Oksana Vorobel | City University of New York Borough of Manhattan Community College (original) (raw)

Papers by Oksana Vorobel

System, 2022

This article systematically reviews empirical studies on distance language teaching (DLT) focusin... more This article systematically reviews empirical studies on distance language teaching (DLT) focusing on their methodology. Thorough search for empirical studies published between 2011 and 2020 and screening of the articles based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria resulted in identifying 197 studies. The selected peer-reviewed publications were analyzed for their distribution over time and in different journals, their foci of investigation, and methodological design features, such as methodological approaches, contexts, language learners, target languages, and technologies. The findings are discussed in reference to other systematic reviews and critical reviews of research on distance language education, teaching languages at a distance, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and second language learning, Web 2.0 tools, mobile language learning, online learning and teaching, and others. Finally, the review highlights the gaps in the current research and provides suggestions for future studies on DLT.

International Journal of Educational Research Open , 2021

This article presents an autoethnographic inquiry of a professor's journey when integrating quali... more This article presents an autoethnographic inquiry of a professor's journey when integrating qualitative research practices into the community college linguistics course. With the abundance of studies on undergraduate students' quantitative research experiences in STEM and health sciences, the study addresses a gap in the research literature in humanities and social sciences and focuses on one professor's experiences through the theoretical lens of the ecological perspective and the methodological lens of an autoethnography. Analysis of the focal participant's and undergraduate students' journal entries and interviews with students allowed for constructing a narrative account of the challenges and successes when preparing to teach, when teaching qualitative research to undergraduate students, and when reflecting about the participant's conceptual self from a critical standpoint.

Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 2021

The widespread use of technology and the Internet have changed many of language learners' everyda... more The widespread use of technology and the Internet have changed many of language learners' everyday practices, including literacies. While there have been many studies with the focus on language learners' digital literacies, few, however, have explored language learners' digital information literacy and online reading practices with the use of social bookmarking tools, especially in a community college setting. We address this gap by investigating community-college language learners' digital literacies when social bookmarking with the focus on digital information and online reading practices from an ecological perspective. In this qualitative multiple-case study, the focal participants were five English learners, students in an English as a Second Language writing course in a community college in the northeastern United States. Data collection included interviews, observations, and researchers' e-journals. Thorough within-and cross-case analysis of data shows that language learners searched for digital texts and evaluated them based on relevance, reliability, interest, language, and importance for them and their learning community in the social bookmarking tool. The participants struggled with the number of results in search engines, keywords, and evaluation of digital texts for relevance and reliability. We show the need for more instruction, support, and guidance of language learners' digital information literacy practices as well as the benefits of providing students with opportunities to read digital texts. Our suggestions for future research include investigating the role of multimodality and other factors that influence language learners' evaluation practices when they look for and read information online.

JALTCALLJournal, 2018

Building on research on the development of reading and use of technology for language learning, t... more Building on research on the development of reading and use of technology for language learning, this multiple-case study explored English as a second language (esl) students' perceptions of using a social bookmarking Web 2.0 tool for the development of reading from an ecological perspective. Five students in a community college esl course in the northeastern part of the usa participated in the study. The data sources included interviews , observations, e-journals, and artifacts. Thorough within-case and cross-case analysis of data revealed a number of Diigo affordances which esl students found beneficial for their development of reading, the role of context and mode, participants' collaborative stance, and various aspects of influence Diigo had on esl students' development of reading. The findings and discussion of the study highlight the role of social bookmarking tools in raising ESL students' motivation and engagement in reading. The study offers suggestions for further research and implications for practice.

Though studies in the field of reading and second language (L2) research have highlighted factors... more Though studies in the field of reading and second language (L2) research have highlighted factors involved in language learners' (LLs') reading processes, little has been synthesised about how studies have used verbal reports to explore these processes. Moreover, previous reviews of L2 studies, which have focused on such topics as cognitive reading processes, writing strategies, general strategy use and reading programmes, tend to emphasise the cognitive reading processes in which second-language readers engage. This methodological review fills a gap in the literature by highlighting trends in original studies where verbal reports have been used in literacy research, and we recommend how they may best be used with LLs. Our review examines research on LLs' literacy published between 2000 and 2015 that used verbal reports as a methodological tool. We explore the educational, social, cognitive, demographic, economic and geographic realities that bear upon the ways in which such students' literacy practices are examined and we synthesise trends in the use of verbal report methodology in reading studies conducted with LLs. The following overarching questions guided this review: (1) How have verbal reports been used in empirical studies to explore LLs' reading processes? (2) What social, cognitive, geographic and demographic patterns and concerns present themselves in empirical studies where verbal reports have been used to explore LLs' reading processes in various contexts, with multiple languages being used by different learners in different contexts?

Professional Education: Methodology, Theory, and Technologies, 2017

Journal of Second Language Teaching and Research, 2018

The affordances of Second Life provide a lifelike environment for language learning. This study e... more The affordances of Second Life provide a lifelike environment for language learning. This study explores how college students learn Spanish as a foreign language in the Second Life environment. We investigated their perceptions of and experiences with Second Life in their foreign language learning, from a sociocultural perspective. Employing qualitative research methods, we collected chat logs, observations, reflective journals, and interviews. Findings include a) the advantages of authentic communication with native Spanish speakers, b) learners' motivation and anxiety, c) opportunities to practice the target language, d) the nature of their language production, and e) the participatory culture. Our discussion highlights the various ways in which Second Life can provide a good environment for language learning. We describe benefits such as opportunities for authentic conversation, and to explore the target culture, as well as increased motivation for foreign language learning in Second Life. Students did encounter a few challenges, but in general Second Life provides an excellent platform to practice language skills.

Review of Education

This methodological review highlights the trends in empirical studies where a methodological cons... more This methodological review highlights the trends in empirical studies where a methodological construct (i.e. verbal reports) intersects with content (i.e. literacy research). Specifically, we synthesise research on language learners' reading in which verbal reports were deployed as a methodological tool. Questioning the long-standing assumption that verbal report methods validated in first-language verbal report reading studies necessarily constitute a basis for validation of second-language verbal report reading studies, we consider the broader educational frameworks within which studies are embedded. In our synthesis of language learners' verbal report literacy research published between 2000 and 2015, we attend to the social, demographic and geographic realities characteristic of studies reviewed and of the participants involved. Our findings demonstrate the following: (a) tendency to report quantitative information regardless of the type of verbal reporting method and the component of reading explored; (b) predominance of independent concurrent methods that emphasised the reading product; (c) predominance of integrated verbal reports (i.e. concurrent and other forms of reporting) in sociocultural studies that reflected the reading process; (d) concerns about validity in studies premised on cognitivist models of verbal reports; (e) a tendency to use solely concurrent verbal reports in quantitative studies; (f) high reliance on integrated concurrent methods in qualitative studies; and (g) preponderance of qualitative-to-quantitative versus a qualitative to quantitative to qualitative verbal reporting paradigms across studies. Based on these findings , we make several recommendations to be considered when verbal reports are used to study language learners' reading processes.

Journal of Computing in Higher Education

This multiple case study investigated four university-level international students' reading of di... more This multiple case study investigated four university-level international students' reading of digital texts on tablets. The study describes these students' experiences with and strategies for mobile reading. The participants were four international students in the United States, and their first language (L1) was not English. The data were collected through observations, verbal reports, interviews, and field notes. The findings showed that participants had both positive and negative experiences using tablets for reading and that mobile reading facilitated their learning about their lives, language, culture, and technology. The study shows that the participants used six reading strategies: (a) setting up the purpose, (b) deciding what to read, (c) access-ing a digital text, (d) dialoguing, (e) making a connection, and (f) using applications and digital literacy skills. The article discusses mobile reading, with a focus on strategies , affordances and processes, as well as cultural learning and empowerment.

Journal of Educational Research, 2020

This qualitative case study explores an adolescent English learner’s (EL’s) expression of self an... more This qualitative case study explores an adolescent English learner’s (EL’s) expression of self and identity through multiliteracy practices on paper from an ecological perspective. The study follows Anni, a fourteen-year-old adolescent EL in an “Advancement via Individual Determination” elective class in a high school in the southeastern United States. Analysis of interviews, observations, researcher’s e-journals, and artifacts shows various aspects of the EL’s self that she chose to share with others, transformations related to the stage of adolescence and her status as an EL, and the role of a multiliteracy assignment in her expression of self and identity. The study makes suggestions for further research and describes implications for practice.

The JALT CALL Journal, 2018

Building on research on the development of reading and use of technology for language learning, t... more Building on research on the development of reading and use of technology for language learning, this multiple-case study explored English as a second language (ESL) students’ perceptions of using a social bookmarking Web 2.0 tool for the development of reading from an ecological perspective. Five students in a community college ESL course in the northeastern part of the USA participated in the study. The data sources included interviews, observations, e-journals, and artifacts. Thorough within-case and cross-case analysis of data revealed a number of Diigo affordances which ESL students found beneficial for their development of reading, role of context and mode, participants’ collaborative stance, and various aspects of influence Diigo had on ESL students’ development of reading. The findings and discussion of the study highlight the role of social bookmarking tools in raising ESL students’ motivation and engagement in reading. The study offers suggestions for further research and implications for practice.

This multiple case study explores adolescent ELLs' collaborative writing practices in faceto-face... more This multiple case study explores adolescent ELLs' collaborative writing practices in faceto-face and online contexts from an ecological perspective, focusing on adolescent ELLs' perceptions of collaborative writing and their development of writing through collaboration. The findings reveal both benefits and challenges adolescent ELLs face during collaborative writing activities as well as their perceptions of teacher and student feedback both face-to-face and online. The study examines in detail how adolescent ELLs changed their writing in response to feedback from and collaboration with their peers. These findings contribute to research on and practice in adolescent L2 writing by showing the adolescent ELLs' literacy development through collaboration in face-to-face and online contexts.

Discourse communities, their characteristic features and communicative routines, have long been a... more Discourse communities, their characteristic features and communicative routines, have long been a focus of research. The expansion of technology has changed discourse communities, however, because a much broader set of members can now participate in them. Contemporary research has begun to explore how technology-mediated discourse communities form and change, as well as how they serve educational and other social functions. In this chapter, we review research on discourse communities, focusing on the various changes that mediated online environments such as social media have brought to contemporary discourse communities. We also describe advances in and the challenges of conducting research on discourse communities established through social media.

TESOL Journal, 2011

... A positive atmosphere, mutual respect, and collaboration are foundations of effective learnin... more ... A positive atmosphere, mutual respect, and collaboration are foundations of effective learning and ... possible influence of culturally influenced thinking patterns on ESL and EFL students' writing, our ... immersion in L2 culture apparently does not eliminate the influence of this factor. ...

Studies of peer review in ESL classes typically focus on student attitudes and experiences. In co... more Studies of peer review in ESL classes typically focus on student attitudes and experiences. In contrast, teachers' perceptions of and experiences with peer review have not been the focus of much scholarly attention. This case study explores one experienced teacher's perspectives on peer review sessions in ESL classes. The study was conducted in the English language institute at a large urban university in the southeastern United States between Fall 2009 and Summer 2010. Shelley, the focal ESL instructor, was selected purposefully for her extensive use of peer review sessions in academic reading and writing classes. Classroom observations and interviews were subsequently analyzed using the direct interpretation method . The findings of the study shed light on the process of peer review sessions and their advantages and disadvantages from an experienced teacher's point of view. Triangulation of the data, thick description of the context and procedures, a detailed discussion of the results, and the researchers' reflexivity contribute to the reliability of the findings. With its focus on the teacher's perspective and experiences, the findings of this study may inform educators about the process of peer review and its pros and cons in ESL classes.

Recent studies on peer review groups in second language classes have focused on various topics, i... more Recent studies on peer review groups in second language classes have focused on various topics, including collaboration (Carr, 2008) and the effect of peer review versus teacher feedback on students' writing (Zhang, 1995). One area that has received little attention is the content of students' speech during peer review. This longitudinal case study examined English as a second language (ESL) students' oral discourse during peer feedback sessions to explore the types of comments ESL students choose to make during peer review sessions. The study was conducted between fall 2009 and summer 2010 at a large urban university in the southeastern United States. Data collection included audio-recorded peer review sessions, interviews with the teacher, and the researchers' observation notes. The researchers thoroughly analyzed the content of the students' discourse during actual peer review sessions. The findings of the study shed light on various aspects of writing ESL that students choose to comment on during peer feedback sessions. The findings may serve as the basis for further research on students' discourse during peer review, teachers' feedback or facilitation of peer review sessions, and issues of collaboration in peer review sessions in ESL classes.

In this paper, we review empirical research on language teaching at a distance, published between... more In this paper, we review empirical research on language teaching at a distance, published between 2005 and 2010. After compiling a list of journals, we went through a multi-stage process of analyzing relevant studies. This overview of research is based on twenty-four articles. The content analysis of research studies led our inquiry on topics researched in distance language teaching in 2005-2010: types of contexts, learners, languages, and technologies targeted in the empirical research during this period of time; trends in methodological choices; and lessons we can learn from the conducted research studies. We then discuss the implications of the gaps in research literature on language teaching at a distance and provide suggestions for future directions in empirical inquiry.

System, 2022

This article systematically reviews empirical studies on distance language teaching (DLT) focusin... more This article systematically reviews empirical studies on distance language teaching (DLT) focusing on their methodology. Thorough search for empirical studies published between 2011 and 2020 and screening of the articles based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria resulted in identifying 197 studies. The selected peer-reviewed publications were analyzed for their distribution over time and in different journals, their foci of investigation, and methodological design features, such as methodological approaches, contexts, language learners, target languages, and technologies. The findings are discussed in reference to other systematic reviews and critical reviews of research on distance language education, teaching languages at a distance, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and second language learning, Web 2.0 tools, mobile language learning, online learning and teaching, and others. Finally, the review highlights the gaps in the current research and provides suggestions for future studies on DLT.

International Journal of Educational Research Open , 2021

This article presents an autoethnographic inquiry of a professor's journey when integrating quali... more This article presents an autoethnographic inquiry of a professor's journey when integrating qualitative research practices into the community college linguistics course. With the abundance of studies on undergraduate students' quantitative research experiences in STEM and health sciences, the study addresses a gap in the research literature in humanities and social sciences and focuses on one professor's experiences through the theoretical lens of the ecological perspective and the methodological lens of an autoethnography. Analysis of the focal participant's and undergraduate students' journal entries and interviews with students allowed for constructing a narrative account of the challenges and successes when preparing to teach, when teaching qualitative research to undergraduate students, and when reflecting about the participant's conceptual self from a critical standpoint.

Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 2021

The widespread use of technology and the Internet have changed many of language learners' everyda... more The widespread use of technology and the Internet have changed many of language learners' everyday practices, including literacies. While there have been many studies with the focus on language learners' digital literacies, few, however, have explored language learners' digital information literacy and online reading practices with the use of social bookmarking tools, especially in a community college setting. We address this gap by investigating community-college language learners' digital literacies when social bookmarking with the focus on digital information and online reading practices from an ecological perspective. In this qualitative multiple-case study, the focal participants were five English learners, students in an English as a Second Language writing course in a community college in the northeastern United States. Data collection included interviews, observations, and researchers' e-journals. Thorough within-and cross-case analysis of data shows that language learners searched for digital texts and evaluated them based on relevance, reliability, interest, language, and importance for them and their learning community in the social bookmarking tool. The participants struggled with the number of results in search engines, keywords, and evaluation of digital texts for relevance and reliability. We show the need for more instruction, support, and guidance of language learners' digital information literacy practices as well as the benefits of providing students with opportunities to read digital texts. Our suggestions for future research include investigating the role of multimodality and other factors that influence language learners' evaluation practices when they look for and read information online.

JALTCALLJournal, 2018

Building on research on the development of reading and use of technology for language learning, t... more Building on research on the development of reading and use of technology for language learning, this multiple-case study explored English as a second language (esl) students' perceptions of using a social bookmarking Web 2.0 tool for the development of reading from an ecological perspective. Five students in a community college esl course in the northeastern part of the usa participated in the study. The data sources included interviews , observations, e-journals, and artifacts. Thorough within-case and cross-case analysis of data revealed a number of Diigo affordances which esl students found beneficial for their development of reading, the role of context and mode, participants' collaborative stance, and various aspects of influence Diigo had on esl students' development of reading. The findings and discussion of the study highlight the role of social bookmarking tools in raising ESL students' motivation and engagement in reading. The study offers suggestions for further research and implications for practice.

Though studies in the field of reading and second language (L2) research have highlighted factors... more Though studies in the field of reading and second language (L2) research have highlighted factors involved in language learners' (LLs') reading processes, little has been synthesised about how studies have used verbal reports to explore these processes. Moreover, previous reviews of L2 studies, which have focused on such topics as cognitive reading processes, writing strategies, general strategy use and reading programmes, tend to emphasise the cognitive reading processes in which second-language readers engage. This methodological review fills a gap in the literature by highlighting trends in original studies where verbal reports have been used in literacy research, and we recommend how they may best be used with LLs. Our review examines research on LLs' literacy published between 2000 and 2015 that used verbal reports as a methodological tool. We explore the educational, social, cognitive, demographic, economic and geographic realities that bear upon the ways in which such students' literacy practices are examined and we synthesise trends in the use of verbal report methodology in reading studies conducted with LLs. The following overarching questions guided this review: (1) How have verbal reports been used in empirical studies to explore LLs' reading processes? (2) What social, cognitive, geographic and demographic patterns and concerns present themselves in empirical studies where verbal reports have been used to explore LLs' reading processes in various contexts, with multiple languages being used by different learners in different contexts?

Professional Education: Methodology, Theory, and Technologies, 2017

Journal of Second Language Teaching and Research, 2018

The affordances of Second Life provide a lifelike environment for language learning. This study e... more The affordances of Second Life provide a lifelike environment for language learning. This study explores how college students learn Spanish as a foreign language in the Second Life environment. We investigated their perceptions of and experiences with Second Life in their foreign language learning, from a sociocultural perspective. Employing qualitative research methods, we collected chat logs, observations, reflective journals, and interviews. Findings include a) the advantages of authentic communication with native Spanish speakers, b) learners' motivation and anxiety, c) opportunities to practice the target language, d) the nature of their language production, and e) the participatory culture. Our discussion highlights the various ways in which Second Life can provide a good environment for language learning. We describe benefits such as opportunities for authentic conversation, and to explore the target culture, as well as increased motivation for foreign language learning in Second Life. Students did encounter a few challenges, but in general Second Life provides an excellent platform to practice language skills.

Review of Education

This methodological review highlights the trends in empirical studies where a methodological cons... more This methodological review highlights the trends in empirical studies where a methodological construct (i.e. verbal reports) intersects with content (i.e. literacy research). Specifically, we synthesise research on language learners' reading in which verbal reports were deployed as a methodological tool. Questioning the long-standing assumption that verbal report methods validated in first-language verbal report reading studies necessarily constitute a basis for validation of second-language verbal report reading studies, we consider the broader educational frameworks within which studies are embedded. In our synthesis of language learners' verbal report literacy research published between 2000 and 2015, we attend to the social, demographic and geographic realities characteristic of studies reviewed and of the participants involved. Our findings demonstrate the following: (a) tendency to report quantitative information regardless of the type of verbal reporting method and the component of reading explored; (b) predominance of independent concurrent methods that emphasised the reading product; (c) predominance of integrated verbal reports (i.e. concurrent and other forms of reporting) in sociocultural studies that reflected the reading process; (d) concerns about validity in studies premised on cognitivist models of verbal reports; (e) a tendency to use solely concurrent verbal reports in quantitative studies; (f) high reliance on integrated concurrent methods in qualitative studies; and (g) preponderance of qualitative-to-quantitative versus a qualitative to quantitative to qualitative verbal reporting paradigms across studies. Based on these findings , we make several recommendations to be considered when verbal reports are used to study language learners' reading processes.

Journal of Computing in Higher Education

This multiple case study investigated four university-level international students' reading of di... more This multiple case study investigated four university-level international students' reading of digital texts on tablets. The study describes these students' experiences with and strategies for mobile reading. The participants were four international students in the United States, and their first language (L1) was not English. The data were collected through observations, verbal reports, interviews, and field notes. The findings showed that participants had both positive and negative experiences using tablets for reading and that mobile reading facilitated their learning about their lives, language, culture, and technology. The study shows that the participants used six reading strategies: (a) setting up the purpose, (b) deciding what to read, (c) access-ing a digital text, (d) dialoguing, (e) making a connection, and (f) using applications and digital literacy skills. The article discusses mobile reading, with a focus on strategies , affordances and processes, as well as cultural learning and empowerment.

Journal of Educational Research, 2020

This qualitative case study explores an adolescent English learner’s (EL’s) expression of self an... more This qualitative case study explores an adolescent English learner’s (EL’s) expression of self and identity through multiliteracy practices on paper from an ecological perspective. The study follows Anni, a fourteen-year-old adolescent EL in an “Advancement via Individual Determination” elective class in a high school in the southeastern United States. Analysis of interviews, observations, researcher’s e-journals, and artifacts shows various aspects of the EL’s self that she chose to share with others, transformations related to the stage of adolescence and her status as an EL, and the role of a multiliteracy assignment in her expression of self and identity. The study makes suggestions for further research and describes implications for practice.

The JALT CALL Journal, 2018

Building on research on the development of reading and use of technology for language learning, t... more Building on research on the development of reading and use of technology for language learning, this multiple-case study explored English as a second language (ESL) students’ perceptions of using a social bookmarking Web 2.0 tool for the development of reading from an ecological perspective. Five students in a community college ESL course in the northeastern part of the USA participated in the study. The data sources included interviews, observations, e-journals, and artifacts. Thorough within-case and cross-case analysis of data revealed a number of Diigo affordances which ESL students found beneficial for their development of reading, role of context and mode, participants’ collaborative stance, and various aspects of influence Diigo had on ESL students’ development of reading. The findings and discussion of the study highlight the role of social bookmarking tools in raising ESL students’ motivation and engagement in reading. The study offers suggestions for further research and implications for practice.

This multiple case study explores adolescent ELLs' collaborative writing practices in faceto-face... more This multiple case study explores adolescent ELLs' collaborative writing practices in faceto-face and online contexts from an ecological perspective, focusing on adolescent ELLs' perceptions of collaborative writing and their development of writing through collaboration. The findings reveal both benefits and challenges adolescent ELLs face during collaborative writing activities as well as their perceptions of teacher and student feedback both face-to-face and online. The study examines in detail how adolescent ELLs changed their writing in response to feedback from and collaboration with their peers. These findings contribute to research on and practice in adolescent L2 writing by showing the adolescent ELLs' literacy development through collaboration in face-to-face and online contexts.

Discourse communities, their characteristic features and communicative routines, have long been a... more Discourse communities, their characteristic features and communicative routines, have long been a focus of research. The expansion of technology has changed discourse communities, however, because a much broader set of members can now participate in them. Contemporary research has begun to explore how technology-mediated discourse communities form and change, as well as how they serve educational and other social functions. In this chapter, we review research on discourse communities, focusing on the various changes that mediated online environments such as social media have brought to contemporary discourse communities. We also describe advances in and the challenges of conducting research on discourse communities established through social media.

TESOL Journal, 2011

... A positive atmosphere, mutual respect, and collaboration are foundations of effective learnin... more ... A positive atmosphere, mutual respect, and collaboration are foundations of effective learning and ... possible influence of culturally influenced thinking patterns on ESL and EFL students' writing, our ... immersion in L2 culture apparently does not eliminate the influence of this factor. ...

Studies of peer review in ESL classes typically focus on student attitudes and experiences. In co... more Studies of peer review in ESL classes typically focus on student attitudes and experiences. In contrast, teachers' perceptions of and experiences with peer review have not been the focus of much scholarly attention. This case study explores one experienced teacher's perspectives on peer review sessions in ESL classes. The study was conducted in the English language institute at a large urban university in the southeastern United States between Fall 2009 and Summer 2010. Shelley, the focal ESL instructor, was selected purposefully for her extensive use of peer review sessions in academic reading and writing classes. Classroom observations and interviews were subsequently analyzed using the direct interpretation method . The findings of the study shed light on the process of peer review sessions and their advantages and disadvantages from an experienced teacher's point of view. Triangulation of the data, thick description of the context and procedures, a detailed discussion of the results, and the researchers' reflexivity contribute to the reliability of the findings. With its focus on the teacher's perspective and experiences, the findings of this study may inform educators about the process of peer review and its pros and cons in ESL classes.

Recent studies on peer review groups in second language classes have focused on various topics, i... more Recent studies on peer review groups in second language classes have focused on various topics, including collaboration (Carr, 2008) and the effect of peer review versus teacher feedback on students' writing (Zhang, 1995). One area that has received little attention is the content of students' speech during peer review. This longitudinal case study examined English as a second language (ESL) students' oral discourse during peer feedback sessions to explore the types of comments ESL students choose to make during peer review sessions. The study was conducted between fall 2009 and summer 2010 at a large urban university in the southeastern United States. Data collection included audio-recorded peer review sessions, interviews with the teacher, and the researchers' observation notes. The researchers thoroughly analyzed the content of the students' discourse during actual peer review sessions. The findings of the study shed light on various aspects of writing ESL that students choose to comment on during peer feedback sessions. The findings may serve as the basis for further research on students' discourse during peer review, teachers' feedback or facilitation of peer review sessions, and issues of collaboration in peer review sessions in ESL classes.

In this paper, we review empirical research on language teaching at a distance, published between... more In this paper, we review empirical research on language teaching at a distance, published between 2005 and 2010. After compiling a list of journals, we went through a multi-stage process of analyzing relevant studies. This overview of research is based on twenty-four articles. The content analysis of research studies led our inquiry on topics researched in distance language teaching in 2005-2010: types of contexts, learners, languages, and technologies targeted in the empirical research during this period of time; trends in methodological choices; and lessons we can learn from the conducted research studies. We then discuss the implications of the gaps in research literature on language teaching at a distance and provide suggestions for future directions in empirical inquiry.