Foundations

Language is used not only for communication but also for enacting multiple identities to reveal information about oneself such as who we are, where we come from, who we believe in etc. This is done by means of using a tribe, gender, region or a country specific dialect, accent, sociolect, vocabulary or phrase to identify oneself with a specific tribe, gender, social class or ethnic group, a region or a nation. Greetings such as-'Assalamualeikum' ('peace be with you'), 'God bless', 'Shalom' ('peace') are used by people to identify oneself with a particular faith (Muslim, Christian and Jewish respectively). Thus, language use serves here as a means of constructing religious identity. Region and tribe specific dialects, accents and sociolects are also used to construct regional, social class, ethnic or tribal identities. This process of identity construction occurs both in the real world as well as in a virtual reality on-line, where people can either take their real identity with them or construct an on-line identity that can be as divergent as they wish. As on-line communication gains significance in everyone's life, research on the nature of this communication is required to uncover various underlying issues governing this type of communication. In this respect, the present study aimed to explore the strategies and ways in which language and other means were used by Saudi Arabian youths to construct and enact their various identities such as gender, social class, tribal, regional, religious etc. To this end, a social networking website was designed and Saudi youths (aged between 18 to 30 years) were invited to participate by posting and chatting online on the website. Of such posts, around 300 comments were selected for the content analysis. The analysis of these comments posted by 71 Saudi females and 85 males over two months revealed that Saudi youths used their language on-line to construct and enact their gender, tribal, regional, religious identities. Participants were seen to be using their tribe, region, gender, religion and Arab culture related words and phrases to construct and reveal their tribal, regional, gender, religious and cultural identities consciously and unconsciously.

Many higher education students across the world are studying in situations where a high proportion of the academic materials they encounter are online reading texts written in their second language. While the online medium presents a number of challenges to L2 readers, it also enables the provision of a range of support mechanisms, such as instant feedback. This quasi-experimental study investigated the use of two types of feedback, elaborative and knowledge of response, and compares their effectiveness for enhancing online second language reading comprehension. The participants were 113 Emirati students of L2 English at a higher education college in the United Arab Emirates. Data were collected using a pre-test and a post-test measure of reading comprehension and an online reading comprehension exercise containing either elaborative or knowledge of response feedback. The results of the quasi-experiment showed no significant difference between the effects of the two feedback types on comprehension of an online reading text for the sample as a whole. Equally, for the high-proficiency readers, feedback type had no significant effect on text comprehension. However, with regard to the low-proficiency readers, those receiving elaborative feedback performed significantly better on the post-test than those who received knowledge of response feedback. The findings suggest that elaborative feedback can enhance online L2 reading comprehension but that it needs to be tailored specifically to the needs of the L2 readers it is intended to support.

This paper reports the results of an investigation into the use of mobile assisted language learning for learning Arabic as a second language in the context of Saudi Arabian higher education. The purpose of this study was to explore what kinds of mobile learning devices second language Arabic learners and their teachers currently use and how they use these devices for learning the Arabic language. This mixed-methods study employed a sequential explanatory design, incorporating questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with second language students and their teachers. A total of 154 teachers and 492 students participated in the quantitative phase of the study whilst 14 teachers and 16 students took part in the qualitative phase. The results showed that smartphones the most widely used mobile device among second language Arabic learners and their teachers. Their current use of mobile devices was focused on social media apps such as YouTube and WhatsApp to support Arabic language learning.

This mixed-methods study investigated the use of both post-reading computer-mediated synchronous discussions and elaborative feedback incorporated within online reading texts as supports for second language readers in academic contexts. The participants were 202 students studying at a higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates. The data collection instruments consisted of pre-and post-test measures of online reading comprehension, a post-reading online synchronous text discussion, and an online questionnaire. The results of the quasi-experiment showed a significant, positive effect on reading comprehension for post-reading, computer-mediated synchronous discussions. Furthermore, an analysis of discussion logs and questionnaire responses supported the use of both post-reading synchronous discussions and elaborative feedback for enhancing online L2 reading comprehension.

In order to enhance second language (L2) acquisition, English as a Second Language (ESL) students are encouraged to exploit the abundant information and opportunities for authentic language use afforded by the Internet. This study investigated the online research and comprehension strategies employed by ESL learners in a public university in Malaysia. The study was descriptive and the data was collected via the Qualtrics survey system. Data analysis demonstrated the most and least frequently used online research and comprehension strategies of 74 ESL undergraduates and uncovered an overview of the ESL undergraduates' existing online research and comprehension strategies. The findings suggest that explicit training in the area of online research and comprehension processes is worth pursuing in the development of online study skills. This study also presents validation of a survey instrument used within the study to assess ESL learners' online research and comprehension strategies.