Features of software, Internet, and multimedia that promote SLA

Background: 

Research question:  The most important question to me is "Which features of computer software and which capabilities of the Internet are most helpful to second language acquisition?"  Since language acquisition involves linguistic, pragmatic and socio-cultural competence, it is necessary to consider different kinds of CALL software and projects.  One critical sub-question is which specific modes of information presentation made possible by multimedia (e.g. visual, audio, textual/verbal) contribute to the cognitive processes at work in the acquisition of different aspects of language.  Individual differences, such as different cognitive learning styles and working memory capacity, likely play a significant role.  Another important sub-question is how networked communication facilitates the acquisition of socio-cultural competence and the development of the learner's L2 identity.

Suggested methodology/comments: 

Contact: Dorothy M. Chun   dmchun@gss.ucsb.edu

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