This study examined how Korean university students, majoring in English interpretation and translation, used their smartphones to meet their language learning needs. We surveyed 241 students on their smartphone use in four conditions: overall use, use related to coursework, use in English related to coursework, and use in English not related to…

To address the problem of limited opportunities for practicing second language speaking in interaction, especially delicate interactions requiring pragmatic competence, we describe computer simulations designed for the oral practice of extended pragmatic routines and report on the affordances of such simulations for learning pragmatically…

One of the main purposes of foreign language teaching is currently identified by many researchers as developing intercultural communicative competence (ICC) of foreign language learners. Facebook is one of the easiest and quickest ways to communicate with other people, therefore it may potentially be used to promote intercultural communicative…

The present study aimed to examine whether agent-based instruction would privilege English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners any better than mainstream approaches (e.g. analogical reasoning, guessing from context, image formation, semantic analysis, etc.) when it comes to the teaching of English idioms. It also sought to explore whether…

In recent years, students have shown growing interest in mobile learning and the use of mobile devices for learning English as a foreign language (EFL). However, it appears that further research needs to be undertaken to identify students' use of mobile devices and their attitudes towards them, especially in developing countries. To achieve this…

Emerging mobile technologies can be considered a new form of social and cultural artefact that mediates people's language learning. This multi-case study investigates how mobile technologies mediate a group of Hong Kong university students' L2 learning, which serves as a lens with which to capture the personalised, unique, contextual and…

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools to facilitate second language acquisition and develop English as a second language (ESL) teaching skills and cultural awareness. The paper describes a collaborative online project between students from China and the USA, who communicated using the…

Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) proposed by Mishra and Koehler is a theoretical construct of teacher knowledge that describes how teachers teach subject matter content using certain instructional methods with specific technology in particular contexts. This study aims to explore the interface between TPACK and SLA, intending to…

With the development of Information Technology, increasing attention has been paid to Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). Meanwhile, increasing enthusiasm is seen for English learning and teaching in China. Yet, few research studies have focused on the normalization of CALL in ethnically diverse areas. In response to this research gap,…

This case study investigated the characteristics of computer-mediated synchronous corrective feedback (SCF, provided while students wrote) and asynchronous corrective feedback (ACF, provided after students had finished writing) in an EFL writing task. The task, designed to elicit the use of the hypothetical conditional, was completed by two…

Translation instruction is very important in specialized English teaching activities. The effectiveness of current specialized English translation instruction (SETI) in mainland China, however, is unclear because university students have become less interested in, and less confident when doing, English translation. This study investigated the…

This article reports the results of a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach to explore the impact of online peer-editing using Google Docs and peer-editing in a face-to-face classroom on EFL learners' academic writing skills. As the study adopted a quasi-experimental design, two intact classes, each with ten EFL learners, attending an…

Few studies have been conducted to see how blog-based peer response helps students to improve their writing revisions. The present study investigates peer comments made through blogs, the nature of the comments and their areas of focus, and the ratios of students incorporating suggestions made through blog-based comments into revisions of their…

The act of note-taking offloads cognitive pressure and note-taking applications could be used as an important tool for foreign language acquisition. Its use, importance, and efficacy in a foreign language learning context could be justifiably debated. However, existing computer-assisted language learning literature is almost silent on the topic.…

Content-based instruction (CBI) has been widely adopted for decades. However, existing CBI models cannot always be effectively put into practice, especially for learners of lower English proficiency in English as a foreign language (EFL) context. This study examined an animation design course adopting CBI to promote reading abilities of English…