Studies on social media usage have indicated that the use of social media has now become a norm with many educators utilizing social media applications as an approach to teaching and learning. This is because social media affordances have made this platform a versatile medium in the acquisition of language skills such as speaking which has been…

The impact of COVID-19 on the higher education sector has extended beyond using alternative technological methods. It has also influenced the professional identities of instructors themselves. This study aims to investigate EFL instructors' perceptions of the impact of online teaching on identity transformation during the COVID-19 lockdown. It…

Literature has suggested the role of affective variables such as self-confidence, motivation, and anxiety in second and foreign language learners' willingness to communicate in conventional language learning classrooms. However, little has been explored regarding the association of such affective variables inside and outside the classroom and…

This pilot study focuses on a tool called L2L that allows second language (L2) learners to visualise and analyse their Zoom interactions with native speakers. L2L uses the Zoom transcript to automatically generate conversation metrics and its playback feature with timestamps allows students to replay any chosen portion of the conversation for…

Considering the importance of willingness to communicate (WTC) as a critical component of effective pedagogy (MacIntyre et al., 1998), the present qualitative study investigated the affordances extramural digital settings (EDSs), as newly emerged popular environments, offer to advanced EFL learners. To this aim, we asked a purposeful sample of 8…

Grammarly's Tone Detector is included in the free version of the application and is available for major phone and computer program platforms. Its strength is in helping students compose pragmatically appropriate texts which could substantially increase their confidence and the feeling of autonomy. It accomplishes this by providing writers with…

Language interaction has been shown to positively impact second language development (Long, 1996). However, whereas research that examined interactionist approaches to second language acquisition (Gass & Mackey, 2006) has meticulously studied how different factors in the interaction (interactional context, type of task, etc) may affect L2…

This paper reports on a blended learning approach for public speaking in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context. The researcher implemented the course design through reduced weekly face-to-face class sessions and online student interaction using a speech video-based blog. Using a survey conducted at the end of the semester, multiple…

This study offers an explanatory case study research that reflects on how the motivational design based supplementary activities are used in a social network site, namely Facebook, affect online EFL learners' process of learning. The participants consisted of 105 online EFL learners who contributed to the study on a voluntary basis. The data was…

Although speaking anxiety among foreign language learners at lower levels of proficiency has been extensively studied, far too little attention has been paid to learners at more advanced levels like student teachers enrolled in English Language Teaching (ELT) programs. However, speaking in the target language is a complicated mental process…

This study examines four elements of learner motivation, attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction, in an EFL speaking course that uses the computer mediated communication (CMC) tool Google Hangouts. The study found that a preparatory concept mapping task before the CMC sessions improved students' perceived attention, relevance,…

More and more Japanese students are studying abroad and the Japanese government has set a target of 180,000 students to study abroad each year by 2020 and is providing financial assistance to students to help achieve this goal. However, is financial assistance enough? Surveys conducted with students from a national education-focused university in…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the insights of high school students regarding their online learning experiences in the margin of cultural considerations. The study was designed in a qualitative pattern. The data were collected through a questionnaire including eight open ended questions along with demographics. A total of 30 high…

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether students of English as a foreign language (EFL) at the Lebanese University (LU) can effectively improve their language proficiency by creating digital stories. To do so, the researcher introduced digital storytelling (DST) as an optional assignment in an EFL communication course offered at LU in…

This chapter reports on a language teaching practicum course of a Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (MTCSOL) program in China in Fall 2020. Driven by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, this report presents a model to guide practice in online language teacher training via virtual learning communities. In the course,…