Dan Isbell
@danielrisbell.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Second Language Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, specializing in language assessment. Associate Editor at Language Learning journal (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14679922). Views own. https://isbell.github.io/
A neat tidbit in the local sports linguistic landscape... place kicker Kansei Matsuzawa, who is originally from Japan and taught himself how to kick field goals by watching YouTube vids, has his surname written in Japanese kanji on his University of Hawaiʻi jersey.
October 30, 2025 at 6:34 PM
A neat tidbit in the local sports linguistic landscape... place kicker Kansei Matsuzawa, who is originally from Japan and taught himself how to kick field goals by watching YouTube vids, has his surname written in Japanese kanji on his University of Hawaiʻi jersey.
I tried another animal emoji prompt, and apparently there are people who think the badger emoji is an anteater emoji, which people use generically for animals with long snouts?
October 15, 2025 at 11:40 PM
I tried another animal emoji prompt, and apparently there are people who think the badger emoji is an anteater emoji, which people use generically for animals with long snouts?
This is great - Gemini (my uni pays for it, might as well use it to show AI failures...) gets it right because it searches the web for recent articles, but then suggests people combine the wave and horse for seahorse, which I have no idea on.
October 15, 2025 at 11:40 PM
This is great - Gemini (my uni pays for it, might as well use it to show AI failures...) gets it right because it searches the web for recent articles, but then suggests people combine the wave and horse for seahorse, which I have no idea on.
So I rephrased their reasoning in a question to Google Gemini (happens to be what my institution paid to give everyone access to...). Here's what I got: 2/
September 7, 2025 at 4:26 AM
So I rephrased their reasoning in a question to Google Gemini (happens to be what my institution paid to give everyone access to...). Here's what I got: 2/
I haven't and won't read the book, but like... What is this? Not the #1 threat but critical to vaguely discuss "a social norm that kicks in" on campuses while politicians who ban books, words, etc are spared from being named.
August 31, 2025 at 7:48 AM
I haven't and won't read the book, but like... What is this? Not the #1 threat but critical to vaguely discuss "a social norm that kicks in" on campuses while politicians who ban books, words, etc are spared from being named.
Ian Bogost's piece on AI is sobering and worth a read, though entirely too sympathetic to AI users and too cynical regarding the entire project of universities.
To pick a specific nit: Lectures might remain unchanged for decades because the fundamental knowledge students need to know (and be /n
To pick a specific nit: Lectures might remain unchanged for decades because the fundamental knowledge students need to know (and be /n
August 19, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Ian Bogost's piece on AI is sobering and worth a read, though entirely too sympathetic to AI users and too cynical regarding the entire project of universities.
To pick a specific nit: Lectures might remain unchanged for decades because the fundamental knowledge students need to know (and be /n
To pick a specific nit: Lectures might remain unchanged for decades because the fundamental knowledge students need to know (and be /n
I'm in Korea with a study abroad program, and I have students take pictures of Korea's #linguisticlandscape focused on language mixing and non-Korean languages.
I also participate and share things I find.
But I don't think I'll share this one with the students...
I also participate and share things I find.
But I don't think I'll share this one with the students...
July 22, 2025 at 10:26 AM
I'm in Korea with a study abroad program, and I have students take pictures of Korea's #linguisticlandscape focused on language mixing and non-Korean languages.
I also participate and share things I find.
But I don't think I'll share this one with the students...
I also participate and share things I find.
But I don't think I'll share this one with the students...
Clear skies in Seoul today! View from my home-away-from-home office as I work on a final project report:
July 11, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Clear skies in Seoul today! View from my home-away-from-home office as I work on a final project report:
Perk of going to Korean education conferences: K-beauty swag!
July 5, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Perk of going to Korean education conferences: K-beauty swag!
Nosek seems to qualify the need for/value of replication studies here: more critical for interventions connected to policy.
June 30, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Nosek seems to qualify the need for/value of replication studies here: more critical for interventions connected to policy.
My son and I rode big helium balloon in Suwon and walked a part of the Hwaseong wall. Fun to come back to that part of Suwon after many years!
June 7, 2025 at 11:19 PM
My son and I rode big helium balloon in Suwon and walked a part of the Hwaseong wall. Fun to come back to that part of Suwon after many years!
Test security in the nightly news here in Korea: test items and keys leaked, including English section.
June 5, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Test security in the nightly news here in Korea: test items and keys leaked, including English section.
An especially good Aloha Friday yesterday! Happy to be able to continue being a part of Second Language Studies at UH Mānoa.
May 24, 2025 at 9:33 PM
An especially good Aloha Friday yesterday! Happy to be able to continue being a part of Second Language Studies at UH Mānoa.
Yes, even if their schools are understaffed or teachers poorly trained, children in Arizona will finally be able to get the right information about "Kill the Boers" and the never-written books of famous authors.
www.12news.com/article/news...
www.12news.com/article/news...
May 23, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Yes, even if their schools are understaffed or teachers poorly trained, children in Arizona will finally be able to get the right information about "Kill the Boers" and the never-written books of famous authors.
www.12news.com/article/news...
www.12news.com/article/news...
Some interesting Korean language testing news: Apparently there is talk of privatizing the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK). Korean language educators and researchers are not happy about this - see screenshot below from the International Association for Korean Language Education website:
May 17, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Some interesting Korean language testing news: Apparently there is talk of privatizing the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK). Korean language educators and researchers are not happy about this - see screenshot below from the International Association for Korean Language Education website:
Good news, which serves as a good reminder to donate:
May 9, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Good news, which serves as a good reminder to donate:
It seems like recent excommunications have had to do with refusals to recognize the legitimacy of a pope.
May 9, 2025 at 5:36 AM
It seems like recent excommunications have had to do with refusals to recognize the legitimacy of a pope.
Some more good news re: international student visas at my university:
April 30, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Some more good news re: international student visas at my university:
Jesus FIRE, what's wrong with you?
March 28, 2025 at 6:22 AM
Jesus FIRE, what's wrong with you?
"of questionable value"
*bothers to do a 2-second Google search*
Uh, doesn't seem to be much question about it:
nces.ed.gov/programs/coe...
*bothers to do a 2-second Google search*
Uh, doesn't seem to be much question about it:
nces.ed.gov/programs/coe...
March 13, 2025 at 9:49 PM
"of questionable value"
*bothers to do a 2-second Google search*
Uh, doesn't seem to be much question about it:
nces.ed.gov/programs/coe...
*bothers to do a 2-second Google search*
Uh, doesn't seem to be much question about it:
nces.ed.gov/programs/coe...
Yep, and the public investment pays for itself in terms of human resources and technological innovation.
Early network/internet protocols were developed at my humble public R1 campus:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
You can't really put a dollar value on the ROI of public university systems.
Early network/internet protocols were developed at my humble public R1 campus:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
You can't really put a dollar value on the ROI of public university systems.
March 9, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Yep, and the public investment pays for itself in terms of human resources and technological innovation.
Early network/internet protocols were developed at my humble public R1 campus:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
You can't really put a dollar value on the ROI of public university systems.
Early network/internet protocols were developed at my humble public R1 campus:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
You can't really put a dollar value on the ROI of public university systems.
So glad to receive a hard copy of my first PhD student's dissertation. Excellent work all around!
March 5, 2025 at 1:39 AM
So glad to receive a hard copy of my first PhD student's dissertation. Excellent work all around!
February 21, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Well you see, Dems not doing stuff is bad, and also, Dems doing stuff is bad.
February 10, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Well you see, Dems not doing stuff is bad, and also, Dems doing stuff is bad.