The Handbook of Informal Language Learning: (Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics)

Authored by a prominent team of international experts in their respective fields, The Handbook of Informal Language Learning is a one-of-a-kind reference work and it is a timely and valuable resource for anyone looking to explore informal language learning outside of a formal education environment. It features a comprehensive collection of cutting edge research areas exploring the cultural and historical cases of informal language learning, along with the growing area of digital language learning, and the future of this relevant field in national development and language education. The Handbook of Informal Language Learning examines informal language learning from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Structured across six sections, chapters cover areas of motivation, linguistics, cognition, and multimodality; digital learning, including virtual contexts, gaming, fanfiction, vlogging, mobile devices, and nonformal programs; and media and live contact, including learning through environmental print, tourism/study abroad. The book also provides studies of informal learning in four national contexts, examines the integration of informal and formal classroom learning, and discusses the future of language learning from different perspectives. The Handbook of Informal Language Learning is an essential resource for researchers, students, and professionals in the fields of language acquisition, English as a second language, and foreign language education.

Table of Contents:
Notes on Contributors ix Introduction 1 Mark Dressman Part I Theorizing Informal Language Learning 13 1 Motivation and Informal Language Learning 15 Alice Chik 2 Learning Languages in Informal Environments: Some Cognitive Considerations 27 Kiel Christianson and Sarah‐Elizabeth Deshaies 3 Multimodality and Language Learning 39 Mark Dressman 4 How Learning Context Shapes Heritage and Second Language Acquisition 57 Silvina Montrul 5 Informal Writing and Language Learning 75 Paul Kei Matsuda and Melika Nouri Part II Learning in Digital Contexts 85 6 Virtual Landscapes 87 Randall William Sadler 7 Gaming and Informal Language Learning 101 Stephanie W.P. Knight, Lindsay Marean, and Julie M. Sykes 8 Self‐Paced Language Learning Using Online Platforms 117 Panagiotis Arvanitis 9 Fan Fiction and Informal Language Learning 139 Shannon Sauro 10 Vlogs, Video Publishing, and Informal Language Learning 153 Tatiana Codreanu and Christelle Combe 11 Mobile Collaboration for Language Learning and Cultural Learning 169 Agnes Kukulska‐Hulme and Helen Lee Part III Learning Through Media and Live Contact 181 12 Video and Informal Language Learning 183 Robert Vanderplank 13 Songs and Music 203 Karen M. Ludke 14 Mobility, Media, and Multiplicity: Immigrants’ Informal Language Learning via Media 215 Kristen H. Perry and Annie M. Moses 15 Service Sector Work and Informal Language Learning 229 Hania Janta and Stefan D. Keller 16 Linguistic Landscapes and Additional Language Development 243 Jana Roos and Howard Nicholas 17 Language Tourism and Second Language Acquisition in Informal Learning Contexts 257 Montserrat Iglesias Part IV International Case Studies of Informal Language Learners 271 18 Hong Kong and Informal Language Learning 273 Chun Lai and Boning Lyu 19 An Emerging Path to English in Korea: Informal Digital Learning of English 289 Ju Seong Lee 20 Informal English Learning Among Moroccan Youth 303 Mark Dressman 21 Sweden and Informal Language Learning 319 Pia Sundqvist 22 Informal English Learning in France 333 Meryl Kusyk Part V Informal Learning and Formal Contexts 349 23 Translanguaging Across Contexts 351 Sarah J. McCarthey, Idalia Nuñez, and Chaehyun Lee 24 A Critical Review of Social Networks for Language Learning Beyond the Classroom 369 Katerina Zourou 25 Digital Writing in Informal Settings Among Multilingual Language Learners 383 Binbin Zheng and Chin‐Hsi Lin 26 Extensive Reading for Statistical Learning 395 Doreen E. Ewert 27 Leveraging Technology to Integrate Informal Language Learning within Classroom Settings 405 Philip Hubbard 28 Connecting Informal and Formal Language Learning 421 Dennis Murphy Odo Part VI The Present and Future of Informal Language Learning 439 29 Digital Translation: Its Potential and Limitations for Informal Language Learning 441 Helen Slatyer and Sarah Forget 30 Future Directions in Informal Language Learning 457 Robert Godwin‐Jones 31 Last Words: Naming, Framing, and Challenging the Field 471 Geoffrey Sockett and Denyze Toffoli Index 489

About the Author :
Mark Dressman is Professor and Chair of English at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. He has authored four books, including Using social theory in educational research: A practical guide (2008), and more than thirty journal articles on curriculum and the teaching of English as a first and other language. Randall William Sadler is Associate Professor of Linguistics and Director of TESL and ESL at the University of Illinois, USA. He teaches courses on telecollaboration, virtual worlds, and teaching L2 reading and writing and focuses his research on technology in language learning. He is author of Virtual Worlds for Language Learning: From Theory to Practice (2012) and has published in many journals, including Journal of English for Academic Purposes, CALICO, ReCALL, Language Learning & Technology.

Review :
“I am familiar with Sadler’s work having attended some of his conference presentations and served with him on the CALICO Executive Board. I know that he is well connected within the field of technology and language learning, which should help in recruiting authors… This is the kind of book that is well-suited to libraries, and I would think that individual chapters would find their ways into course readers in more general technology and language learning teacher preparation courses.” Phil Hubbard, Stanford University, USA    “My overall impression is that the proposed volume provides a highly important contribution to the endeavor of language learning. The premise is intriguing, in that it is focused on an area of research in language learning which is often left aside in research and on language teacher training programs, that of informal language learning. It is an exciting and novel approach to theorizing about language learning – one which will serve to inform studies of formal language learning and research into second language acquisition.” Anne McCabe, Saint Louis University, USA   “I think a handbook on informal language learning is timely and much needed. I like how the authors proposed to start with a clear theorization of informal language learning from different perspectives and how it covers a wide range of aspects related to informal language learning.” Chun Lai, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong