This in-person workshop, led by Dr. Betül Czerkawski (University of Arizona), will give an introduction to quantitative methodologies and skills that are necessary for conduction quality research in education and related social science fields. The purpose of this interactive workshop is to provide an overview of how to design quantitative studies that address important and current educational issues, gather data to shed light on these issues, analyze data, and derive conclusions based on the analyses. The strengths and limitations of various educational research designs and the types of instruments used to measure educational outcomes will be discussed as well.

Please note that the location information will be confirmed by November 2025.

Dr. Betül Czerkawski is a professor of instructional design and technology, with a specialization in digital humanities. She is also a faculty member at the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Program at UA. Dr. Czerkawski has taught and researched at the higher education level in a variety of roles, as a Professor, Program Director, Fulbright Grant Manager, Fulbright Specialist, Fulbright Scholar, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Distance Education Mentor, Course Designer and Journal Editor for more than two decades. Her research interests include learning design, foreign language instruction and development of online learning experiences with the use of emerging technologies. She has presented and published over 100 peer-reviewed papers on these subjects. 

This workshop is for current SLAT major and minor students to learn about the dissertation proposal process and explore strategies for preparing and drafting a successful proposal. Some of the topics to be discussed are:

• Narrowing focus
• Finding and describing your niche
• Designing your study
• Building a writing and research support system

This workshop will be facilitated by Dr. Beatrice Dupuy. Contact GIDP-SLAT@arizona.edu if you're interested in attending.

Dissertation Title: Bringing Digital Games Into the L2 Classroom: Avatars, eSports and Pedagogical Implications

Dissertation Committee: Dr. Jon Reinhardt (Chair), Dr. Liudmila Klimanova, Dr. Carmen King-Ramirez, Dr. Shannon Sauro (Special Committee Member - University of Maryland, Baltimore County)

Location: If you would like to attend this defense, please contact Lincoln (lincolnbainiv@arizona.edu) to receive the Zoom link.

Abstract: This dissertation investigates how pedagogical implications are constructed, represented, and applied within Digital Game-Based Language Learning and Teaching (DGBLLT), with a particular focus on vernacular video games and game-adjacent digital environments. While digital games are increasingly present across both formal and informal learning spaces, much research continues to emphasize motivation and vocabulary outcomes while offering limited guidance on how findings translate into practice. This gap is apparent in studies that highlight learner engagement yet overlook broader affordances such as identity development, instructional mediation, and translanguaging in digitally networked contexts. To address these challenges, this manuscript-based dissertation comprises three interrelated empirical studies, each of which examines a distinct but connected dimension of how games and gameful environments can support second language (L2) learning through a pedagogically meaningful lens. 

The first study presents a systematic review of 100 empirical studies published between 2020 and 2024. Using a grounded theory approach, it develops a 12-criteria framework for evaluating pedagogical implications in terms of clarity, relevance, and classroom applicability. The review reveals that although pedagogical implications are frequently mentioned, few are elaborated with sufficient detail to be actionable, and even fewer provide interpretive scaffolding that instructors can adapt to their own contexts. The second study shifts to an applied classroom perspective by investigating how L2 learners construct digital identities through avatar creation and gameplay in the MMORPG Lost Ark. Drawing on theories of L2 identity, multimodal composing, and social semiotics, it shows how learners embody aspects of their L2 selves through character design, customization, and narrative participation. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge–Play Curricular Activity Reflection Discussion (TPACK-PCaRD) framework is applied to generate pedagogical strategies for adapting avatar-based gameplay into identity-focused language instruction. The third study explores language learning in the digital wilds by analyzing professional Spanish-language Twitch.TV streams of League of Legends. Using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, it identifies teaching, cognitive, and social presences in interactive streaming environments. It demonstrates how streamers function as informal L2 facilitators through multimodal interaction, code-switching, and community building. The Bridging Activities framework is then applied to propose ways educators can adapt these vernacular practices into classroom use.

Taken together, the three studies provide a more comprehensive and pedagogically grounded understanding of DGBLLT. They highlight the importance of interpretability, teacher mediation, and context-sensitive adaptation when integrating games and game-related practices into L2 teaching. Ultimately, this dissertation proposes a research-informed framework that is practice-oriented, bridging theory and application, offering educators and researchers clearer pathways for implementing digital games as meaningful tools for language instruction.

Panelists: Dr. Emily A. Hellmich (UC Berkeley), Dr. Maggie Berti (Italian Matters), Dr. Marédil León Cedeño (University of Houston)

Moderator: Nena Choi, 2nd-year SLAT Student

Panelist Bios

Emily A. Hellmich, Ph.D., is Associate Director of the Berkeley Language Center. Her research focuses on the impacts of digital technologies on language education, with particular interest in how language learners use (and don't use) digital technologies to support their language learning. Her current research project, in conjunction with Dr. Kimberly Vinall, looks to translate research and theory on AI into resources for language classrooms.

Dr. Margherita Berti is the founder of Italian Matters, an online Italian Language and Culture School dedicated to helping students speak Italian with confidence. She holds a Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching from the University of Arizona and combines research-based methods with practical, real-world teaching. Through courses, podcasts, and resources, Margherita has helped thousands of learners worldwide connect with the Italian language and culture.

Dr. Marédil León Cedeño is a teacher educator with over 13 years of teaching experience, and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Bilingual/ESL Education Program at the University of Houston . She holds a Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching from the University of Arizona. She specializes in qualitative research methods and her research interests include: language teacher identities, social justice in education, educational technology, instructional/curriculum design, and language policies and ideologies.

Panelists: Dr. Shelley Staples (University of Arizona), Dr. Bruna Sommer Farias (Michigan State University), Dr. Aleksey Novikov (Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center), Dr. Mariana Centanin Bertho (Yale University)

Moderator: Sara Matsumura (SLAT 2nd year student)

This webinar is proudly co-sponsored by the SLAT Program and the Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy (CERCLL).

Panelist Bios

Dr. Shelley Staples is a Professor of English/Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at University of Arizona. Her research focuses on corpus-based analysis and corpus-informed instruction using learner corpora. Her work can be found in journals such as Applied Linguistics, English for Specific Purposes Journal, International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, Journal of Second Language Writing, Modern Language Journal, and TESOL Quarterly. She is the PI of the Multilingual Corpus of Assignments: Writing and Speech (MACAWS): http://macaws.corporaproject.org. She is also the PI of the Corpus and Repository of Writing (Crow): http://crow.corporaproject.org.

Dr. Bruna Sommer-Farias is an Assistant Professor of World Language Teaching at Michigan State University. She holds a PhD in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching from the University of Arizona. She teaches graduate-level classes for world language teachers with focus on language concepts, teaching methods, biliteracy and interculturality. Involved in the Portuguese MACAWS project since its inception, she currently uses MACAWS materials to teach teachers about data-driven learning and teaching with learner corpora.

Dr. Aleks Novikov is an Educational Measurement Specialist in the Language Testing Directorate at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, with over 10 years of experience teaching Russian as a foreign language. He holds a PhD in SLAT from the University of Arizona. His background spans language instruction, corpus linguistics, data analysis, AI, and assessment.

Dr. Mariana Centanin Bertho is a Lector of Portuguese at Yale University. She completed her Ph.D. in SLAT in 2024, with a dissertation on the phonological acquisition of Portuguese by English-Spanish bilinguals, using learner corpus data. Since 2019, she has been part of the MACAWS team, working on both written and spoken corpus development as well as pedagogical applications of corpora, including the creation of teaching materials and resources.

First-year students will have the chance to meet with the SLAT Graduate Advisor and the Major/Minor Area Chairs, along with the SLAT Program Coordinator, to learn about how to transfer courses from their Masters programs to the SLAT PhD program. 

Presenters: Dr. Ana Carvalho (SLAT Chair), Dr. Chris Tardy (SLAT Graduate Advisor), Dr. Liudmila Klimanova (Sociocultural Dimensions Area Chair), Dr. Robert Henderson (Linguistic Dimensions Area Chair), Dr. Miquel Simonet (Cognitive Dimensions Area Chair), Dr. Mahmoud Azaz (Instructional Dimensions Area Chair), Dr. Jill Castek (TSLT Area Chair), Dr. Suzanne Panferov Reese (LPA Area Chair), Debbie Shon Buhler (SLAT Senior Program Coordinator)