Learning a foreign language is a long-term process requiring persistence and a willingness to engage in activities that will help develop communicative competence. An important role on the way to achieving linguistic proficiency is played by L2 grit. However, foreign language learners differ in the intensity of this trait. We identify the most…

Language learner engagement, which is receiving increased attention, has predominantly focused on offline classroom contexts, while learner engagement in language Massive Open Online Courses (LMOOCs) remains under-explored. This study was conducted on a College English MOOC with the purpose of examining learner engagement and its relations with…

This paper proposes an updated framework for the evaluation of the computer-assisted language learning (CALL) framework, further developed from Chapelle (2001) and González-Lloret and Ortega (2014). Based on a review of prominent previous CALL evaluation frameworks, an exploration of relevant literature in formal evaluation and my own first-hand…

This study aimed to understand the nature of learning English in the digital age from students' personal 'learning lives'. Drawing on hermeneutic phenomenology's principles, this study conducted conversational interviews and obtained reflective reports from students over 5 months. The findings reveal that students' English learning experiences are…

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 Language Massive Open Online Courses (LMOOCs) is a new platform of computer assisted language learning (CALL); since most LMOOCs witness high dropout rates, empirical evidence on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' motivation to accept and utilize LMOOCs for English language learning is warranted. This study recruited 237 Taiwanese…

While social networking sites (SNSs) have attracted growing scholarly interest in uncovering L2 learners' participation within these sites, the impact of writing on SNSs upon students' writing performance and learner autonomy remains underexplored. This study reported on a college EFL writing course participated by two groups of Chinese first-year…

This study investigated the effects of the flipped classroom model on EFL learner autonomy in a content-based instructional context. The participants involved were students enrolled in two linguistics classes, divided into an experimental group (n = 64) which received a flipped classroom (FC) instruction and a control group (n = 60) taught in a…

Autonomy of language learners in technology-supported learning environments has attracted much scholarly attention. However, few studies, to date, have examined the issue in the emerging context of language MOOCs. The present study complemented this line of research via a qualitative investigation of a group of Chinese EFL learners in an English…

This study qualitatively and quantitatively investigated synchronous (real-time) computer-mediated communication (SCMC), via Zoom (https://zoom.us) videoconferencing, to explore second language (L2) learning and learner autonomy. Twenty-five L2 Spanish participants (n = 25) from the same university utilized SCMC over a 6-week implementation…

This article reports the design of a course blended through a small private online course in a Chinese university EFL context, with an emphasis on the blended learning environment created thereby and on learners' perceptions of their blended learning. In a survey-based approach, 1603 students' experiences of blended EFL learning in two consecutive…

Although the effectiveness of computer-mediated collaborative writing (CMCW) is confirmed by many recent studies, only a few have investigated whether linguistic knowledge and writing skills learned through collaboration can be internalized and transferred to individual writing. This study uses a pre-and post-test design to investigate the impact…

Collaborative learning has been widely applied in education, and has been seen as conducive to student learning. The advent of technology and its applications in education have also greatly enhanced the classroom learning environment, leading to increasing research attention on the combination of technology and collaboration. The case study…

This article discusses insights gained from a case study on telecollaboration for intercultural communication in foreign language school contexts. Focus was on non-native English and German lingua franca conversations between pairs of students (aged 14-16, B1 level) from schools in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. Telecollaboration…

Digital storytelling, which combines the art of storytelling with a variety of digital audio, video, and multimedia images, has been increasingly used as a language learning tool as research studies have shown it to be effective in enhancing the development of language skills as well as related language learning skills, such as autonomy,…