joesph p vitta’s scientific contributions

This chapter explores flipped learning in second/foreign language (L2) contexts, where students study new content before class independently, and engage in higher-order thinking activities referencing the content during class time. This chapter provides a definition for L2 flipped learning and discusses its implementation, emphasizing the role of technology and varying effectiveness based on context. The chapter unpacks the existing evidence for flipped learning’s effectiveness in L2 settings while highlighting biases in existing research. Remedies for such biases are also discussed. Finally, future directions at the researcher- and practitioner-levels are considered.

At the turn of the new millennium, in an article published in Language Teaching Research in 2000, Dörnyei and Kormos proposed that ‘active learner engagement is a key concern’ for all instructed language learning. Since then, language engagement research has increased exponentially. In this article, we present a systematic review of 20 years of language engagement research. To ensure robust coverage, we searched 21 major journals on second language acquisition (SLA) and applied linguistics and identified 112 reports satisfying our inclusion criteria. The results of our analysis of these reports highlighted the adoption of heterogeneous methods and conceptual frameworks in the language engagement literature, as well as indicating a need to refine the definitions and operationalizations of engagement in both quantitative and qualitative research. Based on these findings, we attempted to clarify some lingering ambiguity around fundamental definitions, and to more clearly delineate the scope and target of language engagement research. We also discuss future avenues to further advance understanding of the nature, mechanisms, and outcomes resulting from engagement in language learning.