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Industrial settings will be characterized by far-reaching production automation brought about by advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence. As a consequence, human assembly workers will need to adapt quickly to new and more complex assembly procedures, which are most likely to increase cognitive workload, or potentially induce overload. Measurement and optimization protocols need to be developed in order to be able to monitor workers’ cognitive load. Previous studies have used electroencephalographic (EEG, measuring brain activity) and electrooculographic (EOG, measuring eye movements) signals, using basic computer-based static tasks and without creating an experience of overload. In this study, EEG and EOG data was collected of 46 participants performing an ecologically valid assembly task while inducing three levels of cognitive load (low, high and overload). The lower individual alpha frequency (IAF) was identified as a promising marker for discriminating between different levels of cognitive load and overload. ispartof: Applied Ergonomics: human factors in technology and society vol:102 pages:1-9 ispartof: location:England status: Published online

To obtain more accurate and robust feedback information from the students' assessment outcomes and to communicate it to students and optimize teaching and learning strategies, educational researchers and practitioners must critically reflect on whether the existing methods of data analytics are capable of retrieving the information provided in the database. This study compared and contrasted the prediction performance of an item response theory method, particularly the use of an explanatory item response model (EIRM), and six supervised machine learning (ML) methods for predicting students' item responses in educational assessments, considering student- and item-related background information. Each of seven prediction methods was evaluated through cross-validation approaches under three prediction scenarios: (a) unrealized responses of new students to existing items, (b) unrealized responses of existing students to new items, and (c) missing responses of existing students to existing items. The results of a simulation study and two real-life assessment data examples showed that employing student- and item-related background information in addition to the item response data substantially increases the prediction accuracy for new students or items. We also found that the EIRM is as competitive as the best performing ML methods in predicting the student performance outcomes for the educational assessment datasets.

This paper investigates the effects of watching an entire season of a French series with the streaming service Netflix in an out-of-classroom context. University Dutch-speaking low- to high-intermediate learners of French were divided into two groups: a control group who only took the tests (N = 37) and a treatment group (N = 65). Learners in the treatment group watched six episodes with glossed captions provided by the Chrome extension Language Learning with Netflix (i.e., they could access the meaning of the words in the captions whenever they wanted) within a maximum of 21 days. We examined learners’ incidental vocabulary learning gains by means of a form and meaning recall test and also analysed learning gains in relation to different variables: word-related factors, the use of glossed captions and learners’ vocabulary size. Results revealed that participants recalled approximately 35% of the word meanings and 28% of the word forms. Besides, learning gains were positively influenced by the use of the glossed captions as well as vocabulary size scores. Findings also demonstrated that frequency of occurrence positively impacted learning gains, especially when target words appeared more concentrated in one episode rather than across different ones. DOI geeft geen resultaat, klopt wel volgens site journal ispartof: Computer Assisted Language Learning vol:36 issue:1-2 pages:26-51 status: Published online

This study investigates incidental vocabulary learning through captioned or subtitled videos and examines whether and how different learner- (prior vocabulary knowledge) and word-related factors (i.e., frequency of occurrence, cognateness, and imagery) influence learning gains from watching videos. Low-intermediate Dutch-speaking learners of French (N=86) took part in a four week intervention program. They were assigned to a subtitles group, a captions group, or a control group (who only took the tests). Vocabulary learning was measured by means of form and meaning recognition, as well as meaning recall tests. Results revealed that participants learned approximately 15% of the vocabulary they could have learned. Both treatment groups outperformed the control group in the meaning recognition test, but only the captions group outperformed the control group in the meaning recall test. Learning gains were mediated by cognateness with significantly higher odds to recall and recognize a cognate on the posttest than a noncognate. Frequency of occurrence and prior vocabulary knowledge had a positive effect on L2 learners’ ability to recall and recognize the meaning of the target words. A positive relationship was also found between target words that were visually represented in the video and learners’ meaning recognition scores for those words. ispartof: Calico Journal vol:37 issue:3 pages:233-253 status: published

At a time when many language teachers are looking for research‐based teaching materials that can be modified to support their students in online or digital learning, existing teaching and assessment materials developed through European grant‐funded projects can provide valuable and ready‐to‐use resources. This paper reports on the published and forthcoming teaching materials developed by the FanTALES group for teaching multilingual interactive digital storytelling to low‐to‐high intermediate level learners, more specifically, the B1 level according to the 'Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessmen'

Adaptive educational games provide new opportunities to train early numerical skills. However, empirical evidence for the effectiveness of adaptive educational games is scarce. This study investigated the effectiveness of an adaptive game compared to a nonadaptive game in terms of cognitive, noncognitive and efficiency outcomes. In total, 84 children were randomly assigned to a condition in which children trained early numerical skills with an adaptive version of the Number Sense Game (NSG), or to a condition in which they trained with a nonadaptive version. Early numeracy was evaluated before the training, immediately after the training and 3 weeks after the training. Math anxiety (MA) was assessed before and 3 weeks after the training. The time children practiced with the NSG was used to assess efficiency. Results revealed that children in both conditions improved on early numerical ability, with sustained effects 3 weeks after the training. In both conditions, children’s MA scores were lower after the training. Children in the adaptive condition learned more efficiently compared to the nonadaptive condition, and the interaction between prior knowledge and condition has shown that children with low prior knowledge benefited more from a nonadaptive training while children with high prior knowledge benefited more from an adaptive training in terms of learning efficiency. These results confirm that adaptive educational games can offer solace in terms of the need for differentiation. ispartof: British Journal Of Educational Technology vol:52 issue:1 pages:112-124 status: Published online

Adaptive learning systems aim to provide learning items tailored to the behavior and needs of individual learners. However, one of the outstanding challenges in adaptive item selection is that often the corresponding systems do not have information on initial ability levels of new learners entering a learning environment. Thus, the proficiency of those new learners is very difficult to be predicted. This heavily impairs the quality of personalized items' recommendation during the initial phase of the learning environment. In order to handle this issue, known as the cold-start problem, we propose a system that combines item response theory (IRT) with machine learning. Specifically, we perform ability estimation and item response prediction for new learners by integrating IRT with classification and regression trees built on learners’ side information. The goal of this work is to build a learning system that incorporates IRT and machine learning into a unified framework. We compare the proposed hybrid model to alternative approaches by conducting experiments on two educational data sets. The obtained results affirmed the potential of the proposed method. In particular, the obtained results indicate that IRT combined with Random Forests provides the lowest error for the ability estimation and the highest accuracy in terms of response prediction. This way, we deduce that the employment of machine learning in combination with IRT could indeed alleviate the effect of the cold start problem in an adaptive learning environment. ispartof: Computers and Education vol:137 pages:91-103 status: Published online

© 2018, Psychonomic Society, Inc. Electronic learning systems have received increasing attention because they are easily accessible to many students and are capable of personalizing the learning environment in response to students’ learning needs. To that end, using fast and flexible algorithms that keep track of the students’ ability change in real time is desirable. Recently, the Elo rating system (ERS) has been applied and studied in both research and practical settings (Brinkhuis & Maris, 2009; Klinkenberg, Straatemeier, & van der Maas in Computers & Education, 57, 1813–1824, 2011). However, such adaptive algorithms face the cold-start problem, defined as the problem that the system does not know a new student’s ability level at the beginning of the learning stage. The cold-start problem may also occur when a student leaves the e-learning system for a while and returns (i.e., a between-session period). Because external effects could influence the student’s ability level during the period, there is again much uncertainty about ability level. To address these practical concerns, in this study we propose alternative approaches to cold-start issues in the context of the e-learning environment. Particularly, we propose making the ERS more efficient by using an explanatory item response theory modeling to estimate students’ ability levels on the basis of their background information and past trajectories of learning. A simulation study was conducted under various conditions, and the results showed that the proposed approach substantially reduces ability estimation errors. We illustrate the approach using real data from a popular learning platform. ispartof: Behavior Research Methods vol:51 issue:2 pages:895-909 ispartof: location:United States status: published

In the digital wilds, thriving storytelling practices (often in transcultural and multilingual contexts) share with Maker culture a belief in learning through doing, bricolage, collaboration, and playfulness. Key examples are fanfiction, a form of creative writing that transforms popular media in some way, and interactive fiction, a form of nonlinear narrative that verges on the world of gaming. This paper documents a pedagogical intervention carried out within the FanTALES project, which leverages creative writing and meaning-making practices from the digital wilds, in order to develop teaching and learning activities that engage secondary school learners in the writing of multilingual interactive fanfiction. Adolescent learners of English as a foreign language (N=21) wrote multilingual interactive fanfiction based on the digital game series Assassin’s Creed. Qualitative content analysis of focus groups with these learners suggests that they experienced intrinsic motivation and developed skills in language and storytelling as well as transversal competences. They also dealt with a lowered sense of autonomy due to the open-endedness of the tasks, and struggled with a lack of sufficient knowledge about storytelling practices and the source text, as well as with project management. Potential improvements for the pedagogical implementation include more scaffolding of the tasks, and better integration with curriculum and assessment. ispartof: CALICO Journal vol:38 issue:1 pages:17-42 status: published

This study aims to compare the effects of oral, paper and augmented reality (AR) instructions during assembly tasks. 44 assembly operators, the majority of which have cognitive or motor disabilities, participate in a within-subjects experiment in which they perform three different assembly tasks. In doing so, the different instructional media are alternated. The outcome variables under study are productivity, quality, stress, help-seeking behaviour, perceived complexity, physical effort and competence frustration. In addition, this study examines the effects of characteristics of operators by taking into account their cognitive skills and experience with each task type as predictor variables. Finally, as operators perform one of the assembly tasks four times, learning curves are studied as well. Results of a multilevel analysis show that operators using AR instructions outperform their colleagues using more traditional instructional media with regard to quality. In addition, AR instructions give rise to less help-seeking behavior as compared to oral instructions. Finally, there is some evidence for AR instructions to yield a lower perceived complexity than oral instructions. Furthermore, the results indicate that the operators’ cognition and experience play a significant role in terms of many outcome variables. Learning curves reveal that operators using AR instructions experience less stress from the first assembly attempt onwards, whereas for operators using oral or paper instructions, it takes several attempts before being equally relaxed. ispartof: International Journal Of Human-Computer Studies vol:143C status: Published online

Children differ in various aspects such as prior knowledge, learning pace, socio-economic status, interests etc. It has been argued that when we take these differences into account when we develop learning environments, children will benefit from it in terms of learning outcomes, learning experience, and attitudes towards particular subjects. The emergence of digital technologies has accelerated the movement to create personalised learning environments. Although technology-mediated personalised learning is promising, several challenges remain such as how personalised learning should be conceptualized, which methods should be used to establish the effects and how this movement impacts education and especially children and teachers. This workshop aims to bring together researchers and practitioners who have done work in this field to facilitate in-depth discussions, resource exchange and networking on technology-mediated personalised learning.

Digital educational games play an increasingly important role in education. However, multiple questions about the effectiveness of educational games with respect to cognitive and non-cognitive effects remain unclear. The current study, a longitudinal, quasi-experiment with 336 first graders, examined the effects of two digital educational games, Number Sense Game (NSG) and Reading Game (RG). The NSG trained early numerical skills, the RG supported emergent reading. Children were pseudo-randomly assigned to either an experimental condition, comprising eight weeks of intensive game-based training, or a control condition in which they took part in regular education without game-based practice. A pretest-posttest design was used to examine the effects of the intervention on cognitive (digit comparison, number line estimation, letter knowledge, math and reading competence) and non-cognitive outcomes (math and reading anxiety). Delayed cognitive effects on math and reading competence were also investigated two months after the intervention. Furthermore, we examined variances of the impact of the training on cognitive outcomes as a consequence of differences in children's prior knowledge, prior affect and socio-economic status. For cognitive outcomes, results revealed that children who played a game performed better on number line estimation and reading competence, whereas no significant differences were observed for digit comparison, letter knowledge and math competence. Also, children who played a game showed better scores in the delayed reading posttest, but not in the delayed math posttest. For non-cognitive outcomes, game training did not affect math or reading anxiety. Regarding individual differences, children with less prior knowledge in the game play condition performed better on the number line estimation posttest compared to children in the control condition. Children with more prior knowledge in the game play condition still scored better on this test compared to the control condition, but the difference between the conditions was smaller.

ispartof: Journal Of Computer Assisted Learning vol:2020 issue:4 pages:1-12 status: Published online

Adaptive learning systems have received an increasing attention as they enable to provide personalized instructions tailored to the behaviors and needs of individual learners. In order to reach this goal, it is desired to have an assessment system, monitoring each learner's ability change in real time. The Elo Rating System (ERS), a popular scoring algorithm for paired competitions, has recently been considered as a fast and flexible method that can assess learning progress in online learning environments. However, it has been argued that a standard ERS may be problematic due to the multidimensional nature of the abilities embedded in learning materials. In order to handle this issue, we propose a system that incorporates a multidimensional item response theory model (MIRT) in the ERS. The basic idea is that instead of updating a single ability parameter from the Rasch model, our method allows a simultaneous update of multiple ability parameters based on a compensatory MIRT model, resulting in a multidimensional extension of the ERS ("M-ERS"). To evaluate the approach, three simulation studies were conducted. Results suggest that the ERS that incorrectly assumes unidimensionality has a seriously lower prediction accuracy compared to the M-ERS. Accounting for both speed and accuracy in M-ERS is shown to perform better than using accuracy data only. An application further illustrates the method using real-life data from a popular educational platform for exercising math skills. ispartof: FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY vol:10 issue:MAR ispartof: location:Switzerland status: published

This paper reports on the potential of Oral Elicited Imitation (OEI) as a format for output practice, building on an analysis of picture-matching and spoken data collected from 36 university-level learners of German as a second language (L2) in a web-based assessment task inspired by Input Processing (VanPatten, 2004). The design and development of OEI for output practice faces two key challenges: learners must be engaged in meaningful language processing rather than in mere repetition of oral stimuli, and the task must eventually provide individualized and qualitative corrective feedback that helps learners to notice gaps between their interlanguage and the target language. Results show that learners attended to meaning and that a commercially available speech recognition tool was able to transcribe learner speech remarkably well. ispartof: pages:86-91 ispartof: CALL in a climate of change: adapting to turbulent global conditions – short papers from EUROCALL 2017 pages:86-91 ispartof: EUROCALL 2017 location:Southampton, UK date:23 Aug - 26 Aug 2017 status: published

Las tecnologías móviles están aumentando su presencia en las aulas. Mientras estas tecnologías ofrecen oportunidades para facilitar el aprendizaje, entre ellas la adquisición de una segunda lengua (L2), su potencial sigue sin aprovecharse plenamente. Aunque las aplicaciones de las tablets permiten la escritura y tareas similares a las que pueden hacerse en papel, siguen ofreciendo mayoritariamente ejercicios de selección múltiple o de relleno de huecos. Este cambio en medio y modalidad de práctica podría significar un impacto en el aprendizaje de una segunda lengua. Basada en la perspectiva de la cognición incorporada, nuestra hipótesis predice que el hecho de escribir se traduce en un mejor proceso de memorización y una mejor ortografía frente a la mecanografía o al uso de ejercicios de opción múltiple. Esta hipótesis ha sido comprobada en un estudio cuasi-experimental basado en el aula: alumnos (N=282) que practicaron vocabulario de francés a través de tres modalidades de práctica: ejercicios de opción múltiple, escritura con un teclado y escritura a mano alzada. Aunque se haya encontrado que las tres modalidades de práctica apoyaron al proceso de aprendizaje, los resultados demostraron que los alumnos que practicaron el vocabulario escribiendo con lápiz o con la tablet obtuvieron puntuaciones más altas en ortografía y dominio de signos diacríticos comparados con los alumnos que realizaron ejercicios de selección múltiple. Pasar más tiempo aprendiendo vocabulario a un nivel más alto de procesamiento conduce a una mayor adquisición de vocabulario Mobile technologies are increasingly finding their way into classroom practice. While these technologies can create opportunities that may facilitate learning, including the learning of a second or foreign language (L2), the full potential of these new media often remains underexploited. A case in point concerns tablet applications for language practice: while tablets allow writing, as in pen-and-paper exercises, current applications typically offer multiple-choice exercises or fill-in-the-blank exercises that require typing and tapping. This change in medium and practice modality might have an impact on the actual second language-learning. Based on the embodied cognition perspective, this study hypothesizes that, for the learning of French L2 vocabulary, writing leads to better memorization, spelling, and use of diacritics in comparison with typing and completing multiple-choice exercises. This hypothesis is tested in a quasi-experimental classroom-based study in which learners (N=282) practiced French vocabulary on a tablet in one of three modalities: multiple choice, typing, and writing by means of a stylus. Whereas all three practice modalities aided learning, results show that pupils who had practiced vocabulary by writing or typing obtained higher scores on spelling and use of diacritics than the pupils who had practiced by means of multiple choice. Spending more time on learning vocabulary at a higher processing level leads thus to greater vocabulary gains

Las tecnologías móviles están aumentando su presencia en las aulas. Mientras estas tecnologías ofrecen oportunidades para facilitar el aprendizaje, entre ellas la adquisición de una segunda lengua (L2), su potencial sigue sin aprovecharse plenamente. Aunque las aplicaciones de las tablets permiten la escritura y tareas similares a las que pueden hacerse en papel, siguen ofreciendo mayoritariamente ejercicios de selección múltiple o de relleno de huecos. Este cambio en medio y modalidad de práctica podría significar un impacto en el aprendizaje de una segunda lengua. Basada en la perspectiva de la cognición incorporada, nuestra hipótesis predice que el hecho de escribir se traduce en un mejor proceso de memorización y una mejor ortografía frente a la mecanografía o al uso de ejercicios de opción múltiple. Esta hipótesis ha sido comprobada en un estudio cuasi-experimental basado en el aula: alumnos (N=282) que practicaron vocabulario de francés a través de tres modalidades de práctica: ejercicios de opción múltiple, escritura con un teclado y escritura a mano alzada. Aunque se haya encontrado que las tres modalidades de práctica apoyaron al proceso de aprendizaje, los resultados demostraron que los alumnos que practicaron el vocabulario escribiendo con lápiz o con la tablet obtuvieron puntuaciones más altas en ortografía y dominio de signos diacríticos comparados con los alumnos que realizaron ejercicios de selección múltiple. Pasar más tiempo aprendiendo vocabulario a un nivel más alto de procesamiento conduce a una mayor adquisición de vocabulario, Mobile technologies are increasingly finding their way into classroom practice. While these technologies can create opportunities that may facilitate learning, including the learning of a second or foreign language (L2), the full potential of these new media often remains underexploited. A case in point concerns tablet applications for language practice: while tablets allow writing, as in pen-and-paper exercises, current applications typically offer multiple-choice exercises or fill-in-the-blank exercises that require typing and tapping. This change in medium and practice modality might have an impact on the actual second language-learning. Based on the embodied cognition perspective, this study hypothesizes that, for the learning of French L2 vocabulary, writing leads to better memorization, spelling, and use of diacritics in comparison with typing and completing multiple-choice exercises. This hypothesis is tested in a quasi-experimental classroom-based study in which learners (N=282) practiced French vocabulary on a tablet in one of three modalities: multiple choice, typing, and writing by means of a stylus. Whereas all three practice modalities aided learning, results show that pupils who had practiced vocabulary by writing or typing obtained higher scores on spelling and use of diacritics than the pupils who had practiced by means of multiple choice. Spending more time on learning vocabulary at a higher processing level leads thus to greater vocabulary gains

The use of educational games is nowadays well-known, although its effectiveness in terms of learning and motivation has not been firmly corroborated yet. In this research, the focus is on the use of adaptive item sequencing in an educational math game (Monkey Tales) as a way to provide learning content that is adapted to the knowledge level of the learner or player. One way to provide this is adjusting the difficulty level of the content that is presented hence allowing for optimal learning during gameplay. In order to realize this, accurate estimates of the learners' skills are necessary, as well as accurate estimates of variables in the gaming environment that determine how much difficulty learners may experience while completing the items. The goal of this study is to compare difficulty ratings from users and experts in order to acquire reliable estimates of the difficulty of the math rules offered in Monkey Tales. The results suggest a double format effect: not only the gaming format adds difficulty to educational content, but also the format by which educational content is presented in a game is likely to add difficulty which affects learners' in-game performance.

Although educational games have become quite popular in recent research, only a limited number of studies have focused on the effectiveness of these games. While numerous claims have been made about the effectiveness of games, the studies that examine educational effectiveness often contain flaws resulting in unclear conclusions. One possible solution for these shortcomings is to focus on separate game elements rather than on games as a whole. A second solution is to take into account students’ perceptions of instruction as they are likely to affect students’ interpretations and learning outcomes. This study investigated whether the addition of the gaming element ‘competition’ to a computer-based language learning environment is related to students’ motivation, perceptions and learning outcomes. Additionally, this study probed into the effect of instruction, i.e., the instruction of a gaming or learning environment, on students’ perceptions of the environment, their motivation and learning outcomes. 83 students participated in this study, all working in a game-based learning environment for learning business English conversation skills. The results demonstrate that competition is not significantly related to students’ learning gains and only partly related to students’ motivation. Moreover, the majority of students perceived the environment as a learning environment, even when they were instructed to be playing in a gaming environment. To conclude this paper, the practical and theoretical implications for the fields of instructional design and educational games research are discussed.

This paper explores individual difference factors in relation with usage of optional CF in a written and task-based tutorial CALL environment for English grammar practice that contained gaming features. Previous research in CALL has highlighted the importance of prior knowledge for learners’ usage of CF options (Brandl, 1995; Heift, 2002), but the contribution of metacognitive and affective variables remains unexplored. Based on insights from the literature on tool use (e.g. Author 4 & Elen, 2009), this pilot study considered that learners’ usage of optional CF in CALL might additionally be determined by the perceived usefulness of CF and by learners’ achievement goal orientation. Quantitative analysis of questionnaire data in combination with tracking and logging data showed that usage of optional CF was associated with prior explicit knowledge, but no relation was found with perceived usefulness and achievement goal orientation. Future research on CF usage could benefit from qualitative in-depth analyses of learners’ perceptions and motives.

List of figures List of tables Acknowledgements Permissions List of acronyms List of contributors Introduction Fiona Farr and Liam Murray Part I: Historical and conceptual contexts * Language learning and technology: past, present, and future Deborah Healey * Theory in Computer-Assisted Language Learning research and practice Philip Hubbard and Mike Levy * Towards an 'ecological' CALL theory: theoretical perspectives and their instantiation in CALL research and practice Francoise Blin Part II: Core issues * Technology standards for language teacher preparation Greg Kessler * Researching participatory literacy and positioning in online learning communities Mirjam Hauck, Rebecca Galley and Sylvia Warnecke * Language materials development in a digital age Gary Motteram * Researching in language learning and technology Mike Levy * Literacies, technology and language teaching Gavin Dudeney and Nicky Hockly * Evaluation in CALL: tools, interactions, outcomes Catherine Caws and Trude Heift * Language testing and technology James Dean Brown * From age and gender to identity in technology-mediated language learning Elisabeth R. Hayes and Yoonhee N. Lee * Culture, language learning, and technology Robert Godwin-Jones * Language learning and technology in varied technology contexts HyunGyung Lee and Joy Egbert * Limitations and boundaries in language learning and technology Rick Kern and Dave Malinowski * Teacher education and technology Elizabeth Hanson-Smith * Sustainable CALL development Francoise Blin, Juha Jalkanen and Peppi Taalas Part III: Interactive and collaborative technologies for language learning * Telecollaboration and language learning Francesca Helm and Sarah Guth * Social networking and language learning Lara Lomicka and Gillian Lord * Computer supported collaborative writing and language learning Muriel Grosbois * Interactive whiteboards and language learning Euline Cutrim Schmid * Mobile language learning Glenn Stockwell * Virtual worlds and language learning: an analysis of research Mark Peterson * Online and blended language learning Pete Sharma and Kevin Westbrook Part IV: Corpora and data-driven learning * Introduction to data-driven learning Martin Warren * Spoken language corpora and pedagogic applications Andrew Caines, Michael McCarthy and Anne O'Keeffe * Written language corpora and pedagogic applications Angela Chambers * Learner corpora and pedagogic applications Fanny Meunier * Corpus types and uses Brona Murphy and Elaine Riordan * Designing and building corpora for language learning Randi Reppen Part V: Gaming and language learning 30. Metaphors for digital games and language learning Jonathon Reinhardt and Steven Thorne * Mini-games for language learning Frederik Cornillie and Piet Desmet * Gaming and young language learners Pia Sundqvist Part VI: Purpose designed language learning resources * CALL tools for lexico-grammatical acquisition Li Li * CALL tools for reading and writing Hsien-Chin Liou * CALL tools for listening and speaking Una Clancy and Liam Murray * Multimodality and CALL Nicolas Guichon and Cathy Cohen * Intelligent CALL and written language Cornelia Tschichold and Mathias Schulze * Translation and technology: the case of translation games for language learning Pierrette Bouillon, Cristiana Cervini and Manny Rayner

Frederik Cornillie, Steven L. Thorne and Piet Desmet ReCALL / Volume 24 / Issue 03 / September 2012, pp 243 ­ 256 DOI: 10.1017/S0958344012000134, Published online: Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0958344012000134 How to cite this article: Frederik Cornillie, Steven L. Thorne and Piet Desmet (2012). ReCALL special issue: Digital games for language learning: challenges and opportunities. ReCALL, 24, pp 243­256 doi:10.1017/ S0958344012000134 Request Permissions : Click here

A key design issue for tutorial CALL is that controlled practice activities need to engage learners in meaningful L2 processing, so that any knowledge developed in such practice may transfer to meaningful L2 use in complex skills. Furthermore, activities for controlled practice ideally engender intrinsic motivation, so that learners are willing to practise and remediate problems outside of the classroom. This paper reports on an experimental and design-focused study that tackled these challenges by means of mini-games embedded in a mystery story read in class. Results show that intensive receptive practice helped learners to develop knowledge that was accurate and quickly retrievable on tests of near transfer, and that practice also transferred to more complex written productive tasks, as well as—to a smaller extent—to spoken productive tasks. We make suggestions for future design on the basis of the spoken productive language test used in this study.

In order to develop game-based learning environments (GBLEs) that accommodate to learners’ needs and individual differences, GBLEs can be enriched with learner models that describe learner profiles from which adaptive instruction can be offered during gameplay. Learner models can encompass several parameters or learner characteristics derived from measurements taken either prior to play (e.g., already available knowledge of the subject matter of which the GBLE is comprised) or during gameplay (i.e., learner behavior in the GBLE). This study makes a case for two skills which may be relevant from the perspective of adaptive gameplay, namely (1) the knowledge or skills with respect to the learning content and (2) the gaming skills. The current study investigates the joint inclusion of both gaming skills and domain knowledge creating learner profiles. In addition, this study sheds light on how performance during gameplay can be attributed to certain learner profiles. To investigate this, a commercially available 3D educational game for primary school children was offered to 53 children of the third grade. Learners’ behavior while playing in the GBLE was captured and logged. Prior to gameplay, math knowledge, and gaming skills were measured. Subsequently, learners’ in-game performance was measured. Results revealed that learners with high or low gaming skills can be distinguished into two learner profiles. More specific, learners with high gaming skills outperformed learners with low gaming skills in more complex mini-games. The findings of this study suggest that a learner’s gaming skills can be taken into account in developing learner profiles and hence in the design and development of GBLEs.

The use of educational games for teaching and training is nowadays well-known, although its effectiveness in terms of learning and motivation has not been firmly corroborated. A first reason for this is that research on instructional design research often does not reach the fields of game development and game design. Consequently, instructional design principles that have proven to be effective are often not incorporated in educational games. A second reason for the mixed results on the effectiveness of educational games can be found in the way instruction in such games is offered. To our knowledge, educational games rarely account for individual differences between players and research on adaptive educational games is rather sparse. This paper focuses on adaptive approaches in educational games and discusses various player and gameplay characteristics that can be integrated in a framework that conceptualizes player-centered adaptivity in educational games.

This paper reports on an ongoing project which aims to develop and evaluate web-based mini-games for language learning in an evidence-based and user-centred approach. In recent years, a shift is taking place towards more learner-centred learning environments, and designers of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) software have stressed the need for a user-centred design approach (Colpaert, 2010; Hémard, 2003). In general, there is a growing interest in participatory design, in which users are involved in the design process (co-design), marking a move away from traditional design methods characterized by an expert mind-set (Sanders 2008). Many gaming elements, such as competition, interaction/interactivity, problem solving, scoring, and feedback, are also present in traditional learning and testing environments. Hence, it is conceivable that learners' perceptions of these "gaming elements" determine the reception of a language learning activity as a game to a significant extent, rather than the educational intentions of instructional designers alone (Hubbard, 1991). This warrants empirical research on language learners' perceptions of games for learning, as well as user evaluation studies with operational prototypes. © 2012 Springer-Verlag. ispartof: pages:79-81 ispartof: SERIOUS GAMES: THE CHALLENGE vol:280 pages:79-81 ispartof: ITEC/CIP and T2011 location:Ghent, Belgium date:Oct - Oct 2011 status: published

Although there is pedagogical support for using computer adventure and role-playing games in order to learn a second language (L2), commercial games often lack the instructional qualities for making their language comprehensible for learners. In an interdisciplinary approach, this paper proposes a technique for adapting in-game text in order to teach L2 vocabulary, grounded in research on second language acquisition and adaptive learning systems. ispartof: pages:131-146 ispartof: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Adaptive Learning: A Look at the Neighbours vol:126 pages:131-146 ispartof: International Conference on Interdisciplinary Research on Technology, Education and Communication location:Kortrijk date:25 May - 27 May 2010 status: published

One of the major challenges of mobile (language) learning consists in designing content that is based on sound pedagogical (theoretical) frameworks and empirical findings. At the same time, content should be adapted to the technological constraints of mobile devices (e.g. screen size, keyboard, etc.). Based on a literature review of existing mobile language learning applications and insights from an interactionist perspective in the SLA literature, we propose a design for mobile vocabulary learning. The design is centered around the idea of providing learners with rich input (multimedia material) and opportunities for receiving input enhancement through interaction. We justify the design choices that were made and illustrate the vocabulary activity by means of some screenshots of a prototype model.

The use of serious games has seen a remarkable growth in the past decade. This has resulted in a substantial number of people with hands–on experience. However, to our knowledge, no research has been performed to harvest this source of information. By means of an explorative study, we collected the opinions of 47 serious game and computer–assisted language learning experts on the potential of serious games for foreign language learning. The first part of this paper discusses the opinions of experts in the light of different perspectives on foreign language learning. The next part of this paper elaborates on a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of foreign language learning games, resulting in a nuanced view on the opportunities and limitations of foreign language learning games. As such, this paper explores possibilities and limitations regarding language learning games and frames those findings within the boundaries of literature on foreign language learning.