Focusing on how a world of possibilities is opened up by language learners themselves, imagination has been regarded as an elusive but indispensable element in second language (L2) education. Drawing on notions of international posture (Yashima 2002), Ideal L2 Self (Dörnyei 2009), and imagined communities (Norton 2001), we theorised imagination…

Incorporating inclusive games and game-related tasks enables learners to explore issues of gender and sexuality in the EFL classroom, while simultaneously developing competences relevant specifically to language learning. Carefully selected and didactically prepared games and gaming activities that highlight marginalised genders and sexualities…

Games can invite players to try on moral identities, but players ultimately choose how to respond to this invitation. In this study, I explore how the design of a game and the context it is played in affect whether players tried on a moral identity when completing in-game actions. I interviewed seven students who had played an ethics game and…

Purpose: This study (1) used a person-centered approach to identify specific subgroups of 1,265 EFL learners who participated in Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) activities, and (2) looked at how different IDLE profiles are related to important affective variables. Design/Methodology: To identify IDLE profiles, we used cluster analysis.…

Heritage language families inhabit multiple languages, literacies and cultures. Enabling children to participate in heritage language and culture has beneficial effects in terms of identity, and cognitive development. Games-based technologies are opening up avenues for playful engagement with heritage language and literacy, but little is known…

While digital gameplaying is increasingly recognized for its potential for language learning, its use among English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in both leisure and pedagogical contexts is comparatively meagre. Assumptions regarding the appropriate nature of schooling on the one hand and appropriate leisure pursuits on the other mediate…

English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' language use in 3-D virtual environments is a vibrant avenue that still deserves more research attention in the field of CALL. To contribute research and pedagogical implications to the current Second Life (SL) literature, this study aims to examine EFL adult learners' use of communication strategies…