Drawing from activity theory and its notion of contradictions of various levels, the present study analyzes tensions that emerged during a six-week telecollaborative project between American learners of Japanese (AMU students) and Japanese learners of English (JPU students) regarding expectations and manners of interaction. Transpacific groups of…

There is increasing interest in how educational technologies can be used to promote and create meaningful learning opportunities and, more specifically, how social media tools can be harnessed to encourage language learning through online interactions. Educational social media tools, however, thrust student learning from a private space into a…

The author reflects on the history of technology in education and e-learning and introduces the iNtegrating Technology for inQuiry (NTeQ) model of lesson design authored by Morrison and Lowther (2005). The NTeQ model lesson design is a new pedagogy for academic instruction in response to the growth of the Internet and technological advancements in…

This study explores, describes and analyzes the utilization of smartphone apps by four Japanese university students to support learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Findings indicate that intermediate language learners use apps to access content and communicate on SNS and are not keen on studying discrete language parts. Participants…

A strong relationship between L2 vocabulary knowledge and L2 reading and listening comprehension is well established. However, less research has been conducted to explore correlations between pedagogic interventions to increase vocabulary knowledge and score gains on standardized L2 proficiency tests. This study addresses this gap in the research…

In universities throughout Japan, English language learners are required to stand in front of their peers and make a presentation with the aid of software such as Microsoft PowerPoint. This type of public speaking activity can often be an anxiety-inducing, glorified reading or memorization exercise of text-heavy slides that fails to meet the…