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Shannon Sauro

University of Maryland Baltimore County, EDUCATION, TESOL, Faculty Member

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Shannon Sauro is an associate professor in the Department of Education at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (USA) and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Culture, Languages and Media at Malmö University (Sweden). Her areas of research include the intersection of online fan practices and language learning and teaching, and the role of virtual exchange/telecollaboration in language teacher education. She is also he current president of UNICollaboration, an organization for virtual exchange in formal and non-formal educational context.

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Elana Spector-Cohen

University of Groningen

Pedagogical University of Cracow

Ohio University

University of Melbourne

International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation (IJLLT)

Meijo University

Stella Hadjistassou

University of Cyprus

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Papers by Shannon Sauro

Preparing Students for Successful Online Intercultural Communication and Collaboration in Virtual Exchange

by Shannon Sauro and Malin R Glimäng

Journal of International Students, 2022

In the context of Virtual Exchange (VE) it is often assumed that participants will be naturally p... more In the context of Virtual Exchange (VE) it is often assumed that participants will be naturally prepared to interact online successfully with their international partners. However, there is ample evidence in the literature to suggest that VE participants are usually unaware of effective communicative strategies in synchronous and asynchronous online communicative contexts. Through action research, this article investigates how teachers can provide scaffolding for both these communicative modalities in online intercultural environments. It reports on a qualitative content analysis of conversational and self-reported data from a corpus of three VEs that were collected and triangulated in order to identify when, in what areas, and in what ways students could benefit from pedagogical mentoring. The article then presents key mentoring stages and strategies that were identified and provides insight into the type of scaffolding that VE teachers can provide their students to help them achieve successful (a)synchronous online intercultural interaction.

METHODS AND APPROACHES TO INVESTIGATING LANGUAGE LEARNING IN THE DIGITAL WILDS

THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM, 2022

The aim of this chapter is to explore methods and approaches for data collection and analysis of ... more The aim of this chapter is to explore methods and approaches for data collection and analysis of language learning beyond the classroom that takes place in the digital wilds, defined as the “digital spaces, communities, and networks that are independent of formal instructional contexts” (Sauro & Zourou, 2019, p. 2), where informal learner-driven language learning occurs.

Developing Virtual Innovation and Support Networks for In-Service and Pre-Service Teachers

To guide the development of VALIANT’s Virtual Exchange modules, we reviewed academic and policy l... more To guide the development of VALIANT’s Virtual Exchange modules, we reviewed academic and policy literature on using online collaborative technologies to best serve the needs of the different populations taking part in VALIANT. This report begins with an exploration of European policy documentation regarding virtual collaboration in teacher education. This is followed by a review of publications which detail the pedagogical justification for using Virtual Exchange in teacher education. The remaining two sections then synthesize research on Virtual Exchange in Initial Teacher Education and research on Virtual Exchange in professional development programmes. Key issues and findings from each of these four sections and their implications for the design and implementation of the VALIANT modules are presented in the conclusion.

How to cite: Sauro, S., Flogie, A., Gutierrez, B.F., Martinc, U., Nicolaou, A., O’Dowd, R. & Zemljak, D. (2021). Developing Virtual Innovation and Support Networks for In-Service and Pre-Service Teachers. https://valiantproject.eu/research- publications/

Online Fanfiction for Language Teaching and Learning

Apprentissage des langues et systèmes d'information et de communication, 2021

Within the digital wilds, online communities, including communities of fans, represent a rich sou... more Within the digital wilds, online communities, including communities of fans, represent a rich source of inspiration for the development of computer-mediated tasks and activities that can support alternative and creative approaches to language teaching and learning (Sauro, 2014). By its very nature, fanfiction grows out of fans' deep engagement with a television series, book, movie, performer, band, or other source of media. A challenge facing teachers and researchers is incorporating the enthusiasm and innovation inherent within these online spaces into a formal educational context. This presentation introduces recent research on language learning in the digital wilds. This is followed by an overview of research and pedagogical projects that have explored the development and implementation of fanfiction-inspired teaching materials. It then introduces research carried out by the FanTALES project.

Assessing language learning in virtual exchange: suggestions from the field of language assessment

This goal of this paper is to enhance VE practitioners’ language assessment literacy. To do so, i... more This goal of this paper is to enhance VE practitioners’ language assessment literacy. To do so, it begins with an overview of assessment practices commonly used in VE for evaluating the complex and multifaceted nature of language competence. These include the following: (1) approaches that evaluate change in learners’ language use over time, (2) approaches that employ pre- and posttest to evaluate learning outcomes, and (3) approaches that rely on student self-report or self-documentation of learning. Based on this overview, we then look to the field of language assessment for guidelines on the selection and use of classroom-based and standardized assessment tools and practices. Using an existing VE practice scenario, the authors provide an example of language assessment selection and development.

Pedagogically mediating engagement in the wild: Trajectories of fandom-based curricular innovation

by Shannon Sauro and Steven L Thorne

Pop culture in language education: Theory, research, practice, 2020

Digitally mediated life activity has become ubiquitous across a range of social classes and world... more Digitally mediated life activity has become ubiquitous across a range of social classes and world regions. Among the many professional, social, and recreational phenomena that digital tools have transformed and/or made possible is the amplification and rapid expansion of popular (hereafter pop) culture fandom communities that are often transnational, transcultural, and plurilingual. This intervention project explores the possibilities that pedagogically structured participation in a fan fiction community might offer for second language learning. These learning potentials are examined and illustrated through the six-year implementation and iterative redesign of a pedagogical project rooted in task-based language teaching, fan practices, and fanfiction activities that takes place in an English teacher education course at a Swedish university. Positive outcomes from the project include identifiable linguistic gains and augmented levels of student engagement, both of which were enabled by the inspiration that sprang from participation in culturally relevant fandom communities. In conclusion, we underscore that pedagogical innovation in pop culture contexts requires agility and the willingness to iteratively adapt to emerging cultural conditions and practices.

Fandom and Online Interest Groups

Language education and technology, Encyclopedia of language and education , 2017

Within the scope of technology for language education, fandom and online interest communities enc... more Within the scope of technology for language education, fandom and online interest communities encompass a range of affinity groups in which individuals can develop skills and knowledge potentially supporting language learning or language mastery relevant to use in online and offline contexts. Initial work on online interest groups investigated individual and collaborative literacy practices and identity development among users of pre-Web 2.0 technologies such as Usenet discussions and personal fan websites. More recent research on online interest groups, language learning and use looks to the creative work and gameplay of international and multilingual users whose communities have flourished as a result of Web 2.0 technologies, including fanfiction archives, gaming forums, and wikis, and more general social media platforms. Altogether, studies of fandom and online interest groups within the area of language, education, and technology have revealed ways in which language learners and language users make use of these online communities for language learning, identity work, and the development of other skills and knowledge and which hold implications for the integration of technology and digital practices in language teaching.

Introduction to the Handbook of Technology and Second Language Teaching and Learning

The Handbook of Technology and Second Language Teaching and Learning

Swedish as a Second Language Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences with CALL for the Newly Arrived

CALICO Journal, 2021

The use of digital technology in the subject of Swedish as a second language (SSL) has increased ... more The use of digital technology in the subject of Swedish as a second language (SSL) has increased in recent years. Schools in Sweden have received many newly arrived students due to the migration situation prevailing in contemporary European society. This article shares the findings of a study carried out on six SSL teachers' perceptions and experiences of using digital technology for SSL with newly arrived students. Participants' responses to interview questions were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings indicated the following: participants negotiated the digital tools as an entry ticket for the newly arrived students to become engaged with the teaching, to support literacy development, and to aid communication. The findings also underscore the challenges that respondents struggled with in teaching using digital technology. Results suggest that although digital technology is a regular part of Swedish education, there is no clear research-based framework for computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in SSL education or teacher education that teachers can rely on, meaning that it is up to teachers themselves to uncover relevant uses of digital technology to support SSL teaching.

“There’s always an option” : Collaborative Writing of Multilingual Interactive Fanfiction in a Foreign Language Class

CALICO Journal

In the digital wilds, thriving storytelling practices (often in transcultural and multilingual co... more In the digital wilds, thriving storytelling practices (often in transcultural and multilingual contexts) share with Maker culture a belief in learning through doing, bricolage, collaboration, and playfulness. Key examples are fanfiction, a form of creative writing that transforms popular media in some way, and interactive fiction, a form of nonlinear narrative that verges on the world of gaming. This paper documents a pedagogical intervention carried out within the FanTALES project, which leverages creative writing and meaning-making practices from the digital wilds, in order to develop teaching and learning activities that engage secondary school learners in the writing of multilingual interactive fanfiction. Adolescent learners of English as a foreign language (N=21) wrote multilingual interactive fanfiction based on the digital game series Assassin’s Creed. Qualitative content analysis of focus groups with these learners suggests that they experienced intrinsic motivation and developed skills in language and storytelling as well as transversal competences. They also dealt with a lowered sense of autonomy due to the open-endedness of the tasks, and struggled with a lack of sufficient knowledge about storytelling practices and the source text, as well as with project management. Potential improvements for the pedagogical implementation include more scaffolding of the tasks, and better integration with curriculum and assessment.

The success of task type in facilitating oral language production in online computer mediated collaborative projects

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Relevance ofthis Study 1 Research Questions 2 Organization of this Study ... more CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Relevance ofthis Study 1 Research Questions 2 Organization of this Study 4 CHAPTER 2. LTTERATURE REVIEW Communicative Tasks for the Classroom Interactionist Theory of SLA 6 Tasks Which Foster Negotiation of Meaning Categorization and Evaluation of Communicative Task Features 9 Other Variables Which Influence Task Usefulness for SLA 12

Social Media, Fandom and Language Learning: A Roundtable with Shannon Sauro and Steven L. Thorne

Storytelling for the foreign language classroom

by Shannon Sauro and Frederik Cornillie

Foreign Language Annals, 2020

At a time when many language teachers are looking for research‐based teaching materials that can ... more At a time when many language teachers are looking for research‐based teaching materials that can be modified to support their students in online or digital learning, existing teaching and assessment materials developed through European grant‐funded projects can provide valuable and ready‐to‐use resources. This paper reports on the published and forthcoming teaching materials developed by the FanTALES group for teaching multilingual interactive digital storytelling to low‐to‐high intermediate level learners, more specifically, the B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment .

The Role of Pedagogical Mentoring in Virtual Exchange

by Robert O'Dowd and Shannon Sauro

TESOL Quarterly, 2019

Virtual exchange, or telecollaboration, is a well-known pedagogical approach in foreign language ... more Virtual exchange, or telecollaboration, is a well-known pedagogical approach in foreign language education that involves engaging classes in online intercultural collaboration projects with international partners as an integrated part of their educational programmes. This article focuses on the role of the teacher as pedagogical mentor in virtual exchange and examines the impact of the strategies and techniques that teachers use in their classes to support students' learning during their online intercultural projects. The article begins with a proposed categorization of pedagogical mentoring reported in the literature to date. It then reports on the outcomes of a virtual exchange project carried out by three classes of initial English teacher education in Israel, Spain, and Sweden that involved two types of pedagogical mentoring. Qualitative content analysis enabled the identification of the impact of mentoring that took place before the exchange and also revealed insights into what students learned when their own online interactions were integrated into class work. The article concludes by discussing the limitations and challenges of different types of pedagogical mentoring in virtual exchange and by outlining a list of recommendations for carrying out pedagogical mentoring in such projects.

What are the digital wilds?

Language Learning & Technology, 2019

The scope of this special issue of Language Learning & Technology is to explore and deepen our un... more The scope of this special issue of Language Learning & Technology is to explore and deepen our understanding of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) practices in the digital wilds, including, but not limited to, their manifestations, processes, and outcomes (linguistic, sociocultural, cognitive, or didactic). While digitally enhanced, instructed language learning and classroom language learning research are well established fields of study, there remain fewer empirical studies of informal or beyond-the-class digital language learning. This special issue bridges this gap by exploring CALL in the digital wilds.

Fan Fiction and Informal Language Learning

This chapter explores fan fiction, defined as stories that reimagine or reinterpret existing stor... more This chapter explores fan fiction, defined as stories that reimagine or reinterpret existing stories, characters and universes found in other texts and media, and the informal language learning that reading and writing fan fiction supports. It begins with an overview of fans, fandom, and various fan practices found in online affinity spaces, including fan practices that primarily celebrate media (e.g. fan website design), fan practices that analyze media (e.g. fan publications, online discussions, spoiling), and fan practices that transform or critique media (e.g. fan translation, fanart, fan fiction ).While many of these fan practices have also been found to support informal language learning or the development of other skills and knowledge, it is fan fiction that has received the greatest attention both in popular culture and in educational research. This chapter then offers a crash course overview of different genres of fan fiction and before examining and discussing research which has looked at the informal language learning that occurs through the reading and writing of fan fiction.

Critically examining the use of blog-based fanfiction in the advanced language classroom

ReCALL, 2018

This paper critically examines the integration of online fanfiction practices into an advanced un... more This paper critically examines the integration of online fanfiction practices into an advanced university English language classroom. The fanfiction project, The Blogging Hobbit, was carried out as part of a course in the teacher education program at a Swedish university for students who were specializing in teaching English at the secondary school level. Participants were 122 students who completed the course in 2013 and 2014. In both classes, students were organized into groups of three to six to write collaborative blog-based role-play fanfiction of a missing moment from JRR Tolkien's fantasy novel The Hobbit. The 31 resulting pieces of collaborative fanfiction, the online formats they were published in, the 122 reflective essays produced by the two classes, and interviews with a focal group of participants were used to explore how technology and learners' experience with this technology may have mediated the resulting stories. In addition, the classroom fanfiction texts were compared with comparable online writing published in the fanfiction site Archive of Our Own (Ao3) to identify thematic and stylistic differences. The results showed that students' lack of familiarity with publishing in blogs often posed a challenge that some groups were able to overcome or exploit to facilitate or enhance the readability of their completed stories. Compared to online fanfiction, the classroom fanfiction was less innovative with respect to focal characters yet more collective in its focus, with stories being told from multiple characters' perspectives.

Online Fan Practices and CALL

This article provides a narrative overview of research on online fan practices for language and l... more This article provides a narrative overview of research on online fan practices for language and literacy learning, use, and identity development. I begin with an introduction to online fan communities and common fan practices found in these online affinity spaces, the best known of which is fan fiction, fictional writing that reinterprets and remixes the events, characters and settings found in popular media. I then look to other online fan practices that have been explored in language and literacy learning research such as fan-‐subbing and scanlation, amateur subtitling and translation of popular media carried out by individual or teams of fans. Finally, this article concludes by looking to research that has begun to explore the integration of fan practices found in the digital wilds into the language classroom as a way to illuminate how our growing understanding of online fan practices can motivate the design of computer-‐mediated tasks or the integration of social media into formal language teaching.

Toward Langua-technocultural Competence

The chapters in the Handbook present new ideas, practices, and needs affecting second language te... more The chapters in the Handbook present new ideas, practices, and needs affecting second language teaching. This chapter culls three fundamental themes developed across the chapters: (1) multimodal language abilities need to be taught and investigated to engage with the reality of the world in which students learn and use language; (2) the continuously innovative nature of language teaching and learning needs to be grasped by teachers; and (3) research needs to play an integral role in the changing landscape of second language teaching and learning. The chapter also argues that 21st-century L2 language users, learners, teachers, and researchers are increasingly diverse and varied in their needs, goals, and digital familiarity thus requiring that future research look beyond current approaches and learner populations to explore the intersection of learner, context, and technology that defines the langua-technocultural competence that language users need today.

Student perspectives on intercultural learning from an online teacher education partnership

Proof of the below article which is available in full and for free at the link: Sauro, S. (2016).... more Proof of the below article which is available in full and for free at the link:
Sauro, S. (2016). Student perspectives on intercultural learning from an online teacher education partnership. In S. Jager, M. Kurek & B. O’Rourke (Eds.), New directions in telecollaborative research and practice: selected papers from the second conference on telecollaboration in higher education (pp. 83-88). Dublin Ireland: Research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2016.telecollab2016.493

This study reports on intercultural learning during telecollaboration from the perspective of student participants in a five-country online teacher education partnership. The student perspectives reported here were drawn from one intact class in the partnership, five students who completed this partnership as part of a sociolinguistics course in a secondary school English teacher education program in Sweden. Offline, the telecollaboration served as a discussion point for course themes and as data for a study on a sociolinguistic topic carried out by each student. Findings revealed intercultural learning occurred in three situations: as a result of in-class conflict during discussion of the telecollaboration, through analysis of interactional styles found in the online discussion posts for the sociolinguistics study, and through online discussion with peers in other countries regarding educational practices.

Preparing Students for Successful Online Intercultural Communication and Collaboration in Virtual Exchange

by Shannon Sauro and Malin R Glimäng

Journal of International Students, 2022

In the context of Virtual Exchange (VE) it is often assumed that participants will be naturally p... more In the context of Virtual Exchange (VE) it is often assumed that participants will be naturally prepared to interact online successfully with their international partners. However, there is ample evidence in the literature to suggest that VE participants are usually unaware of effective communicative strategies in synchronous and asynchronous online communicative contexts. Through action research, this article investigates how teachers can provide scaffolding for both these communicative modalities in online intercultural environments. It reports on a qualitative content analysis of conversational and self-reported data from a corpus of three VEs that were collected and triangulated in order to identify when, in what areas, and in what ways students could benefit from pedagogical mentoring. The article then presents key mentoring stages and strategies that were identified and provides insight into the type of scaffolding that VE teachers can provide their students to help them achieve successful (a)synchronous online intercultural interaction.

METHODS AND APPROACHES TO INVESTIGATING LANGUAGE LEARNING IN THE DIGITAL WILDS

THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM, 2022

The aim of this chapter is to explore methods and approaches for data collection and analysis of ... more The aim of this chapter is to explore methods and approaches for data collection and analysis of language learning beyond the classroom that takes place in the digital wilds, defined as the “digital spaces, communities, and networks that are independent of formal instructional contexts” (Sauro & Zourou, 2019, p. 2), where informal learner-driven language learning occurs.

Developing Virtual Innovation and Support Networks for In-Service and Pre-Service Teachers

To guide the development of VALIANT’s Virtual Exchange modules, we reviewed academic and policy l... more To guide the development of VALIANT’s Virtual Exchange modules, we reviewed academic and policy literature on using online collaborative technologies to best serve the needs of the different populations taking part in VALIANT. This report begins with an exploration of European policy documentation regarding virtual collaboration in teacher education. This is followed by a review of publications which detail the pedagogical justification for using Virtual Exchange in teacher education. The remaining two sections then synthesize research on Virtual Exchange in Initial Teacher Education and research on Virtual Exchange in professional development programmes. Key issues and findings from each of these four sections and their implications for the design and implementation of the VALIANT modules are presented in the conclusion.

How to cite: Sauro, S., Flogie, A., Gutierrez, B.F., Martinc, U., Nicolaou, A., O’Dowd, R. & Zemljak, D. (2021). Developing Virtual Innovation and Support Networks for In-Service and Pre-Service Teachers. https://valiantproject.eu/research- publications/

Online Fanfiction for Language Teaching and Learning

Apprentissage des langues et systèmes d'information et de communication, 2021

Within the digital wilds, online communities, including communities of fans, represent a rich sou... more Within the digital wilds, online communities, including communities of fans, represent a rich source of inspiration for the development of computer-mediated tasks and activities that can support alternative and creative approaches to language teaching and learning (Sauro, 2014). By its very nature, fanfiction grows out of fans' deep engagement with a television series, book, movie, performer, band, or other source of media. A challenge facing teachers and researchers is incorporating the enthusiasm and innovation inherent within these online spaces into a formal educational context. This presentation introduces recent research on language learning in the digital wilds. This is followed by an overview of research and pedagogical projects that have explored the development and implementation of fanfiction-inspired teaching materials. It then introduces research carried out by the FanTALES project.

Assessing language learning in virtual exchange: suggestions from the field of language assessment

This goal of this paper is to enhance VE practitioners’ language assessment literacy. To do so, i... more This goal of this paper is to enhance VE practitioners’ language assessment literacy. To do so, it begins with an overview of assessment practices commonly used in VE for evaluating the complex and multifaceted nature of language competence. These include the following: (1) approaches that evaluate change in learners’ language use over time, (2) approaches that employ pre- and posttest to evaluate learning outcomes, and (3) approaches that rely on student self-report or self-documentation of learning. Based on this overview, we then look to the field of language assessment for guidelines on the selection and use of classroom-based and standardized assessment tools and practices. Using an existing VE practice scenario, the authors provide an example of language assessment selection and development.

Pedagogically mediating engagement in the wild: Trajectories of fandom-based curricular innovation

by Shannon Sauro and Steven L Thorne

Pop culture in language education: Theory, research, practice, 2020

Digitally mediated life activity has become ubiquitous across a range of social classes and world... more Digitally mediated life activity has become ubiquitous across a range of social classes and world regions. Among the many professional, social, and recreational phenomena that digital tools have transformed and/or made possible is the amplification and rapid expansion of popular (hereafter pop) culture fandom communities that are often transnational, transcultural, and plurilingual. This intervention project explores the possibilities that pedagogically structured participation in a fan fiction community might offer for second language learning. These learning potentials are examined and illustrated through the six-year implementation and iterative redesign of a pedagogical project rooted in task-based language teaching, fan practices, and fanfiction activities that takes place in an English teacher education course at a Swedish university. Positive outcomes from the project include identifiable linguistic gains and augmented levels of student engagement, both of which were enabled by the inspiration that sprang from participation in culturally relevant fandom communities. In conclusion, we underscore that pedagogical innovation in pop culture contexts requires agility and the willingness to iteratively adapt to emerging cultural conditions and practices.

Fandom and Online Interest Groups

Language education and technology, Encyclopedia of language and education , 2017

Within the scope of technology for language education, fandom and online interest communities enc... more Within the scope of technology for language education, fandom and online interest communities encompass a range of affinity groups in which individuals can develop skills and knowledge potentially supporting language learning or language mastery relevant to use in online and offline contexts. Initial work on online interest groups investigated individual and collaborative literacy practices and identity development among users of pre-Web 2.0 technologies such as Usenet discussions and personal fan websites. More recent research on online interest groups, language learning and use looks to the creative work and gameplay of international and multilingual users whose communities have flourished as a result of Web 2.0 technologies, including fanfiction archives, gaming forums, and wikis, and more general social media platforms. Altogether, studies of fandom and online interest groups within the area of language, education, and technology have revealed ways in which language learners and language users make use of these online communities for language learning, identity work, and the development of other skills and knowledge and which hold implications for the integration of technology and digital practices in language teaching.

Introduction to the Handbook of Technology and Second Language Teaching and Learning

The Handbook of Technology and Second Language Teaching and Learning

Swedish as a Second Language Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences with CALL for the Newly Arrived

CALICO Journal, 2021

The use of digital technology in the subject of Swedish as a second language (SSL) has increased ... more The use of digital technology in the subject of Swedish as a second language (SSL) has increased in recent years. Schools in Sweden have received many newly arrived students due to the migration situation prevailing in contemporary European society. This article shares the findings of a study carried out on six SSL teachers' perceptions and experiences of using digital technology for SSL with newly arrived students. Participants' responses to interview questions were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings indicated the following: participants negotiated the digital tools as an entry ticket for the newly arrived students to become engaged with the teaching, to support literacy development, and to aid communication. The findings also underscore the challenges that respondents struggled with in teaching using digital technology. Results suggest that although digital technology is a regular part of Swedish education, there is no clear research-based framework for computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in SSL education or teacher education that teachers can rely on, meaning that it is up to teachers themselves to uncover relevant uses of digital technology to support SSL teaching.

“There’s always an option” : Collaborative Writing of Multilingual Interactive Fanfiction in a Foreign Language Class

CALICO Journal

In the digital wilds, thriving storytelling practices (often in transcultural and multilingual co... more In the digital wilds, thriving storytelling practices (often in transcultural and multilingual contexts) share with Maker culture a belief in learning through doing, bricolage, collaboration, and playfulness. Key examples are fanfiction, a form of creative writing that transforms popular media in some way, and interactive fiction, a form of nonlinear narrative that verges on the world of gaming. This paper documents a pedagogical intervention carried out within the FanTALES project, which leverages creative writing and meaning-making practices from the digital wilds, in order to develop teaching and learning activities that engage secondary school learners in the writing of multilingual interactive fanfiction. Adolescent learners of English as a foreign language (N=21) wrote multilingual interactive fanfiction based on the digital game series Assassin’s Creed. Qualitative content analysis of focus groups with these learners suggests that they experienced intrinsic motivation and developed skills in language and storytelling as well as transversal competences. They also dealt with a lowered sense of autonomy due to the open-endedness of the tasks, and struggled with a lack of sufficient knowledge about storytelling practices and the source text, as well as with project management. Potential improvements for the pedagogical implementation include more scaffolding of the tasks, and better integration with curriculum and assessment.

The success of task type in facilitating oral language production in online computer mediated collaborative projects

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Relevance ofthis Study 1 Research Questions 2 Organization of this Study ... more CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Relevance ofthis Study 1 Research Questions 2 Organization of this Study 4 CHAPTER 2. LTTERATURE REVIEW Communicative Tasks for the Classroom Interactionist Theory of SLA 6 Tasks Which Foster Negotiation of Meaning Categorization and Evaluation of Communicative Task Features 9 Other Variables Which Influence Task Usefulness for SLA 12

Social Media, Fandom and Language Learning: A Roundtable with Shannon Sauro and Steven L. Thorne

Storytelling for the foreign language classroom

by Shannon Sauro and Frederik Cornillie

Foreign Language Annals, 2020

At a time when many language teachers are looking for research‐based teaching materials that can ... more At a time when many language teachers are looking for research‐based teaching materials that can be modified to support their students in online or digital learning, existing teaching and assessment materials developed through European grant‐funded projects can provide valuable and ready‐to‐use resources. This paper reports on the published and forthcoming teaching materials developed by the FanTALES group for teaching multilingual interactive digital storytelling to low‐to‐high intermediate level learners, more specifically, the B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment .

The Role of Pedagogical Mentoring in Virtual Exchange

by Robert O'Dowd and Shannon Sauro

TESOL Quarterly, 2019

Virtual exchange, or telecollaboration, is a well-known pedagogical approach in foreign language ... more Virtual exchange, or telecollaboration, is a well-known pedagogical approach in foreign language education that involves engaging classes in online intercultural collaboration projects with international partners as an integrated part of their educational programmes. This article focuses on the role of the teacher as pedagogical mentor in virtual exchange and examines the impact of the strategies and techniques that teachers use in their classes to support students' learning during their online intercultural projects. The article begins with a proposed categorization of pedagogical mentoring reported in the literature to date. It then reports on the outcomes of a virtual exchange project carried out by three classes of initial English teacher education in Israel, Spain, and Sweden that involved two types of pedagogical mentoring. Qualitative content analysis enabled the identification of the impact of mentoring that took place before the exchange and also revealed insights into what students learned when their own online interactions were integrated into class work. The article concludes by discussing the limitations and challenges of different types of pedagogical mentoring in virtual exchange and by outlining a list of recommendations for carrying out pedagogical mentoring in such projects.

What are the digital wilds?

Language Learning & Technology, 2019

The scope of this special issue of Language Learning & Technology is to explore and deepen our un... more The scope of this special issue of Language Learning & Technology is to explore and deepen our understanding of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) practices in the digital wilds, including, but not limited to, their manifestations, processes, and outcomes (linguistic, sociocultural, cognitive, or didactic). While digitally enhanced, instructed language learning and classroom language learning research are well established fields of study, there remain fewer empirical studies of informal or beyond-the-class digital language learning. This special issue bridges this gap by exploring CALL in the digital wilds.

Fan Fiction and Informal Language Learning

This chapter explores fan fiction, defined as stories that reimagine or reinterpret existing stor... more This chapter explores fan fiction, defined as stories that reimagine or reinterpret existing stories, characters and universes found in other texts and media, and the informal language learning that reading and writing fan fiction supports. It begins with an overview of fans, fandom, and various fan practices found in online affinity spaces, including fan practices that primarily celebrate media (e.g. fan website design), fan practices that analyze media (e.g. fan publications, online discussions, spoiling), and fan practices that transform or critique media (e.g. fan translation, fanart, fan fiction ).While many of these fan practices have also been found to support informal language learning or the development of other skills and knowledge, it is fan fiction that has received the greatest attention both in popular culture and in educational research. This chapter then offers a crash course overview of different genres of fan fiction and before examining and discussing research which has looked at the informal language learning that occurs through the reading and writing of fan fiction.

Critically examining the use of blog-based fanfiction in the advanced language classroom

ReCALL, 2018

This paper critically examines the integration of online fanfiction practices into an advanced un... more This paper critically examines the integration of online fanfiction practices into an advanced university English language classroom. The fanfiction project, The Blogging Hobbit, was carried out as part of a course in the teacher education program at a Swedish university for students who were specializing in teaching English at the secondary school level. Participants were 122 students who completed the course in 2013 and 2014. In both classes, students were organized into groups of three to six to write collaborative blog-based role-play fanfiction of a missing moment from JRR Tolkien's fantasy novel The Hobbit. The 31 resulting pieces of collaborative fanfiction, the online formats they were published in, the 122 reflective essays produced by the two classes, and interviews with a focal group of participants were used to explore how technology and learners' experience with this technology may have mediated the resulting stories. In addition, the classroom fanfiction texts were compared with comparable online writing published in the fanfiction site Archive of Our Own (Ao3) to identify thematic and stylistic differences. The results showed that students' lack of familiarity with publishing in blogs often posed a challenge that some groups were able to overcome or exploit to facilitate or enhance the readability of their completed stories. Compared to online fanfiction, the classroom fanfiction was less innovative with respect to focal characters yet more collective in its focus, with stories being told from multiple characters' perspectives.

Online Fan Practices and CALL

This article provides a narrative overview of research on online fan practices for language and l... more This article provides a narrative overview of research on online fan practices for language and literacy learning, use, and identity development. I begin with an introduction to online fan communities and common fan practices found in these online affinity spaces, the best known of which is fan fiction, fictional writing that reinterprets and remixes the events, characters and settings found in popular media. I then look to other online fan practices that have been explored in language and literacy learning research such as fan-‐subbing and scanlation, amateur subtitling and translation of popular media carried out by individual or teams of fans. Finally, this article concludes by looking to research that has begun to explore the integration of fan practices found in the digital wilds into the language classroom as a way to illuminate how our growing understanding of online fan practices can motivate the design of computer-‐mediated tasks or the integration of social media into formal language teaching.

Toward Langua-technocultural Competence

The chapters in the Handbook present new ideas, practices, and needs affecting second language te... more The chapters in the Handbook present new ideas, practices, and needs affecting second language teaching. This chapter culls three fundamental themes developed across the chapters: (1) multimodal language abilities need to be taught and investigated to engage with the reality of the world in which students learn and use language; (2) the continuously innovative nature of language teaching and learning needs to be grasped by teachers; and (3) research needs to play an integral role in the changing landscape of second language teaching and learning. The chapter also argues that 21st-century L2 language users, learners, teachers, and researchers are increasingly diverse and varied in their needs, goals, and digital familiarity thus requiring that future research look beyond current approaches and learner populations to explore the intersection of learner, context, and technology that defines the langua-technocultural competence that language users need today.

Student perspectives on intercultural learning from an online teacher education partnership

Proof of the below article which is available in full and for free at the link: Sauro, S. (2016).... more Proof of the below article which is available in full and for free at the link:
Sauro, S. (2016). Student perspectives on intercultural learning from an online teacher education partnership. In S. Jager, M. Kurek & B. O’Rourke (Eds.), New directions in telecollaborative research and practice: selected papers from the second conference on telecollaboration in higher education (pp. 83-88). Dublin Ireland: Research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2016.telecollab2016.493

This study reports on intercultural learning during telecollaboration from the perspective of student participants in a five-country online teacher education partnership. The student perspectives reported here were drawn from one intact class in the partnership, five students who completed this partnership as part of a sociolinguistics course in a secondary school English teacher education program in Sweden. Offline, the telecollaboration served as a discussion point for course themes and as data for a study on a sociolinguistic topic carried out by each student. Findings revealed intercultural learning occurred in three situations: as a result of in-class conflict during discussion of the telecollaboration, through analysis of interactional styles found in the online discussion posts for the sociolinguistics study, and through online discussion with peers in other countries regarding educational practices.

Mediating Miscommunication & Conflict in Online Fan Spaces

This talk builds upon prior work in online media fandom for language learning which has explored ... more This talk builds upon prior work in online media fandom for language learning which has explored the identity and second language learning and use of media fans to examine the intercultural communication strategies used by an adult fan and second language speaker of English to mediate miscommunication and conflict in online fan spaces. Presented at IALIC 2016 (Nov 25-27, 2016) in Barcelona, Spain

The L2 Literacy Practices Of An Adult Lifelong Learner Of English In Online Media Fandom

This case study explores the online practices of an adult media fan and L2 user of English who us... more

One Does Not Simply Walk Into Mordor: A Skeptical Look at Blog-Based Fanfiction for Language Learning

This presentation, takes a critical look at the written products that result from a project that ... more This presentation, takes a critical look at the written products that result from a project that incorporated blog-based fanfiction into a university level language foreign language class. Findings hold implications for the design of classroom-based fanfiction tasks to facilitate both language and literary learning among both fans and nonfans.

Sauro, S. (August, 2015). One Does Not Simply Walk Into Mordor: A Skeptical Look at Blog-Based Fanfiction for Language Learning. Paper presented at the annual conference of the European Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Padua, Italy.

Report from Middle Earth: Bringing Fanfiction into the EFL Classroom

This study builds upon work in task-based language teaching (TBLT), literary studies, and fandom ... more This study builds upon work in task-based language teaching (TBLT), literary studies, and fandom studies to explore the use of fanfiction as a pedagogical tool in a technology-enhanced university foreign language class. A task-based fanfiction project, The Blogging Hobbit, modeled on blog-based role-play storytelling found in online media fandoms was carried out in a first year university course for undergraduate learners of English training to become secondary school English teachers in Sweden.

The desolation of blog: How technology can foster or hinder collaborative fanfiction for language learning

This study reports on two phases of a project implementing technology-mediated collaborative fanf... more This study reports on two phases of a project implementing technology-mediated collaborative fanfiction tasks in a literature and creative writing course required for pre-service English teachers at a Swedish university. Participants in each phase completed collaborative role-play fanfiction based on a missing moment from Tolkien’s The Hobbit using different technologies to author and publish their stories. Results reveal the potential for different types of technologies to foster or hinder collaborative creative writing among a particular population of university learners for whom certain computer-mediated technologies are emergent or obsolete.

Sauro, S. (29 May, 2015). The desolation of blog: How technology can foster or hinder collaborative fanfiction for language learning. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium, Boulder, Colorado.

An Unexpected Journey: Using Fanfiction to Support Second Language Development and Literary Competence

by Shannon Sauro and Björn Sundmark

This study reflects the transdiciplinary nature of educational lingustics by bridging the languag... more This study reflects the transdiciplinary nature of educational lingustics by bridging the language and literature divide in language teaching to explore the use of collaborative fanfiction based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit to support second language development and literary competence in an advanced language classroom.

Sauro, S., & Sundmark, B. (23 March, 2015). An unexpected journey: Using fanfiction to foster second language development and literary competence. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics, Toronto, Canada.

Fanfiction Tasks and Language Teaching

Slides for webinar given on 24 Feb 2015 as part of the CALL course at the University of Groningen.

Report from Middle Earth: Using blogs to bring fanfiction to the language classroom.

Sauro, S., & Sundmark, B. (August, 2014). Report from Middle Earth: Using blogs to bring fanficti... more

A Study in Sherlock (2016)

by Shannon Sauro and Björn Sundmark

Elicitation instrument/task instructions, timeline and rubric for the the task-based fanfiction p... more

Sociolinguistics Popular Science Piece Instructions

Assignment for integrating a 5 country teacher education telecollaboration (Innovations in Teachi... more Assignment for integrating a 5 country teacher education telecollaboration (Innovations in Teaching) with a focus on technology for language teaching into a sociolinguistics course.

Reported in Sauro, S. (April, 2016). Student perspectives on intercultural learning from an online teacher education partnership. Paper presented at New Directions in Telecollaborative Research and Practice: The Second Conference on Telecollaboration in University Education, Dublin, Ireland.

A Study in Sherlock (2015)

by Björn Sundmark and Shannon Sauro

Elicitation instrument/task instructions for the the task-based fanfiction project "A Study in Sh... more

The Blogging Hobbit (2014)

Elicitation instrument/task instructions for the second iteration of the task-based fanfiction pr... more

The Blogging Hobbit (2013)

by Shannon Sauro and Björn Sundmark

Elicitation instrument/task instructions for the first iteration of the task-based fanfiction pro... more

PROJECT-BASED SECOND AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. Gulbahar H. Beckett and Paul Chamness Miller (Eds.). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, 2006. Pp. xvi + 286. $73.25 cloth, $39.95 paper

Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2008

David Crystal, Txtng: The gr8 db8

Language in Society, 2010

PotterProjectInstructionAE.pdf

Instructions, readings, timeline and rubric for the task-based fanfiction project "The Potter Pro... more

CALL for Mobility

by Joanna Pitura and Shannon Sauro