Multiple theories predict that word learning is intimately linked to episodic memory, at least in the early phases of learning. However, it is unclear to what degree this link reflects more domain-specific (i.e., those dedicated to language or the lexicon) or more domain-general episodic memory processes that operate outside of language. One way to address this possibility is by using a behavioral individual differences design. This study examined whether behavioral individual differences in episodic memory abilities predicted adult word learning abilities. If behavioral performance in a nonlinguistic episodic memory task is predictive of behavioral performance in word learning, then it is likely that they share a common underlying nonlinguistic, memory-based mechanism. The results revealed that individual differences in episodic memory abilities predicted word learning abilities shortly after learning but not two days later. These behavioral results are consistent with prior neuropsychological observations (e.g., in amnesia: Kensinger, Ullman, & Corkin, 2001) as well as with theories positing a shift in reliance in lexical development from episodic memory to a distributed neocortical memory system after a period of sleep (e.g., Davis & Gaskell, 2009).

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Qualitative research enables flexible designs unlike quantitative research, but those designs can be modified up to a point. It sometimes happens that the study at hand takes an unexpected turn of events and the researchers have then to find ways to cope with the changes. When the matter being investigated involves online surveys, there is even more leeway for uncertainty, as difficulties such as finding participants and time constraints may arise. This chapter presents a study conducted by two researchers in an American midwestern university and the challenges they encountered after answering a call for papers about technology and language learner psychology. They used an online survey to inquire about students' experience in an online language course. However, the lack of time intertwined with unexpected events involved readjustments and a need for more research and training. In the current article, the researchers share their project timeline, the issues they encountered, and offer some solutions.

This paper seeks to demonstrate the importance of translation strategies as informed by Translation Studies in the foreign language (FL) classroom. The current study aims to map how translation, as perceived in Translation Studies, can be beneficial for students’ writing skills in the FL classroom. It focuses on undergraduate students in three French Composition classes: a control class in fall 2014, a second control class in fall 2015, and an experimental class in spring 2016, and explores how the students’ writing in the latter class improved after being exposed to translation strategies, such as explicitation, amplification, modulation, and approaches, such as Skopos theory. To determine whether translation strategies enable students to improve naturalness in L2 writing, their compositions and summaries were error coded using Kobayashi/Rinnert’s (1992) method of awkward form and wrong lexical choice, McCarthy’s collocation search, and Owen’s (1988) native speaker input. Statistical analyses were also performed. Results show that translation strategies are a useful tool to help students understand the foreign language and write more naturally.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced society to reevaluate the role of technology in the blink of an eye, and virtual learning environments became a necessity rather than an option. Even those instructors who were accustomed to remote learning had to reevaluate its best practices. World language teachers especially were forced to consider how to best provide their students the opportunity to practice the three modes of communication: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational. With communication being the essence of foreign language instruction, it was of utmost consideration as to how it could transition effectively online. While there are many tools available for online teaching, not all of them are suitable for the world language class. Using connectivism as a framework, the authors propose that a single tool, Flipgrid, can be used to develop communicative proficiency and has the potential to enhance 21st century skills. This chapter will describe Flipgrid, its advantages and limitations, and offer three sample activities.