Although research on proficiency pairing for collaborative writing in second language (L2) or foreign language (FL) higher education has proliferated in the last few decades, scant attention has been paid to students' perceptions about how they are paired up. This case study revisited proficiency pairing in light of equity theory, examining two…

This article is based on the author's doctoral thesis on the dynamics of interpersonal relations in the onsite classroom. Drawing on positioning theory (Davies & Harre´, 1999; Harre´, 2015), Sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978; Lantolf & Thorne, 2007) and informed by the focus on interaction in Douglas Fir Group's seminal paper (Douglas…

The study reported in this article investigated the processes and the effects of collaborative writing on 64 students' writing skills in two Arabic as a second language (ASL) teachers' classrooms. The authors employed a mixed methods approach that integrated a qualitative case study and a quasi-experimental design. The data collected included…

This paper proposes a way of integrating self-directed reading into a collaborative classroom with formative and summative tasks as well as facilitating integration with the target culture, and familiarity with the target language in a variety of settings. Linking to literature on motivation, and drawing on case-study experience, an approach to…

Getting to understand patterns and causes of motivational changes experienced by language learners while studying a foreign language can be of significant value. This paper aims to explore patterns of such fluctuations at the tertiary level. Through a dynamic systems perspective, this study employed Retrodictive Qualitative Modelling to generate…

This chapter reports the challenges that both the students and the teachers experienced in a telecollaborative project between a Japanese university and an American university. In this semester-long project, the students in groups of three to five from both universities worked collectively mainly asynchronously and in occasional synchronous…

This article presents a case study of an English conversation class organised by a nonpolitical group of lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) people in Japan. The primary aims of this study are to explore what kinds of learning needs these students had and to consider more generally how educators can best meet LGBT students' needs. Using…

The present paper argues for a shift in teacher knowledge and beliefs about the role of group work in the teaching and learning of emergent bilingual students. Using case study data from an eighth grade classroom, the authors analyze the role of collaboration in the interaction with grade-level text of emergent bilingual students. The analysis…

This article examines how to promote university students' engagement in learning by means of instructor-initiated English as a foreign language (EFL) writing groups. The research took place in Rwanda and was undertaken as a case study involving 34 second-year undergraduate students, divided into 12 small working groups, and one instructor. The…

The proliferation of information and communication technologies and the prevalence of online social networks have facilitated the opportunities for informal learning of foreign languages. However, little educational research has been conducted on how individuals utilize those social networks to take part in self-initiated language learning without…

The paper investigates how a student on a master's-level teacher education course for English language teachers goes about constructing her grammar knowledge. The learner is a novice teacher with English as a foreign language. Learner diary, interview, and group interaction data were analysed thematically, revealing that she made relatively few,…

Internationalisation is a buzzword in European higher education, and many universities work hard to devise and implement strategies that will help facilitate increased transnational student mobility. In this context, English is commonly seen as the "natural" choice for university internationalisation, and English is accordingly promoted…

Grounded in positioning theory, this study examined regular classroom teachers' views of their roles with regard to English language learners (ELLs) and the relationship between their teaching approaches and the students' reactions and positioning of themselves in the classroom. Findings suggest that the teachers' views of their roles varied based…

This article reports on a case study of negotiation that occurred in peer group oral interactions under assessment conditions. Discourse analysis was used to illustrate how participants negotiated and co-constructed the assessment format itself as well as meaning exchange sequences. Analyses of the data point to the advantage of using peer group…

Illustrates how to use ethnographic techniques to acquire a better understanding of classroom dynamics. The article focuses on the characterization of "success" in an Italian class through analysis of interaction patterns and purposes of the participants. Findings reveal the need for a continuity of teacher and students' goals, methods, and forms…