Supporting study abroad programs' overarching objective of producing global citizens is the goal of developing intercultural competence through participants' interactions with people of different cultures. Asserting the correlation between intercultural competence and acculturation, this study aims to measure the cultural competence of our…

Virtual exchange (VE) has gained prominence as a means to improve students' intercultural competence and foreign language abilities through forums and other supplemental activities. This study examines a supplemental activity referred to as the student-generated survey (SGS) implemented in the IVEProject, a large-scale VE with, at the time of this…

Study abroad (SA) has recently become an increasingly popular option for language learners who wish to engage in an immersive educational experience while living in a different culture, but not all SA programmes are created equal. Length of time can vary significantly, from a days or weeks up to a year or more spent in the target culture, and this…

With the goal of contributing to ongoing efforts to decolonize ELT, this article addresses the potential of microanalytic research into classroom interaction in disrupting hegemonic forces of coloniality. Microanalytic research provides a step-by-step, minute examination of interactional discourse, and it has the capacity to reveal gaps between…

The International Virtual Exchange Project (IVEProject) has been connecting students across multiple countries through asynchronous forums on a large scale since 2015. However, considering the variety of virtual exchange methods and the advantages they bring to the field of foreign language learning, there is an increased need to explore the…

This study explores the identity positions that L2 English learners/users would take in case of hypothetical miscommunications. Based on positioning theory, at the time of L2 interaction, L2 learners assign themselves and others specific positions which are established through their learning experiences. It was hypothesized that their current…

The development of new media technology facilitates interaction between people of different cultures. However, people from different cultures show different cross-cultural communication behaviors that may influence their communication efficiency, perceived communication experiences, and perceived social presence. This study aimed to explore…

This study examined the impact of a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project on Thai Business English students' awareness of intercultural communication and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), along with their communication challenges and strategies. Data were collected through pre-post rating-scale questionnaires, open-ended…

Upon encountering unfamiliar words or observing local practices in study abroad contexts, second language learners may discuss aspects of the target language and culture with their peers -- 'non-native' friends from the same cultural background or 'natives' of the target culture. Such mediations are instrumental in elaborating understandings, but…

Linguistic landscape (LL) projects, an experiential learning approach, enhance students' intercultural communication (IC) skills by exposing them to linguistic and cultural diversity in their communities (Li et al., 2022. Developing beginning language learners' (meta-) cultural understanding via student-led Linguistic Landscape research.…

The Purpose: The purpose of this study is to take a fresh look at language education from the perspective of positive communication (PC) as it contributes to the well--being of language learners. It explores a context that has received little attention: older learners. The lessons drawn from older learners can help practitioners in other contexts…

Higher education requires a different approach to teaching and learning since modern-day students no longer have the same learning needs as they had in the past. Project-based learning (PBL) is an active and dynamic approach to language teaching that makes it possible for the language students to gain transferable and applicable knowledge, skills,…

The pursuit of global competence (GC) is heavily promoted as part of university education in Japan, where the government exhorts universities to equip graduates with skills that will enable them to function as global citizens. Foreign language (FL) educators are often expected to cultivate these globally competent individuals. However, there is…

Over the past 15 years, the L2 motivational self system (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009) has been a dominant framework in the field of second language (L2) motivation. Yet, since the model's introduction, there has been a theoretical discordance between the two components associated with future self-images (the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self) and the…

This article introduces an empirical study of "Connected Learning" in a Japanese EFL classroom context, instantiated through the Bridging Activities pedagogical framework. Students considered their interests, made groups, and joined Reddit communities. Self-selected texts were then analyzed with rigorous teacher mediation. Students…