In the last decade, Language MOOCs have attracted a lot of interest for their potential to enhance language learning. However, how learners engage with MOOC environments and realise their benefits, remains unclear. The current study adopts activity theory (Engeström in J Educ Work 14:133-156, 2001) as a lens to comprehend the affordances and…

The recent dynamic turn in second language acquisition research has called for an investigation in learner agency by taking its complex dynamic nature into account. Informed by complex dynamic systems theory (CDST), this study investigated the agency of learners in a complex educational context where mainstream schooling and private tutoring…

While research on digital multimodal composing (DMC) has been skewed towards the instructional design and affordances of DMC for L2 learners, there is a wider need to develop conceptual models of L2 DMC competence, with which L2 learners can successfully design DMC works and respond to the multimodal reading and writing demands of the digital era.…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a multimodal approach in which an additional camera was used to deliver online explicit reading strategy instruction. Targeting 20 Japanese beginner-level EFL college students taking online Zoom lessons during one academic semester, two research questions were investigated: (a) To what…

In this article, the authors describe the redesign of a first-semester Spanish course at the United States Air Force Academy due to the COVID-19 crisis and the subsequent transition from traditional, face-to-face instruction to fully online language teaching during the fall of 2020. More than 200 learners were enrolled across 11 course sections…

The present study, based on a cross-lagged panel design, was to examine the directionality of the relationships between anxiety, self-efficacy, and motivation in the context of online English learning. A total of 420 university students in China completed self-efficacy belief, motivation, and anxiety measures twice, eight months apart. The…

The evaluation of students in online education poses a notable challenge, primarily due to the potential violation of academic integrity caused by various forms of cheating during online examinations. This study aims to explore the perspectives of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners on the reasons for online exam cheating. The study was…

Learning a foreign language is a long-term process requiring persistence and a willingness to engage in activities that will help develop communicative competence. An important role on the way to achieving linguistic proficiency is played by L2 grit. However, foreign language learners differ in the intensity of this trait. We identify the most…

This design case follows the transformation of a language and culture course for first-year international students from face-to-face to online. It focuses on creating and managing disorienting dilemmas in an online environment as students are given the opportunity to pursue transformative learning. Design decisions about creating community, course…

This paper examines the use of technology in the development and assessment of interpersonal communication skills in an online second language (L2) Spanish classroom. The study explores the use of synchronous and asynchronous communication tools and strategies to promote interaction among learners, while also considering the challenges and…

This study investigated how learners' motivation to improve their pronunciation (i.e., pronunciation-focused motivation) influences their L2 pronunciation achievements. This relationship was explored separately in an online (n = 28) and a face-to-face (F2F) (n = 49) learning environment with beginner learners of German. In the online learning…

In this article, we report the results of a study through which we collected English language teachers' needs and wants to design an online language assessment course. Through a mixed-methods approach, we asked 20 teachers from four Latin American countries what they wanted to learn in the course. The teachers wanted a course in which they could…

Language learning activities involving time-pressured repetition of similar content have been shown to facilitate improvements in fluency. However, concerns have been voiced about whether these gains might be offset by reduced levels of grammatical accuracy. This descriptive study tracked the oral proficiency of 32 Japanese university students…

Given the acknowledged and undeniable advantages of literature in language education, it has been integrated into EFL curricula for undergraduate students as an essential subject. In the Algerian English departments before the reform introduced in the last two decades (the Licence, Master, doctorate system), literature used to have a privileged…

Machine translation (MT) provides a seemingly accelerated alternative way to communicate in the target language (L2). A convenient service to the public, MT renders a potential disservice to language learners. In this pedagogically focused article, we show concrete and detailed examples of how language instructors can turn MT and other electronic…