This study explores the effectiveness of a Blended Production-Oriented Approach (BPOA) in improving Self-Directed Learning (SDL) skills among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. A quasi-experimental design with pre- and post-tests revealed significant enhancements in key SDL skills, including planning, strategy use, resource utilization,…

Developments in the affordances of the Internet provide language learners with easy access to learning resources as well as interactions with native speakers. This emerging learning landscape thus creates favourable conditions to learners who want to engage in self-directed language learning. This in-depth single case study reports on the…

This study explores how learner-generated podcasts can support English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning among college students in Taiwan. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from 31 participants through surveys on podcasting attitudes, learning logs, and reflective essays. The findings reveal that EFL learners generally…

Purpose: Drawing on the perspectives of cultural capital theory, this study investigated the impact of international internships on the performance of Japanese undergraduates on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) using a between-group pretest-posttest experimental design. Design/methodology/approach: Students participating…

This research applied a web-based dynamic assessment system, GPAM-WATA system, to help low English achievers to perform self-directed learning of junior high school English grammar. A quasi-experimental design was adopted. A total of 124 seventh graders from four classes participated in this research. Participants were randomly divided into the…

In Italy, more than 700,000 asylum seekers and migrants arrived in the country between 2014-2020. Newly arrived children including refugees and migrants need to quickly acquire Italian skills to succeed in school and society. To help address this urgent need, the Akelius digital learning application was introduced in Bologna and Rome for Italian…

This study investigated 350 English as a foreign language (EFL) undergraduate students' use of "Tell Me More" (TMM), a language learning technology, for self-study in a university in the south of Thailand. Two questions guided the study: 1) What were learners' self-study practices with the TMM program? 2) How did learners' self-study…

A majority of research on mobile-assisted language learning focuses on traditional English language learners: thus, little attention has been paid to older adult learners. The purpose of the study is to explore the learning experiences of Chinese older adults using the free and popular English learning mobile apps, Duolingo/Hello English,…

In response to widespread language loss, many Native American communities are engaged in revitalizing their languages. This dissertation is a systematic account of a tribal member learning Mutsun in the context of a language reclamation project. The last fluent speaker of Mutsun, a Costanoan language of central California, died in 1930. This study…

The mission of universities today is not only to nurture experts in various professions, but also to cultivate lifelong autonomous learners. Independent learning and pedagogies that aim to foster learner autonomy have grown in importance over the past decade. However, the extent to which independent learning is successful in fostering autonomy has…

This study examines the effects of a 2-week intensive English program based on the college students' perceptions of core competencies: English Communication Competency, Self-Directed Competency, Community Competency, and Knowledge and Information Literacy Competency. The program was non-credit and was held in January 2019 for first-year students…

Language tandem exchanges offer students valuable opportunities for autonomous learning and authentic intercultural communication encounters. This paper will discuss the key principles of tandem language exchange, and in particular online ones, and then present the EU-funded European University Tandem (EUniTa) project which was developed by…

For the past 50 years, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes provided through state adult education systems have been the primary means of meeting English acquisition for immigrants and refugees, and, to a limited extent, their integration needs. Yet these systems meet only a fraction of the total need for all adult education…

The Teaching Resources Center (TRC) was developed at the university as an integrated project funded by the Ministry of Education. The focus of the TRC is not only on enhancing students' motivation in self-access study and written English, but also on providing the resources for research and information to develop lifelong learners and independent…

In this article, we set out to assess QuADEM (Quality Assessment of Digital Educational Material), one of the latest methods for evaluating online language learning courseware. What is special about QuADEM is that the evaluation is based on observing the actual usage of the online courseware and that, from a checklist of 12 different components,…