The multiple opportunities for human interaction in today's digital era requires a new approach to the development of communicative abilities. In this talk, Dr. Sykes will survey research in (foreign) language development that explores how learners co-construct their interactions with multilingual peers while navigating dynamic contexts of engagement. She will use data from her ongoing research to highlight the many ways in which ‘the digital’ can promote communicative development in world language courses. In doing so, Dr. Sykes will synthesize lessons learned, offer implications for a variety of learning contexts, and suggest ideas for future work in this area.
Julie Sykes (Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota) is Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Oregon. Her research focuses on the use of digital technologies for language acquisition with a specific focus on interlanguage pragmatic development and intercultural competence. Julie’s experience includes the design, implementation, and evaluation of online immersive spaces and the creation of place-based, augmented-reality mobile games.
