ePortfolios are a high-impact educational practice that helps students synthesize and reflect on their learning. They are a process and a product that both generates and documents learning. This qualitative study examined how students enrolled in in-person and remote synchronous English language workshops in an English as a Foreign Language…

Listening is often a challenge for foreign/second language learners. Unlike other language skills, listening requires immediate understanding and processing (Vandergrift, 2004) and background knowledge of the target language culture (Vandergrift, 2007; Walker, 2014). Krashen (1985) argued that language can be acquired with comprehensible input;…

This study aimed to foster development of the 21st-century five core competencies, including Creativity and innovation, Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Computer-information literacy using Student-Centered Active Learning in an instructional design in which student groups created their own virtual reality…

This paper describes the effectiveness of student collaboration as a technique in improving vocabulary development among a group of ESL learners. The main motivation behind this study was the concern that vocabulary has become a neglected area in the teaching of English language. The main aims of the study were to evaluate whether student…

The cultivation of students' autonomous learning ability is one of the significant and essential tasks of college English teaching. In this paper, the current situation of college students' insufficient autonomous English learning ability is thoroughly analyzed. Some effective and feasible strategies to cultivate students' autonomous English…

One of the most effective teaching ways that can be used in improving speaking skills is interactive teaching strategy. Interactive teaching is a strategy that supports self-learning of student during the process as well as their development by engaging them with their peers. Students' active engagement in the in-class communication process for…

In 2014, 24 Type B universities were selected as part of the Top Global University Project to act as institutional role models of internationalization in Japan and as gateways for the development of global human resources, that is, globally competent human resources. The increasing pressure to internationalize, perceived as a major solution to…

This article describes Second Life, a three-dimensional virtual environment in which a user creates an avatar for the purpose of socializing, learning, developing skills, and exploring a variety of academic and social areas. Since its inception in 2003, Second Life has been used by educators to build and foster innovative learning environments and…

Students, their parents, and educators trust that a study-abroad experience is the best way to increase linguistic proficiency. The professional literature, however, shows a much more complex picture. Gains in linguistic proficiency appear to depend on variables such as whether the students experience a homestay or dormitory, the length of time…

Interactional communicative competence and higher-order thinking have been well documented as two of the biggest challenges for second/foreign language learners (EFL learners). This paper evaluates the use of digital tabletops as tools for problem-solving tasks in groups. The evaluation is based on a preliminary study of an application of the use…

Multiplayer online games form complex semiotic ecologies that include game-generated texts, player-to-player communication and collaboration, and associated websites that support in-game play. This article describes an exploratory study of the massively multiplayer online game (MMO) "World of Warcraft" ("WoW"), with specific…

This quasi-experimental study is aimed at (a) teaching learners how to provide corrective feedback (CF) during peer interaction and (b) assessing the effects of peer interaction and CF on second language (L2) development. Four university-level English classes in Japan participated (N = 167), each assigned to one of four treatment conditions. Of…

With dual language learners falling behind their same-age peers at the beginning of kindergarten, understanding how school experiences can enhance language learning is critical. This study demonstrates how play among preschool-aged children can foster English language learning. Using an ethnographic approach, one classroom composed of two teachers…

This paper explores the pedagogical and conceptual issues that accompany the integration of intercultural communication skills into the secondary curriculum by analyzing the interactions of 102 adolescents in Spain and the USA during a 15-week, classroom-based, international online exchange. Focusing on the skills of discovery and interaction…

A formative design experiment methodology was employed to investigate the acquisition of early reading skills for high school English language learners (ELLs) beginning to read English. A fundamental challenge facing high school ELLs entering schools in the United States for the first time is learning how to read. While there is considerable…