Technological Affordances in L2 Pragmatic Development

Dear Colleagues,

It is our great pleasure to announce this call for papers for a Special Issue of Languages entitled “Technological Affordances in L2 Pragmatic Development.”

Successful communication in a second or foreign language (L2) requires pragmatic competence, defined as the ability to interpret and produce meaning appropriately within specific sociocultural contexts. Over the past two decades, research in L2 pragmatics has increasingly examined how this competence develops in technology-mediated environments. This growing body of work is reflected in a wide range of publications, including monographs (e.g., Di Sarno-García, 2026), edited volumes (e.g., Taguchi & Sykes, 2013; González-Lloret et al., 2025), journal Special Issues (e.g., Blyth & Sykes, 2020), as well as numerous articles and book chapters (e.g., González-Lloret, 2022; Taguchi, 2024; Qi & Chen, 2025). Collectively, this research highlights the potential of digital communication platforms, computer-mediated interaction, and AI-driven tools to support authentic interaction and pragmatic practice. At the same time, technology-mediated environments introduce features such as multimodality, asynchronicity, and diverse feedback that shape how learners process and produce pragmatic meaning. However, recent research (e.g., Qi & Chen, 2025) identifies important gaps, particularly regarding how technological affordances operate across instructional contexts (e.g., classroom-based vs. online) and task types (e.g., reflective vs. time-pressured), as well as how their effectiveness is mediated by learner-related variables (e.g., proficiency, motivation, digital literacy). Additionally, areas such as digital socialization, emerging AI technologies, and multimodal communication remain underexplored. This Special Issue of Languages seeks to advance research in this area by foregrounding the role of technological affordances in L2 pragmatic development, while also encouraging contributions that examine how individual differences shape learners’ engagement in technology-mediated environments.

We welcome submissions of empirical studies investigating L2 pragmatic development in technology-mediated contexts. Contributions may explore how specific technological affordances (e.g., digital communication platforms, computer-mediated interaction, telecollaboration, virtual reality, or AI-driven conversational tools such as chatbots) influence pragmatic learning processes and outcomes. We particularly encourage studies that consider how learner-related variables (e.g., proficiency, motivation, gender, digital literacy, cognitive factors, learning strategies, or intercultural competence) mediate engagement with these affordances and contribute to variation in pragmatic development. Contributions may adopt diverse theoretical perspectives (e.g., cognitive, interactionist, sociocultural) and methodological approaches (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods) and may focus on a range of pragmatic phenomena (e.g., speech acts, politeness, implicature, pragmatic routines, interactional competence). Studies examining different target languages are also welcome.

In terms of procedures, we request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 450–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editors (aflor@uji.es and euso@uji.es) or to the Languages Editorial Office (languages@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

Tentative completion schedule:

• Abstract submission deadline: 1 June 2026
• Notification of abstract acceptance: 1 July 2026
• Full manuscript deadline: 1 December 2026

References

• Blyth, C., & Sykes, J. (Eds.). (2020). Technology-enhanced L2 instructional pragmatics. Language Learning & Technology, 24(2).
• Di Sarno-García, S. (2026). Acquiring pragmatic and intercultural communicative competences in the digital era: A telecollaboration study. Bloomsbury.
• González-Lloret, M. (2022). Technology-mediated tasks for the development of L2 pragmatics. Language Teaching Research, 26(2), 173–189.
• González-Lloret, M., & Sykes, J. M. (2025). Teaching and learning interactional pragmatics in a digital world: Introduction. In M. González-Lloret, J. M. Sykes, & J. K. Yoshioka (Eds.), Pragmatics & Language Learning (Vol. 15, pp. 1–15). National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawai‘i. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/75341
• Qi, X., & Chen, Z. (2024). A systematic review of technology integration in developing L2 pragmatic competence. Education Sciences, 15(2), Article 172. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15020172
• Taguchi, N. (2024). Technology-enhanced language learning and pragmatics: Insights from digital game-based pragmatics instruction. Language Teaching, 57(1), 1–11.
• Taguchi, N., & Sykes, J. M. (Eds.). (2013). Technology in interlanguage pragmatics research and teaching. John Benjamins.

Prof. Dr. Alicia Martínez-Flor
Prof. Dr. Ester Usó-Juan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Languages is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• L2 pragmatic development
• technological affordances
• individual differences