Information for Teachers

About MC DCT:

MC DCT (Multiple Choice Discourse Completion Task) is a conversation simulator for intermediate and advanced learners of English, developed by Brandon Archer (2020) for his MA TESOL final project. MC DCT currently consists of a tutorial and four different scenarios in which learners can train their interactional competence and practice making pragmatically appropriate requests in English.

This simulation consists of two parts: input- and output-based practice.

Input-based practice

The input-based practice component takes the form of an interactive fiction project, similar to traditional choose-your-own-adventure books. Learners read self-contained scenarios in which they must make social and linguistic choices in order to achieve a predetermined goal. The scenarios are short narrative texts which feature contextualizing images and feedback about learners' decisions.

Output-based practice

The output-based practice component is hosted on Flipgrid. Upon completing one of the text-based request scenarios, learners go on to record a video message with a similar request of their own formulation. Participants can view and respond to videos produced by others and use them as models, and instructors can likewise reply to learners with custom feedback.

Click here for more information about the project

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to start the simulation.

MC DCT source code:

This HTML file was created in Twine, a freeware application which works on a variety of platforms. I have included the source code here so that it can be adapted to individual teaching contexts. To edit the file, simply download TWINE, then import the file linked below.

In order to protect student data, instructors may need to create new Flipgrid pages for their own courses. The newly created Flipgrid URLs can then be simply pasted over the links provided in the source code.

Click here for the source code

Click here for help getting started with Twine

Additional resources for teaching pragmatics:

This project is an expansion upon the work of a former PSU MA TESOL student named Zach Jones. Zach created a self-access instructional module for learning to make requests in English, which focused on sociopragmatic considerations (power differential, social distance, weight of imposition) and the pragmalinguistic tendencies of L1 English speakers (direct versus indirect requests, simple/conditional modal verbs, downgraders such as “I was wondering if…” “Do you think I could…” etc).

In addition to Zach Jones' pragmatics modules, the following resources may also prove helpful in preparing your students for this simulation:

https://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/teaching-pragmatics#child-514

https://carla.umn.edu/speechacts/sp_pragmatics/Introduction_to_pragmatics/introduction_to_pragmatics.html

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1137786.pdf

References:

Arnold, N., & Ducate, L. (2019). Engaging language learners through CALL: From theory and research to informed practice. Sheffield, UK: Equinox Publishing.
Aufa, F. (2014). The use of Discourse Completion Tasks (DCT) as explicit instruction on Indonesian EFL learners’ production of suggestion acts. Journal of English and Education, 5(2), 21–43. https://doi.org/10.20885/jee.vol5.iss2.art2
Bardovi-Harlig, K. (2017). Acquisition of L2 pragmatics. In S. Loewen & M. Sato (Eds.) The Routledge handbook of instructed second language acquisition (224-245). New York: Routledge.
Bardovi-Harlig, K., Mossman, S., & Vellenga, H. (2015). Developing corpus-based materials to teach pragmatic routines. TESOL Journal, 6(3), 499.
Belz, J. A. (2007). The role of computer mediation in ihe instruction and development of L2 pragmatic competence. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 27, 45–75. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190508070037
Bousley, C. (2018). Did we forget someone else? Foreign language students' computer access and literacy for CALL. Michigan State University.
Brown, P., & Levinson, Stephen C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chen, Y., & Rau, D. (2013). Developing multiple-choice discourse completion tasks as pedagogical materials in L2 pragmatics. Study in English Language Teaching, 1(1), 106-120. https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v1n1p106
Cornillie, F., Thorne, S., & Desmet, P. (2012). Digital games for language learning: Challenges and opportunities. ReCALL, 24(3), 243-256.
DeKeyser, R. (2007). Study abroad as foreign language practice. In R. DeKeyser (Ed.), Practicing in a second language: Perspectives from applied linguistics and cognitive psychology (pp. 208–226). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
DeKeyser, R. (2010). Practice for second language learning: Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. International Journal of English Studies, 10(1), 155–165. https://doi.org/10.6018/ijes/2010/1/114021
Golato, A. (2003). Studying Compliment Responses: A Comparison of DCTs and Recordings of Naturally Occurring Talk. Applied Linguistics, 24(1), 90-121.
Herraiz-Martínez, A. (2018). Technology and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT): Exploring pragmatics. International Journal of Education and Development Using Information and Communication Technology 14 (2). 38-61.
Ibrahim, K. (2019). Foreign language practice in simulation video games: An analysis of game‐based FL use dynamics. Foreign Language Annals, 52(2), 335-357.
Ishihara, N. (2007). Web-based curriculum for pragmatics instruction in Japanese as a foreign language: An Explicit Awareness-raising Approach. Language Awareness. 16(1). 21-40, DOI: 10.2167/la398.0
Lai, C. (2017). Autonomous language learning with technology : Beyond the classroom (Advances in digital language learning and teaching). London ; New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Martí, N. & Fernández S. (2016). Telecollaboration and sociopragmatic awareness in the foreign language classroom. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching. 10(1), 34-48, DOI: 10.1080/17501229.2016.1138577
Rose, K. (2005). On the effects of instruction in second language pragmatics. System. 33(3) : 385-99.
Sydorenko, T. (2015). The use of computer-delivered structured tasks in pragmatic instruction: An exploratory study. Intercultural pragmatics, 12(3), 333–362. https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2015-0017
Sydorenko, T., Daurio, P., & Thorne, S. L. (2018). Refining pragmatically-appropriate oral communication via computer-simulated conversations. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 31(1–2), 157–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2017.1394326
Sydorenko, T., Jones, Z., Daurio, P., & Thorne, S. (forthcoming). Beyond the curriculum: Extended discourse practice through self-access pragmatics simulations. Language Learning & Technology.
Sykes, J. (2008). A dynamic approach to social interaction: Synthetic immersive environments & Spanish pragmatics. Unpublished dissertation. http://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/91603
Sykes, J. (2018). Interlanguage pragmatics, Curricular Innovation, and Digital Technologies. CALICO Journal, 35(2), 120-141.
Taguchi, N. & Roever, C. (2017). Second language pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress.
Taguchi, N., & Sykes, J. (2013). Technology in Interlanguage pragmatics Research and Teaching. John Benjamins. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/psu/detail.action?docID=1191557
Taguchi, N. (2019). The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and pragmatics. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351164085
Timpe-Laughlin, V. (2017). Adult learners’ acquisitional patterns in L2 pragmatics: What do we know? Applied Linguistics Review, 8(1), 101–129. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2015-2005
Vásquez, C., & Sharpless, D. (2009). The role of pragmatics in the Master's TESOL curriculum: findings from a nationwide survey. TESOL Quarterly, 43(1), 5-28.
Winke, P., & Goertler, S. (2008). Did we forget someone? Students' computer access and literacy for CALL. Calico Journal, 25(3), 482-509.
Yang, L. (2017). The effects of L2 proficiency on pragmatics instruction: a web-based approach to teaching Chinese expressions of gratitude. L2 Journal, 9(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.5070/L29132729. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7n82c0pw

In order to use this simulation, you will need:

Webcam & microphone

Flash must be enabled during simulation use

If you have trouble recording videos in the browser, you are also able to upload a video file made in a different application.

Click here for help enabling Flash