Language at Play: Digital Games in Second and Foreign Language Teaching and Learning (Theory and Practice in Second Language Classroom Instruction)

Julie Sykes is currently Director of The Center for Applied Second Language Studies at University of Oregon. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota with a focus on applied linguistics and second language acquisition. Julie's research focuses on the use of digital technologies for language acquisition with a specific focus on inter-language pragmatic development and intercultural competence. She has taught courses on second language teaching and learning methodology and research, language learning and technology, Hispanic linguistics, and inter-language pragmatic development. In addition, she has supervised large language programs. Julie's experience includes the design, implementation, and evaluation of online immersive spaces and the creation of place-based, augmented reality mobile games to engage language learners in a variety of non-institutional contexts. She has published various articles on CALL-related topics, including synchronous computer-mediated communication and pragmatic development, gaming and CALL, and lexical acquisition in digitally mediated environments. Julie also holds a faculty appointment in the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Oregon.

Jonathon Reinhardt is an Assistant Professor of English Language/Linguistics at the University of Arizona, where he is Director of the MA in TESL program, affiliate faculty in the interdisciplinary PhD program in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT), and co-director of the Games to Teach project at CERCLL with Julie Sykes. His research interests focus on socially-informed approaches to technology and L2 pedagogy, specifically digital gaming, digital L2 literacies, social networking and new media, and technology-mediated interaction. He has taught EFL in Austria and Japan, ESL in Chicago and Pennsylvania, and received his Ph.D. in 2007 from Penn State University. When not teaching, writing, or exploring new game-mediated worlds, he enjoys technology-free hikes in the Sonoran Desert.