New book series: New Language Learning and Teaching Environments
I am very excited to announce a new book series for Palgrave Macmillan on ‘New Language Learning and Teaching Environments’, dedicated to recent developments in learner-centred approaches and the impact of technology on learning and teaching inside and outside the language classroom. I am now inviting submissions for full-length manuscripts and edited books.

New Language Language Learning and Teaching Environments offers a multidisciplinary forum for presenting and investigating the latest developments in language education, taking a pedagogic approach with a clear focus on the learner, and with clear implications for both researchers and language practitioners.

Aims and scope:
• To publish cutting-edge research into current developments and innovation in language learning and teaching practice.

• To publish applied accounts of the ways in which these developments impact on current and future language education.

• To encourage dissemination and cross-fertilisation of policies and practice relating to learner-centred pedagogies for language learning and teaching in new learning environments.

• To disseminate research and best practice in out-of-class and informal language learning.

Work on New Language Environments encompasses research (both theoretical and applied) and development in areas as diverse as (and not limited to):

Virtual learning environments
Learner Autonomy
Self-access centres
Blended learning
Distance learning
Self-directed learning
Content and Language Integrated Learning
Work-based learning
Community initiatives
Self-study
Mobile learning
New Literacies
Situated learning
Language Support
Language Advising and Counselling

You can download more information about the series and submission guidelines here. I encourage you to consider submitting a proposal. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

digital games and L2 interaction and acquisition
A particular area of interest for me is the use of digital games in L2 acquisition. I have an edited book on this topic coming out soon and will post more information here as soon as it is available. A pratical article on using games in the classroom can be found here:

One of my PhD students (Sorada Wattana) and I are looking into the effects of game play on students’ Willingness to Communicate (WTC) and their actual in-game interaction. We are also looking at the
effects of different types of instructions (in the form of in-game quests) on the quantity and quality of target language use. Preliminary results have been presented at the 2010 Wireless Ready conference in Nagoya and you can read some of the findings here:

Reinders, H. & Wattana, S. 2011 ‘Learn English or Die: The effects of digital games on Interaction and Willingness to Communicate in a Foreign Language’. Digital Culture and Education, 3(1), p. 4-28.

Results from the main study were presented at AILA in Beijing and will also be presented in a keynote I will give at the SLanguages conference in Second Life September 16-18.

AILA Research Network ‘CALL and the Learner

I coordinate the AILA Research Network for Computer-Assisted Language Learning and the Learner, a special interest group dedicated investigating the theory and practice of learning with technology as it relates to the individual and the social context in which learning takes place. The purpose of this Network is to bring together researchers and interested practitioners to discuss ways in which the use of technology can be made more supportive of the learning process, both inside and outside the classroom. The Network organises events (conferences, roundtables, seminars), publishes research (special issues of journals, proceedings), and facilitates communication between people working in this field. We would love you to come and join us! You can visit the website here.

We just organised a symposium at AILA in Beijing. You can see some of the powerpoint presentations below and a video will be made available here too.

We also organised a symposium at Eurocall in Bordeaux around this theme and you can see the presentation slides below:

Journal – Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching

If you want to publish your work in CALL, consider Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, a peer-reviewed journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal includes a strong focus on new applications of technology in language learning and teaching. For more information see the SLA pages.

Other articles
Some of my work on technology is available for download from this website. If you are interested in the relationship between technology and autonomy, you may be interested in this article:

Reinders, H. 2007 ‘Big brother is helping you. Supporting self-access language learning with a student monitoring system.’ System 35,1: 93-111. You can read the article here.

Or this one:
Reinders, H. 2006 ‘Supporting self-directed learning through an electronic learning environment’. In: Lamb, T. & Reinders, H. Supporting independent learning: issues and interventions (pp. 219-238). Frankfurt: Peter Lang. You can read the article here or listen to it here.

If you are specifically interested in the role of technology in self-access, you may find this useful:
Lázaro, N. & Reinders, H. 2006, ‘Technology in self-access: an evaluative framework’. PacCALL Journal 1(2), 21-30. This article can be read online here.

Materials development is covered here:
Reinders, H. & C. White 2010 ‘The theory and practice of technology in materials development and task design’. In: Harwood, N. Materials in ELT: Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Encouraging Out-of-class Learning with Mobile Phones:
Reinders, H. & Cho, M. 2010. ‘Extensive Listening Practice and Input Enhancement on the Mobile Phone’. TESL-EJ, 14:2. You can read the pdf here.

See for more CALL articles here.