Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) is a global phenomenon that represents one of the greatest advances for autonomous language learning outside the classroom in the past few decades. The power of IDLE lies in its capacity to compensate for inherent problems in language learning in classrooms, due to the "authenticity" of input…

Research into the online informal learning of English (OILE) examines how nonnative speakers of English may develop L2 skills through participation in leisure activities on the Internet in the target language. Such activities include, e.g., watching television series, films, or videos, interacting on Facebook, reading articles, or listening to…

The research findings reported on here confirm the facilitative role of pre-task planning on fluency and of online task planning on accuracy of speech. This quasi-experimental research was conducted to examine whether learners could be trained to attend to the fluency of their speech while planning online and whether such training might compensate…

This article reports on a study that was primarily aimed at investigating the effects of simultaneous use of careful online planning and task repetition on accuracy, complexity, and fluency in the oral production of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). The effects of four planning and task repetition conditions (i.e. careful online…

Whether a study is qualitative or quantitative, the process of data collection is not as orderly as it may seem when described in published research reports, articles, or books. Data collection may be more challenging when conducting research across national and linguistic borders. In this article, I share and reflect upon the complex and messy…

This study compares pauses, repetitions and recasts in matched task interactions under face-to-face and computer-mediated conditions. Six first-year English undergraduates at a Turkish University took part in Skype-based voice chat with a native speaker and face-to-face with their instructor. Preliminary quantitative analysis of transcripts showed…

Israeli 12th graders studying English as a Second Language benefit from writers' workshops where they compose written portfolios and learn to express themselves fluently in writing. Students write with paper and pen or work via the Internet. They write on selected issues and send letters and articles to various online and print journals and…

These conference proceedings address the following six topics: (1) "Change and the Future" (e.g., English language education in Japan, sociolinguistics in Hong Kong, and Esperanto); (2) "Children and Language Education" (e.g. a short-term language immersion case study, virtual classrooms for bilingual students, and the role of…

This document consists of the six issues of "ESL Magazine" published during 1998. This journal for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) professionals includes the following articles during this period: "The Internet in the Classroom" (Christine Meloni); "Trippingly on the Tongue: Putting Serious, Speech/Pronunciation…