Video/digital games have grown into a mainstream language-mediated activity that attracts millions of foreign language (FL) learners worldwide. While empirical studies have demonstrated that digital game-based interactions offer valuable opportunities for FL practice and learning (e.g., Sundqvist & Wikström, 2015), little is known about the…

Learner autonomy is widely recognized as a desirable educational goal in second or foreign language learning. However, the generality of the concept often makes it difficult to either nurture or measure the related traits. The present study focused on learner autonomy in the area of writing, exploring the use of the process approach as a means to…

Connecting reading and writing, proposed by many scholars, is realized in this case study. The 30 participants in this study are the English majors of the third year in one School of Foreign Languages in Beijing. They are encouraged to write journals every week, based on the source text materials in their Intensive Reading class, with the final…

This paper reports on the findings of a qualitative study which investigated a group of English as a second language (ESL) university students' perceptions of their global identities in intercultural English as a lingua franca (ELF) communication at an international university in Hong Kong. Drawing on data collected via in-depth interviews and…

This case study examines how one study abroad student oriented to social interaction during a semester in Spain. Using an activity theoretical approach, the findings indicate that the student not only viewed social interaction with his Spanish host family and an expert-Spanish-speaking age peer as an opportunity for second language (L2) learning,…

Although the teaching of English as a foreign language in primary schools has emerged as one of the major language-in-education policy decisions, students' perspectives on primary English have received very little research attention. Drawing on data from a larger study, this paper depicts primary school students' lived experiences in the English…

Undergraduate students whose programme includes a full academic year on an Erasmus study visit require a range of support before, during and after their year abroad. This study focuses on the support provided by the home academic coordinator during the students' period of study abroad. The research is based on a case-study which explores how the…

This case study reports on critical consciousness development of a female school graduate in a reading comprehension course. Critical pedagogy (CP) principles were adopted in the course during which the participant was encouraged to read a set of passages critically and write critical journals. In addition, after reading each passage, she…

In response to growing linguistic diversity, many U.S. universities have implemented language policies that include procedures for English learner (EL) identification. Institutional labels such as "English learner" and "limited English proficiency" are regularly used to identify students who may need English language support;…

The purpose of this case study was to investigate the evolutions of interest and beliefs about Arabic as a foreign language among three Western faculty members at an education college in United Arab Emirates. The study used four data resources which were: interviews, field notes, reflective journals and an information form. After four months of…

Research into portfolio assessment ("PA") typically describes teachers' development and implementation of different portfolio models in their respective teaching contexts, however, not much attention is paid to student perceptions of the portfolio approach or its impact on the learning of writing. To this end, this study aims to…

This article presents the findings of an action research study on developing learner autonomy through project work in an English for Specific Purposes class. The study was conducted at a Colombian regional and public university with environmental engineering undergraduates. The instruments for data collection were field notes, semi-structured…

Grounded in the framework of second language socialization, this study explores the identity (re)construction of Erol, a Turkish doctoral student in the United States. Drawn from a larger corpus collected for a longitudinal, mixed-method research, the data for this study came from autobiographies, journal entries, and semistructured interviews.…

This study adopts a case study approach to investigate the impacts of synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) learning environments on learners' perception of social presence. The participants were twelve French as a foreign language (FFL) beginners in a Taiwanese university. Divided into three groups, they conducted some tasks in three…

This paper reports on a study of Malay learners of English in Malaysia as they attempt to extend their use of English outside the classroom and thus participate in new linguistic practices. Using a multiple case study approach, the study examines the narrative accounts of learners generated through student journals and focus group discussions.…