The current special issue is dedicated to studies exploring social interaction in second language educational environments that feature technology. In this introduction article, we contextualize the empirical studies included here with respect to the changing role of technology in education and situate them in the research tradition of multimodal…

Although many restrictions initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic are no longer imposed, massive changes across the globe have impacted online language learning afterward. Technology infrastructure, students' and teachers' digital literacy, and proper distance learning pedagogies were among the challenges of online learning during the pandemic.…

This study aimed to investigate how the enforced online language teaching operated in a limited resource context, i.e. Egypt. Based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), a nation-wide survey examined how 258 language teachers perceived the sudden move to remote online teaching and whether such perceptions had an impact on their readiness and…

Adopting online learning as a mandated means of instruction amid the pandemic guaranteed students the opportunity to integrate digital technologies for English language learning. This experience was pivotal in investigating the continuous use of these platforms to facilitate online language learning post-pandemic. However, few studies have focused…

Purpose: This mixed-methods study proposed a digital-storytelling-based (DST-based) online flipped learning approach during the pandemic, and investigated its impact on EFL learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) and their perceptions of the approach. Design/methodology/approach: A 16-week quasi-experiment was carried out in a college English…

Language learning programs had been affected by declining school budgets and state support well before COVID-19, but the pandemic exacerbated the already declining learning outcomes of students. Duolingo, a free language-learning app, provides a platform for users to learn language skills using activities and exercises for over 38 languages.…

Many newcomers to Canada experience significant difficulties adjusting to life in their new community, with few more challenging than learning English. While Canada's Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program suggests a pathway to social integration, ideologies pertaining to language and diversity that inform the LINC program can…

Gamification is a method used to engage and motivate students virtually during the coronavirus pandemic. This paper reports on the use of Kahoot! as a review tool in French as a foreign language (L2) classes at Northern Caribbean University (NCU), Jamaica, as a means of formative assessment. Using the exploratory approach, it seeks to highlight…

This study explores teachers' perspectives with regards to teaching English in virtual classrooms, specifically with regards to teaching English as a second language within the context of emergency remote learning in Hong Kong during COVID-19. Through undertaking thematic analysis of six interviews with English language teachers at a university in…

This study exploited the abrupt interruption to schooling at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to examine how remote and hybrid learning models impacted English language acquisition among Multilingual Learner (MLL) students in the state of Delaware. MLL students are a growing sector of the public school population, and existing research suggests…

The COVID-19 pandemic brought changes around the world, especially in the education field where classes were shifted to only distance learning. This radical transformation could have affected students' level of engagement and motivation; therefore, it might also have had some influence on their performance. This study correlates English as a…

This qualitative case study responds to a significant gap in the literature in the area of gamification for vocabulary study among international students in higher education. It aims to respond to a call for a more in-depth qualitative analysis of gamification techniques on student learning experiences in comparison to the more commonplace…

The language that is used to refer to COVID-19 is changing to reflect how the disease evolves. One of the changes is the use of the word "endemic" to replace "pandemic," a modification that implies far reaching effects on goals for language acquisition and cultural integration, particularly in the context of study abroad. Study…

This article discusses a 2021 survey of French as a second language (FSL) teacher candidates (TCs) in Faculties of Education in Ontario whose practice teaching experiences were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, pivoting them into remote FSL teaching and learning. The survey, which formed a component of a larger mixed method SSHRC-funded research…

This exploratory mixed data study investigated the role of technology in adult migrant language and late literacy education in Finland. In addition to an online pre-pandemic survey targeted at Finnish language and literacy teachers, four inservice teachers were interviewed during the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2020. With means of qualitative…