Although learner interactions in forums are well-documented, research on instructor engagement strategies in MOOC forums and their impact on forum dynamics is limited. This study offers a distinctive approach by categorizing instructor strategies into four types: communicative, integrative, task-oriented, and non-interventionist. Six prominent…

Using computational Social Network Analysis (SNA), this longitudinal study investigates the development of the interaction network and its influence on the second language (L2) gains of a complete cohort of 41 U.S. sojourners enrolled in a 3-month intensive study-abroad Arabic program in Jordan. Unlike extant research, our study focuses on…

This article aimed to identify the usefulness of using social networking sites (SNSs) in an English as a foreign language class. One hundred sixteen undergraduate students of diverse degrees from a polytechnic state-owned university in Ecuador participated in the study, which followed a quantitative design. A descriptive analysis and a linear…

The literature exploring study abroad students' social networks and intercultural communication traditionally considers three categories of social ties: the co-national network, the multi-national network and the host national network. However, the data collected from a yearlong digital ethnography and the narratives on the social media posts of…

Telecollaboration has proved to be an excellent means for the development of students' intercultural skills (O'Dowd & Dooly, 2012). Based on this presumption, a telecollaborative project was carried out between B2 level (CEFR) learners of English from Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain) and B1 level (CEFR) students of Spanish as a…

With the increasing prominence of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in higher education, the number of programmes and studies integrating online peer interaction opportunities on social media, likewise, has surged. Nevertheless, little quantitative research has been performed on the ways in which learners interact with one another via these…

This article presents an international telecollaboration programme called UniLingua, which was carried out between eight universities and university language centres during the 2020/2021 academic year. By promoting language exchanges, UniLingua aims to satisfy one of the most immediate academic needs of university students, which is to improve…

Participation in online courses has become essential for training language professionals in under-resourced contexts with skills in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) (Godwin-Jones, 2014). Most online CALL courses use asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) to facilitate meaningful learning for participants. Although…

This study reports on the linguistic and sociocultural affordances available to multilinguals through their engagement in a social learning space at a Community of Practices (CoPs). Despite the existence of studies on CoP in language learning contexts, however, little work has been conducted on the affordances of a multilingual learning community,…

This qualitative study explores how foreign non-native English speaking teachers (FNNESTs) perceive themselves as English educators and how they exert agency to be better perceived as professionals. Given the close relationship between teacher identity and its implications for educational outcomes, this study is based on Norton's (2008)…

To assist second language learners in becoming effective, aware, and reflective participants in higher education, support can be provided by integrating structured awareness raising approaches in the language curriculum. Drawing on self-regulation principles, such a structured awareness raising curriculum is most notably sustained by reflective…

The transformative potential of Digital Informal Learning (DIL) is evident in fostering cross-cultural understanding, with a special focus on Arabic cultural education in this case. Drawing from the case of Learn Cultural Identity (LearnCuID) groups, which are informal online learning communities, the discussion highlights how digital platforms,…

Social media is a communication tool that facilitates EFL students to improve their speaking proficiency as it enables them to fully engage in oral communication, exchange information, and form long-term bonds in this modern era. This study intended to investigate EFL students' social media as speaking strategies used vis-a-vis their speaking…

Creating collaborative working and learning experiences has long been at the forefront of computer-assisted language learning research. It is in this context that, in recent years, the integration of social networking sites and Web 2.0 in learning settings has surged, generating new opportunities to establish and explore virtual communities of…

While social networking sites (SNSs) have attracted growing scholarly interest in uncovering L2 learners' participation within these sites, the impact of writing on SNSs upon students' writing performance and learner autonomy remains underexplored. This study reported on a college EFL writing course participated by two groups of Chinese first-year…