Abstract

This chapter examines evolving trends in technology use in SLA including the growth in incidental language learning through the “digital wilds,” that is, streaming audio/video, gaming, and social networks. The variety of online learning options available today creates complex personal learning environments characterized by extensive use of mobile devices, especially smartphones and the use of virtual assistants and machine translation, services driven by advances in artificial intelligence and big data collection. At the same time, faster 5G networks and embedded smart devices will enable ubiquitous access to advanced and contextualized learning environments characterized by the use of extended reality.