Assessing L2 writing in the digital age: Opportunities and challenges

Li, Jinrong; Li, Mimi

doi:10.1016/j.jslw.2022.100913

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…A special issue of the Journal of Second Language Writing on assessing L2 writing in the digital age (Li & Li, 2022) emphasized the need to incorporate writing processes into assessments, the potential of AI‐based writing evaluation and its combination with teacher‐based feedback on writing (see a special issue of Language Learning and Technology , Ranalli & Hegelheimer, 2022), the need to reexamine our fundamental beliefs about what writing is and how it should be taught, and the need to balance the teaching of linguistic features and nonlinguistic features in multimodal composition, which is becoming increasingly common. On this last point, it seems clear that more dynamic, process‐oriented models that look at the effectiveness of learners’ semiotic choices are needed (e.g., Hafner & Ho, 2020; VanKooten, 2013).…”

Section: Charting a Path Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Twenty‐first century technologies and language education: Charting a path forward

Kern

2024

The Modern Language Journal

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The COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating remote instruction in the vast majority of educational institutions around the world, put technology squarely at the center of language learning and teaching. Virtually all teaching and learning was mediated by Zoom or similar videoconferencing platforms. Students could see one another's faces (rather than the backs of their peers' heads), but they could also completely hide themselves from view. They used the chat window as a communicative backchannel for both authorized and unauthorized comments. They engaged in small group work in breakout rooms that were truly out of earshot of the teacher. Interacting with native speakers online was almost as easy as holding a regular class, once a mutually convenient meeting time could be negotiated. Web content such as videos, songs, news reports, artwork, and historical documents could be seamlessly integrated into lessons without the need for data projectors. However, in many quarters, this technological mediation weakened students' feelings of belonging, of camaraderie, of esprit de corps. Many teachers (and students) believe that learning remotely was not nearly as effective as face-to-face instruction (Muscanell, 2023).We have now returned to those face-to-face classrooms, and students (at least at my institution) are overjoyed to be in co-present community with one another. But the world is not quite the same as it was prepandemic. The fact that we were able to teach students remotely with some degree of success raises new questions about how we manage instruction going forward. Should we, in an effort to increase lagging enrollments, modify our 5-day-a-week teaching schedule so that we have 3 days in person and 2 days of synchronous or asynchronous online instruction? In theory, this would reduce conflicts with other courses, especially multihour labs. Should we, in an effort to "flip" our classrooms, shift the bulk of presentation of new material to online work that students do at home and then come prepared to apply that material to interactive and reflective activities in the classroom? Should we, to support less commonly taught languages and to broaden our teaching impact more generally, negotiate interinstitutional agreements that would allow sharing of resources (e.g., adding remote students from other institutions to in-person classes)? Should we, to expand our students' opportunities to use the language they are studying, have them do virtual internships abroad (or in the United States), promoting not only their language and cultural knowledge but also their professional skill set? These and many other questions are raised by new technological possibilities that invite us to reflect on whatThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

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Section: Charting a Path Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%