In this study, the use of a popular mobile social networking platform (WeChat) is investigated for learning Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) in a beginners' course at an Australian university. Driven by practical considerations and major issues with previous literature, student engagement and authentic language used in a WeChat class group are…

Decoding training is an approach to teaching listening skills to help learners develop the ability to recognize individual words from speech. Although it has been historically underemphasized, recent empirical studies have pointed to its potential value in listening education. However, instructors and students generally face certain challenges…

Research has shown that massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have the potential to offer language learning opportunities. However, there is a dearth of research exploring student attitudes about the potential of these games for language learning. We used the language learning principles framework proposed by Brown and Lee…

Although a plethora of research has been conducted on written corrective feedback and timing of feedback in various teaching and learning contexts, there is a paucity of research on learners' preferences regarding different online written corrective feedback. Such a lacuna becomes prominent in EFL contexts, especially in grammar classes, where…

This study explores the extent to which technology use has become normalised in English classes in secondary schools across Malaysia, and the role of context and community within the normalisation process. The approach taken was qualitative, using online surveys and interviews to investigate English language teachers' experiences with using…

Professionals within the field of language learning have predicted that chatbots would provide new opportunities for the teaching and learning of language. Despite the assumed benefits of utilizing chatbots in language classrooms, such as providing interactional chances or helping to create an anxiety-free atmosphere, little is known about…

Task complexity and communication modes are two task design and implementation factors that have been found to affect second language (L2) learners' oral performance. While increasing task complexity and developing tasks according to the features of face-to-face and computer-mediated communication modes can optimise L2 production, few studies…

This study introduced an app, called Smart UEnglish, for helping EFL conversation practices in authentic contexts. These conversation practices were categorized into 'designed talk' and 'free talk', based on the content of an English textbook and authentic ambient environment that includes such things as transportation, weather and scenic…

This article reports a mixed-methods study about using virtual reality (VR) tools (Google Cardboard and Expeditions) for developing students' oral proficiency in learning Chinese as a second language. Twelve students role-played as tour guides for six locations throughout a semester: four of them with VR tools and two without. Data collection…

Few people who did not grow up speaking Zulu have learned the language later. There are limited resources for second language Zulu learning, whether textbooks, readers, or computerised resources. We set out to develop software for this purpose, to support learners' independent learning. Drawing on research on language learning, we used a number of…

Clickers are hand-held devices that wirelessly transmit student input to a computer: students answer multiple-choice questions using their clickers and the answer distribution is displayed on a screen. Previous studies suggest that the pedagogical use of these devices may contribute to learning and that they are positively perceived by students in…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (XR) have been employed in several foreign language education applications to increase the availability of experiential learning methods akin to international immersion programs. However, research in multi-modal spoken dialogue in L2 combined with immersive technologies and collaborative learning…

Dynamic Assessment (DA) is proposed as a workable diagnostic tool in second or foreign language context. Compared to traditional non-dynamic testing, DA presents a more comprehensive account of human beings' abilities through addressing both the fully internalized abilities and the abilities that are in the process of being internalized. However,…

While the role of flipped teaching in students' language performance is well documented, English teachers' perspective about flipped teaching remains underexplored. Informed by the self-determination theory and the motivation-opportunity-ability theory, this study examined English teachers' intention to use flipped teaching and its…

Despite repeated calls for the integration of digital multimodal composing (DMC) into English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching, the effect of the pedagogical use of DMC has been rarely investigated in the EFL context. Even less is known about the effects of DMC on students' L2 writing development. This study aims to address this issue by…