Archives

  • Vol. 36 No. 2 (2026)

    The feature article by Gao and Tovar reflects on six years of the DLIFLC Chinese Flagship Domestic Immersion Capstone program, which graduated its final cohort in May of 2026. The authors examine the practices that contributed to exceptional proficiency outcomes and identify lessons that may inform other language programs. The two Action Inquiry articles focus on supporting learner success in intensive language programs. Masih investigates the perceived effectiveness of Early Intervention action plans for at-risk learners in the Arabic School, highlighting the value of structured support, mentoring, and targeted learning strategies. Shihadeh rounds out this section by examining the use of delayed transcripts in Arabic listening instruction, finding that a listen-first, transcript-later approach may strengthen learners’ comprehension, vocabulary retention, and confidence.

    The Faculty Forum section showcases a variety of innovative instructional practices and professional reflections. Li and Wu propose a genre-based framework for listening instruction that helps learners anticipate discourse structures and apply targeted listening strategies. Zhou demonstrates how AI-generated stories can be used to integrate inductive and deductive grammar instruction in Chinese language classrooms. Hassan explores the complementary use of mind mapping and cloze listening activities to support both top-down and bottom-up processing in Arabic listening.

    Several articles address broader dimensions of teaching and learning. Zhu examines the role of teacher enthusiasm in promoting both faculty wellbeing and student achievement. Philpot-Montaño offers a thoughtful discussion of large language models, cognitive debt, and the importance of placing pedagogy ahead of technology when integrating AI into language education. Lin presents a structured preview framework designed to foster learner autonomy and effective study habits, while Daoud describes a practical approach to supporting students experiencing test anxiety through targeted preparation, feedback, and individualized support.

    Collectively, the articles in this issue underscore the importance of intentional instructional design, learner-centered support, reflective teaching practices, and thoughtful innovation. We hope you enjoy this issue and that its ideas inspire continued dialogue, experimentation, and scholarship. We also encourage you to consider contributing your own work to Dialog on Language Instruction. Enjoy!

  • Vol. 36 No. 1 (2026)

    The Editorial Board of Dialog on Language Instruction is excited to bring you our 2026 issue of the journal. This issue of eight articles spans the topics of listening, Generative AI tools, professional development, teaching in the target language, and supporting at-risk students, in addition to two book reviews.

    The two action research articles in this issue address challenges related to helping students develop their target language listening skills. Kazemi draws on research highlighting the importance of syntactic knowledge and real-time processing for successful listening, offering a six-step pedagogical approach that can be replicated across different languages. Anderson implements bottom-up listening skills strategies in his action research project, finding that students viewed these lessons positively and that activities these strategies may prove a powerful tool to sharpen students’ listening competencies.

    The Faculty Forum section features articles where faculty can share ideas and exchange views on innovative foreign language education practices. The first, by Gao et al., describes a structured seven-step professional development (PD) model intended to improve collaboration, trust, teacher engagement, and instructional effectiveness, as well as to enhance student learning outcomes. Amini Harsin showcases case studies in using Generative AI tools (namely, ChatGPT) to create interactive, relevant materials tailored to individual learning needs; Anderson reflects on how to address learners’ unfamiliarity with concepts that may be laden with socio-cultural or political value, noting the importance of trusting relationships in the language classroom; and Kalyanov provides concrete recommendations for maximizing the impact of the special assistance (SA) program at DLIFLC for at-risk learners.

    Two book reviews close this issue. Roca and de Hoyos review Indigenous America in the Spanish Language Classroom (2023), by A. Fountain, and Bikowski reviews Open Architecture Curricular Design in World Language Education (2025), by A. R. Corin, B. L. Leaver, & C. Campbell (Eds), 2025. We hope you enjoy this issue and consider submitting your article to Dialog on Language Instruction.

    We invite you to download the full issue below, or read any of the articles by clicking on the appropriate link. Enjoy!

  • Vol. 35 No. 1 (2025)

    The Editorial Board of Dialog on Language Instruction is excited to bring you our 1st issue of 2025. This issue of nine articles spans the topics of grammar, vocabulary, reading and listening with technologies introduced, as well as building student morale, the effect of faculty expectations on student motivation and strategies to enhance classroom understanding.

    In her Feature Article, Liu (Yanmei) tackles a challenge faced by all language teachers: how to teach grammar. Liu proposes a process-based approach to grammar instruction, emphasizing a learner-centered methodology of four phases, and walks the reader through the implementation process with an example from Chinese Mandarin. 

    Reading comprehension and vocabulary memorization are addressed in two Action Research articles. Jing showcases how to use free voluntary reading in the language course, while Foster and Saenko outline a 3-week workshop they created that not only discovers which vocabulary learning strategies students enter class using, but also identifies the strategies they find most useful. Student reflection is a key component in both articles, with data demonstrating areas of success. Readers will leave these articles with key takeaways to try in their own classrooms.

    The Faculty Forum section features articles where faculty can share ideas and exchange views on innovative foreign language education practices. Anderson shares a professional development activity he created, putting faculty in the shoes of learners, while Phillips explores how faculty expectations can impact student motivation and therefore learning. The following three articles address vocabulary, reading, listening, and technology; Zhu reflects on how anxiety can impact vocabulary acquisition and what teachers can do about it, Bairaqdar showcases how to use a reading tool to help students' listening comprehension, and Kassis summarizes how she used student-created video projects to build lagging student morale. 

    Teaching a new language in the target language is a real challenge, particularly if teachers want to check student understanding. The Quick Tip article by Liu (Suyi), which concludes the issue, offers strategies on how teachers can use Concept Checking Questions  and Instruction Checking Questions to enhance classroom understanding. 

    We hope you enjoy this issue and consider submitting your article to Dialog on Language Instruction.

    We invite you to download the full issue below, or read any of the articles by clicking on the appropriate link. Enjoy!

  • Vol. 34 No. 2 (2024)

    We present nine original papers in this issue of Dialog on Language Instruction. 

    Three Research and Action Research articles address pedagogical challenges faced by many language educators: How can we best use the target language in class, especially with lower-proficiency students (Bikowski & Zhu)? In what ways might using read-aloud practices help students build their bottom-up decoding skills and develop reading fluency (Lee & Kim)? How can we recycle and review foundational concepts with students approaching graduation, and during a tight timeframe (Wilkins)? Readers will undoubtedly find key takeaways from these articles.

    The Faculty Forum section features articles where faculty can share ideas and exchange views on innovative foreign language education practices. In this issue, Anderson reflects on how educators can include a variety of voices and perspectives on culturally-complex topics; two articles (Ramirez & Kullolli; Kruchkova) lay out how immersion activities can build students' cultural communication skills and engagement; and Lee concludes the section with a reflection on how Transformative Language Learning and Teaching has impacted her teaching journey.

    Two Quick Tips articles conclude the issue, offering easy-to-follow ideas for use in the language classroom or in any aspect of foreign language learning and teaching. Bikowski and Lim offer a variety of reflection tools for language teaching supervisors, while Omidi shares a unique and creative activity she created for pairing up students.

    We hope you enjoy this issue and consider submitting your article to Dialog on Language Instruction.

    We invite you to download the full issue below, or read any of the articles by clicking on the appropriate link. Enjoy!