backgrounds (e.g., their race, language(s), hometown, crosscultural and crosslinguistic experiences), differing goals (e.g., their college major, anticipated areas of certification, preferred teaching position, preferred region or school district, perceived likelihood that they would teach ELs in the future), and differing orientations toward ELs at the beginning of the course (e.g., positive, ambivalent), the preservice teachers identified many of the same artifacts as mediating changes in their development. These artifacts fall into the broad categories of ELs’ stories and experiences, repeated interactions with ELs, and opportunities for application. This study suggests, therefore, that the efficacy of such courses may increase with the inclusion of the following artifacts: (a) stories, simulations, and videos from ELs’ perspectives; (b) a fieldwork component in which teacher candidates actively engage with ELs; and (c) opportunities for teacher candidates to put their developing cognition into practice through course assignments and teaching in the field. Finally, this study makes suggestions for studying the long-term study of teacher candidates’ ongoing development. / Applied Linguistics

In recent years, foreign language program evaluation has gained greater attention among language educators, program administrators, and evaluators. Increased demands for demonstrated program performance, often motivated by external forces, such as accreditation pressures and decisions regarding the allocation of funding, have led to heightened focus on foreign language program evaluation practices, methodologies, and results. Despite this increased attention, there are few published evaluation studies within the field of foreign language learning that have examined foreign language program effectiveness over time. This longitudinal study was designed to quantitatively investigate the performance of one Japanese university English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program over the 20-year span of the program’s existence. Quantitative evaluation methodologies and advanced statistical procedures were utilized to examine changes in student English proficiency, as measured by the Institutional Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL ITP) and English achievement, as measured by four semesters of EAP course grades, as students progressed through the two-year program. Twenty cohorts of students (cohort n-sizes ranging from approximately 250 to 550 students) were included in this study. The comprehensive data set included three repeated-measures of the TOEFL ITP and four English achievement grade point averages (GPAs) for each of the 20 cohorts. The research questions for this expansive longitudinal study addressed two levels of inquiry. First, at the program-global level, this study sought to investigate patterns of English proficiency change within and between cohorts across the life of the program, and the extent that programmatic events and external influences might have impacted those patterns. For this investigation, TOEFL ITP results for three proficiency domains—listening, grammar, and reading—were chronologically charted for the 20 cohorts and time-series analyses were conducted. The results indicated that all cohorts demonstrated significant gains in the three proficiency domains by the end of the two-year program. However, the overall trends across the program’s 20-year history revealed gradual negative trajectories for grammar and reading proficiency. Events that were hypothesized to have influenced proficiency patterns were tested, including (a) the addition of a new department specialization, (b) changes to department admissions, (c) the entrance of students who experienced new national reforms at the secondary education level, and (d) department expansion. While listening proficiency patterns were unaffected, grammar and reading proficiency trends were negatively impacted by the start of the new specialization and changes to admissions procedures. The entrance of students who had experienced secondary educational changes had an initial negative impact on the grammar trend, but positive grammar and reading proficiency trends emerged from that point onward. It was speculated that these events, as well as larger population trends impacting Japanese universities, led to gradual shifts in program student demographics, which contributed to the observed changes in proficiency patterns. Also of interest was an examination of the concept of English achievement coherence—or the extent that student English achievement, as measured by English course grade point averages (GPAs)—can be used to assess course interrelatedness. English course GPA data was used to statistically derive three rival achievement coherence metrics. These metrics were then tested separately, using hierarchical linear modeling techniques, to examine the extent that achievement coherence might serve to mediate any proficiency variation observed across the 20 cohorts. There were no significant findings for two of the metrics tested, while the third metric was found to have a significant negative effect for reading proficiency. This finding directly contradicted the hypothesized outcome that a greater amount of coherence would serve to facilitate proficiency development. Given the significant negative reading trend that emerged across the life of the program, this result might suggest that larger influences affecting student demographic changes could outweigh any potential facilitative effects of coherence on proficiency outcomes. Following the program-global analyses, the second level of inquiry was at the cohort-specific level. Individual cohorts that had demonstrated comparatively high and low listening and reading proficiency gains were selected for follow-up analyses. The aim was to examine if differences in coherence at the cohort level might account for the contrastive proficiency gains attained. For each target cohort, a recursive path model, including the program’s 16 English courses and final proficiency outcome, was tested to examine English achievement interrelatedness and contributions to the final proficiency outcome. A greater number of significant paths and larger final model R2 coefficient would suggest more coherence. Additionally, for each target cohort, grade residuals analyses using linear regression methods were conducted to investigate grading consistency at the course level. A greater number of outlying grade cases could indicate that the course assessment schemes were not followed, which would suggest less cohort coherence. The results of these analyses for the pairs of contrastive listening gain and reading gain cohorts were compared, but no significant differences were found. While these analytical methods were determined to be useful for ongoing formative evaluation processes, the resulting measures were likely too broad to capture any meaningful differences in coherence between cohorts at the program-global level. / Teaching & Learning

Under de senaste tio åren har den digitala teknikens omfattning ökat och är idag en källa där barn och unga möter engelska i princip varje dag. Många elever använder dagligen engelska i tal och skrift för olika mottagare och syften genom bland annat datorspel och sociala nätverk. Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är således att granska extramural engelska och vad det kan tillföra engelskundervisningen i skolan. Med extramural engelska menas all den engelska en elev kommer i kontakt med utanför skolan. Studien är begränsad till att omfatta elever i årskurs 4-9, eftersom forskningsfältet är begränsat i de lägre årskurserna 4-6 behövdes även årskurs 7-9 inkluderas. Materialet består av vetenskapliga publikationer och samlades in genom fyra söktjänster som behandlar vetenskaplig litteratur. Resultatet visar att extramural engelska har en påverkan på elevernas olika språkliga förmågor. Det finns även vissa kopplingar mellan elevernas extramurala engelska och deras resultat på nationella prov och betyg i ämnet.  Kopplingen mellan elevernas extramurala engelska och deras olika språkliga förmågor är betydligt starkare än kopplingen mellan extramural engelska och elevernas betyg i ämnet engelska. Ett flertal av de studier vi analyserat är överens om att elever som ägnar mer tid åt extramural engelska generellt har ett bättre betyg, men att det inte går att dra någon generell slutsats att det endast är extramural engelska som påverkar betyget. Vad gäller elevernas olika språkliga förmågor påverkar extramural engelska främst elevernas vokabulär men även läs- och hörförståelse samt muntlig och skriftlig förmåga.

As digital games have grown into a global cultural force during the last few decades, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) researchers and second and foreign language (L2) educators have begun reconsidering games as potential L2 teaching and learning (L2TL) resources (Reinhardt, in press). One particular game genre, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have gained particular attention among CALL researchers and L2 educators. MMORPGs distinguished themselves from earlier game genres in their ability to allow players to cooperate and compete with each other on a large scale, even around the world. They are perceived to offer the opportunity for a great deal of contextualized interaction in a learner's target language, including interaction with native speakers (Peterson, 2010). Participating in MMORPG playing could promote social-interactional language use (e.g. Peterson, 2012a, 2012b; Rama et al., 2012; Zheng et al. 2012), sometimes even intercultural interactions (e.g. Thorne, 2008), and L2 learner's willingness to communicate (Reinders & Wattana, 2014). In addition to player-to-player communication, the texts embedded in MMORPGs and the texts circulated in the player communities online illustrate multiple genres, complex structures, and features of interactive discourse (Thorne, Fischer & Lu, 2012). MMORPGs seem to present a diverse and linguistically complex environment for L2 learners. However, empirical research on how L2 learners engage with a variety of game discourses in MMORPG playing is still limited. In an attempt to better understand how MMORPG playing can be used to enhance L2TL, this dissertation examines L2 learners' engagement with game discourses within and around a MMORPG. Grounded within an ecological framework of language learning (van Lier, 2004), this dissertation investigates the interaction of game-learner-context through a mixed method approach, including quantitative (e.g. survey) and qualitative (e.g. case study) methods. Through analysis of the languaging patterns of eight ESL learners who played a MMORPG for eight weeks, the study seeks to understand how game mechanics, learner agency, and practices of the player community influence L2 learner-players' engagement with a variety of game discourses. Findings show that these L2 learner-players, with diverse backgrounds in language learning and digital gaming, engaged with a variety of game discourses as they played the MMORPG. Their engagement with game discourses was greatly influenced by the game mechanics and their personal goals in the game. Comparison of the languaging patterns of two learner-players further reveals the individual variations of game-mediated L2 languaging, which can be attributed to learner-player's L2 ability, gaming experience, gaming preference, L2 learner status, and the social norms of the player community. Taken as a whole, the study points to the significance of game-learner-context interplay in shaping game-mediated L2 language learning and use. It has implications for using MMORPGs in L2LT, designing MMORPGs for language learning, and the nascent field of game-mediated L2LT research.