This study developed a realistic, interactive English blockade-running game that integrates virtual environments and mobile devices to conduct a collaborative and competitive contest to promote English learning among technical college students. In addition, it also explored students' learning effectiveness, perception of peer collaboration, and…

Being described as two sides of one coin, language and culture are increasingly recommended to be inseparably addressed. Thanks to technological advances, this is now more feasible than before. In response, this study examined the comparative effects of synchronous and asynchronous telecollaborative digital media projects (DMPs) on learners'…

The present paper reports on the effectiveness and inclusiveness of human-delivered synchronous written corrective feedback (SWCF) in paired writing tasks. Replicating Yamashita, Study 2 and Study 3 each conducted a classroom-based quasi-experimental study in an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing program at an American university. In Study…

The study of language learners' motivation has long been considered a key, determining factor of success in second/foreign language acquisition. Based on self-determination theory (SDT), the more autonomously motivated learners are, the better they engage in an activity. To sustain autonomous motivation, the learners' basic psychological needs…

The paper examines the emotions of 15 learners of Japanese across seven weekly online text chats in Japanese with native Japanese speakers, and the factors that caused their emotions. The data came from questionnaires about the learners' biodata and previous experiences of text chats, weekly reports about their chats, transcripts of the chats, and…

Previous studies on web-based collaborative writing have shown that task modality impacts peer interaction patterns and attention to form. However, these studies have primarily focused on contrasting a face-to-face oral condition with a text-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) environment. Few studies have compared peer…

WhatsApp is a powerful tool for L2 learning because of its capacity to promote interaction between teacher and student, as well as among students. Its use has also been shown to support ubiquitous learning. In an attempt to extend language learning beyond the classroom, this study reports on the use of instant messaging through WhatsApp by a group…

In this preliminary study, we investigate distance Chinese language learners' social strategies in three learning contexts: self-directed learning outside synchronous online classes, assessment task completion online, and synchronous online class participation. In doing so, we hope to advance our understanding of what is involved in social…

This study set out to examine which peer review, face-to-face given orally or online given in writing, is more effective in improving the overall argumentative writing achievement of English as a foreign language (EFL) university learners. The study utilized an experimental design and reported on one experiment including online peer review (OLPR)…

This article reports the study of a novel way of raising tertiary-level students' native cultural awareness (NCA) via an informal mobile learning community. Through two cycles of action research at a teacher-education university in East China, the study drew upon the Community of Practice (CoP) theory to form a synchronous English chat group.…

Lower-level processes have long been overlooked in EFL listening pedagogy. To address this pervasive problem, in this study, a program was designed that integrated WeChat, the most popular mobile instant messaging app in China, into dictation practice. Students in two classes studying a compulsory university EFL course were selected as…

This case study investigated the characteristics of computer-mediated synchronous corrective feedback (SCF, provided while students wrote) and asynchronous corrective feedback (ACF, provided after students had finished writing) in an EFL writing task. The task, designed to elicit the use of the hypothetical conditional, was completed by two…

This study investigated how synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) and face-to-face (F2F) oral interaction influence the way in which learners collaborate in language learning and how they solve their communicative problems. The findings suggest that output modality may affect how learners produce language, attend to linguistic forms,…

This study investigates the different learning opportunities enabled by text-based and video-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) from an interactionist perspective. Six Chinese-speaking learners of English and six English-speaking learners of Chinese were paired up as tandem (reciprocal) learning dyads. Each dyad participated…

English as a foreign language (EFL) instruction faces many challenges in Asia because of many cultural and environmental factors, such as the lack of interactive speaking environments, emphasis placed on test scores, and foreign language anxiety. The purpose of this research is to conduct an EFL instructional course by integrating Facebook…