Within higher education, the popularity of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has led many administrators and faculty to stress the need for policies regarding its use. However, given its relative novelty, it is unclear how instructors create and communicate such policies to students, in terms of both content and style. We present a detailed…

Background: Mental health issues are increasing in higher education and finding ways for students to get help when needed is important. Objective: We tested if the tone of a short syllabus and the presence of a special statement addressing mental health would increase intentions to approach instructors for help. Method: We used a 2 (Tone: warm vs.…

This study used critical discourse analysis (CDA) to explore how course syllabi may impact disability disclosure in higher education. By examining 15 syllabi from across three disciplines at a public university, the analysis reveals the use of neutral but bureaucratic disability terminology and impersonal tones that may fail to foster an inclusive…

Sociolinguistic awareness is crucial for L2 learners because language is not just a set of grammatical rules and vocabulary; it is deeply intertwined with social and cultural context. The linguistic landscape serves as a conduit for discerning facets of language use in a given community. This study focuses on raising sociolinguistic awareness…

This study examines the impact of changing the tone of a traditional syllabus to make it more learner-centered. The researchers examined a required wellness course that serves over 8,000 students per year at a large, four-year public university in the southern United States. Concerns about student progression through programs and graduation rates…

While research on digital multimodal composing (DMC) has been skewed towards the instructional design and affordances of DMC for L2 learners, there is a wider need to develop conceptual models of L2 DMC competence, with which L2 learners can successfully design DMC works and respond to the multimodal reading and writing demands of the digital era.…

This study focused on Saudi female English as a foreign language (EFL) learners, second-year level, English Department, College of Arts, Bisha University. Most the learners are exposed to the English language at a late stage, which is one of the challenges they encounter. The main objective of this study was to identify the main challenges faced…

The role of social work education is to prepare students to work with individuals, families, and communities, many of whom have one or more disabilities. Yet most social work programs include limited disability-specific content in their programs, and with a deficit-model focus. Recent changes in the National Association of Social Workers Code of…

Of the major aspects of language use, perhaps the least frequently taught and the least understood by teachers is the system of turn-taking Wong and Waring [2010. "Conversation Analysis and Second Language Pedagogy: A Guide for ESL/EFL Teachers." New York: Routledge]. For second language learners, this may be an important contributing…

This study examined the effects of a script-based communicative intervention (SBCI) on psychological and cultural adaptation in students studying abroad in second language (German and Spanish) contexts. Regardless of language proficiency, students with exposure to the SBCI, relative to those without the intervention, exhibited higher well-being…

As a professor teaching general core science courses to non-science majors, I designed a learner-centered, inquiry-based course in order to potentially positively influence science-related attitudes of my students. Through the lens of action research with mixed methodology, I analyzed student attitudes regarding science through the Test of…

In this article, we discuss three cross-cultural memoirs used in three different university courses that introduced students to the complex identities that form both inside and outside of language classrooms. In arguing for the value of using such memoirs as content in university courses, we provide a detailed thematic analysis of Peter Hessler's…

This chapter examines practical issues regarding Virtual Exchanges (VEs) for educational purposes in the university context and covers language use, cultural differences, time management, teacher collaboration, technology-related issues, assessment, and context specific factors. It charts the establishment of three academic collaborations between…

Supplementing the foreign language curriculum with the incorporation of art museum visits has benefits for students, faculty, the campus art gallery, and the institution. Such a collaborative program serves to expand the classroom and complement instruction by providing learners with a new space to engage in authentic practice in the target…

This paper presents information on the factors affecting the development of multilingual and multicultural communicative competence in interactive multimodal learning environments in an academic context. The interdisciplinary course in multilingual interaction offered at the University of Jyväskylä aims to enhance students' competence in…