This article reports on a study investigating the use of 2 synchronous computer-mediated communication tools: text and voice chat. The experimental design employed 3 groups (text, voice, and control), each consisting of 30 novice-level secondary school learners of English as a foreign language. Over a 4-week period, the participants in the experimental groups engaged in 40-45-minute-long chat sessions in dyads, guided by a total of 8 tasks. The data were collected through preanxiety and postanxiety scales and speaking tests, and the participants' perspectives were investigated through the use of closed and open-ended questionnaires. The results showed that the speaking proficiency of both experimental groups increased, whereas there was a decrease in the anxiety levels only for the text chat group. The results were then interpreted by taking into consideration the data from the questionnaires, and a protocol was proposed for the selection of tools for different learner groups.

Desktop videoconferencing (DVC) offers many opportunities for language learning through its multimodal features. However, it also brings some challenges such as gaze and mutual gaze, that is, eye-contact. This paper reports some of the findings of a PhD study investigating social presence in DVC interactions of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher trainees. The case study approach involved the exploration of online interactions of five cases (pairs) within an interpretivist paradigm. Data collection included interviews, questionnaires and analysis of DVC recordings. The study emphasizes the importance of eye-contact in online multimodal communication to facilitate the establishment of social presence. Five types of gaze that were observed in learner interactions and participants' perspectives on eye-contact are reported. The conclusions include technical suggestions for the use of a webcam as well as pedagogical implications of online video interaction.

Social presence is considered an important quality in computer-mediated communication as it promotes willingness in learners to take risks through participation in interpersonal exchanges (Kehrwald, 2008) and makes communication more natural (Lowenthal, 2010). While social presence has mostly been investigated through questionnaire data and quantitative content analysis of online interactions based on a set of predefined indicators, in a smaller number of studies the concept has also been investigated through qualitative analysis of interviews (Kehrwald, 2008, 2010). Yet studies that bring together multiple sources of data collection and examine multimodal language learning contexts are almost non-existent. In this paper, the theory of social presence is employed to explicate language learners' online multimodal communication using a case study approach. Multiple sources of data were collected, including interviews, open-ended and closed post-task questionnaires, stimulated reflection and recordings of video interactions. The main findings of the study included an innovative social presence framework developed for the analysis of online multimodal language learner interactions (Satar, 2010), which can be used in further qualitative and exploratory research. It also has potential applicability for educators to develop strategies for language learners to guide them in creating and transmitting their social presence. The focus of this article is a cross-case analysis for one of the components of social presence, sustaining interaction, bringing together social presence theory, interactional sociolinguistics and multimodal interaction analysis. Finally, strategies are proposed for language learners on how to sustain their online multimodal interactions.

With rapid changes in information and communication technologies, it is no longer sufficient for language teachers and pre-service teachers (PTs) to know how to use existing digital tools. They also need to be digitally literate in order to critically evaluate such tools and platforms for safe, wise, and productive use. Within a qualitative approach, this study investigated Turkish PTs’ conceptualisation of digital literacy. This included an exploration of how PTs defined this concept, what kind of tools they used, and for which purposes they preferred to use digital tools. First, we found that PTs concept of digital literacy consist of many levels from knowledge to use, and to critical, creative, and collaborative use. Second, we observed that university professors play an important role in the development of digital literacy levels of PTs. Third, it was found that PTs use social media platforms heavily for various purposes, however, we identified a need for further guidance in supporting PTs' use of these platforms for their professional development. The findings of this study shed light on the current digital literacy skills of PTs in Turkey and will be beneficial for educational policy makers and teacher trainers in teacher education for the twenty-first century.

Supplementary material: doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.09.002International audienceThis paper focuses on instruction-giving practices, a crucial but under-researched aspect of online language tutorials. The context for this qualitative study is a telecollaborative exchange focussing on French as a foreign language. We investigate trainee teachers' instructions for a role-play rehearsal task during webconferencing-supported language teaching sessions. Multimodal (inter)action analysis (Jewitt, Bezemer, & O'Halloran, 2016; Norris, 2004) of the data from three sessions reveals how the trainees mark different stages in the instructions using gaze and webcam proximity, allocate roles helped by the use of gaze (Satar, 2013) and gestures (Guichon & Wigham, 2016; McNeill, 1992), and introduce key vocabulary using word-stress, gaze and text chat strategies. The paper sheds light on the need to demonstrate clear boundaries between instructions and beginning of the task and the need, in future online teacher training programmes, to prepare trainees to direct learners' attention to the resources needed for task accomplishment, explain how the task will be accomplished using the online resources and harness the potential of semiotic resources during this teaching phase

As technology has made a range of modes of communication available and created new ways to integrate these modes, feedback has become increasingly electronic and multimodal. From written to audio, video, and screencast feedback, the multimodal options for electronic feedback (e-feedback) have expanded in such a way that we might speak of a ‘multimodal turn’ in feedback on foreign and second language writing. However, feedback studies on second language writing are just beginning to explore these complex areas. This essay offers a multimodal perspective on e-feedback by illustrating the scope of current research and highlights future research directions. The retrospective underscores the scarcity of research in the area with a specific focus on multimodality and identifies needs for speciality feedback systems that consider practical and contextualized perspectives. We argue that future research should strive for a context-rich description of e-feedback activities, gathering thick data about feedback provision, learner engagement with feedback and uptake through screencasting, eye-tracking, and keystroke logging technologies. These data should be triangulated with information about all factors impacting the feedback activity outcome, ranging from participant variables over modal affordances of the platforms used to environmental factors like institutional support.

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Online language learning and teaching in multimodal contexts has been identified as one of the key research areas in computer-aided learning (CALL) (Lamy, 2013; White, 2014).1 This paper aims to explore meaning-making in online language learner interactions via desktop videoconferencing (DVC) and in doing so illustrate multimodal transcription and analysis as well as the application of theoretical frameworks from other fields. Recordings of learner DVC interactions and interviews are qualitatively analysed within a case study methodology. The analysis focuses on how semiotic resources available in DVC are used for meaning-making, drawing on semiotics, interactional sociolinguistics, nonverbal communication, multimodal interaction analysis and conversation analysis. The findings demonstrate the use of contextualization cues, five codes of the body, paralinguistic elements for emotional expression, gestures and overlapping speech in meaning-making. The paper concludes with recommendations for teachers and researchers using and investigating language learning and teaching in multimodal contexts.