Elizabeth Deifell majored in chemistry at the University of North Carolina, but she kept taking Spanish classes. Eventually her advisor told her she didn’t have any room in her schedule for more Spanish course work.

“That’s when I realized,” says Deifell, “Hmm…. Maybe I should change my major.”

Now Deifell, UI Ph.D. candidate in Second Language Acquisition, has been teaching Spanish for 14 years. Her dissertation looks at the intersection of digital literacy and how people learn languages. In addition to studying chemistry as an undergraduate, she also did market research before starting her graduate career, which she says may have influenced her research interest in student behavior.

“After teaching for so long, I’ve become more and more convinced that to be a good teacher you have to continue to learn,” says Deifell. “I think that really drives my research, to see what students are doing.”

Her dissertation examines second-language learners’ use of technology outside of the classroom. She studied beginning Spanish literature students’ computer habits as they worked on writing assignments, capturing data on all screen activity they logged during their writing process. Her data shows that students use a variety of digital tools, such as online dictionaries, Microsoft Word, Google, and WordReference.com.

Such tools are generally not specifically designed by experts such as Computer Assisted Language Learning professionals. Still, Deifell believes there’s plenty to learn about the way students use the most readily-available tools.

“I think it will be beneficial to see what people are already using, and then find the best ways to use those tools. I’m meeting students where they are. The goal is to better inform their practice of acquiring language and also to inform how languages are taught,” says Deifell.

Deifell worked on her dissertation this summer in Madrid, Spain thanks in part to a Graduate College Summer Fellowship.

While there, she was surprised to see other travelers use the Google Translate mobile app to communicate with their Spanish hosts.

Experiences like this have provided further confirmation of Deifell’s practical approach to second language learning. “I think those tools can help you scaffold your learning, to give you more confidence,” says Deifell. “They don’t do the work for you—they’re tools. Their usefulness is determined by how you use them, not necessarily by how they’re designed.”

Witnessing the use of these tools, even if they’re not perfect, into facilitating language and expression, encourages Deifell to look further into this topic.

Language learners need to be in contact with people, Deifell says, and place themselves in positions where communication is necessary, even at the risk of looking foolish.

She believes it’s important to maintain a sense of humor when learning a new language. “Yes, you are going to make mistakes, but you shouldn’t let that stop you.”

While grateful for the opportunity to study in Spain, Deifell says it isn’t necessary to go around the world to have meaningful learning experiences with second language acquisition.

“I think the contact between people and looking for those connections within our own community in Iowa is really important,” says Deifell.

“Look at how the University of Iowa can serve the state. It helps with cognitive development to learn another language, but it’s also important to communicate with members of our own community who speak other languages.”

Deifell says all sorts of people can benefit for learning a language. She once taught a 16-year-old home-schooled student and 67-year-old in the same class. With hard work and realistic goals, she says, it’s never too late to learn a language.

“If you start later you might not acquire a native-like pronunciation,” says Deifell. “But why does that have to be the ultimate goal? We’re not going to be native speakers.”

She says studies have shown explicit grammatical instruction, often assisted by technology, speeds up learning for older learners, and she encourages her students to continue to use their second language beyond the classroom, even if they fall short of mastery.

As she reflects on her accomplishments so far as a second language acquisition scholar, Deiffel credits the UI’s commitment to interdisciplinary research. “We have professors in different departments, with different strengths, who are really willing to share with us, to guide and mentor us,” says Deiffel. “I think they really see us as individuals and independent thinkers able to move between different departments and different fields. It’s pretty amazing. They give us opportunities to talk about our research and learn from others, and it’s really important to have a Ph.D. program that encourages those conversations.”