This study explores the relationship between the L2 Motivational Self System--namely, the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self--and L2 Willingness to Communicate (L2 WTC) in the classroom (a typical place for English communication among EFL learners) and in the extramural digital setting (an emerging English communication channel increasingly…

Utilizing a structural equation modeling approach, this article aims to examine the dynamics between Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) and Intercultural Competence (ICC). Altogether, 1490 Chinese college students from different types of universities in China answered the self-developed and validated IDLE-ICC questionnaire. The results…

Few studies on higher education focus on how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) college students may enhance their global literacy through cross-cultural communication. This mixed methods research reports on a blended learning program with cross-cultural communication to foster EFL college students' global literacy. A sample of 97 EFL college…

Despite the rapid development of telecollaboration in foreign language education, telecollaborative exchanges involving Chinese as the target language have not received sufficient attention. Adopting an action research approach, this study focuses on examining the student perceptions as well as the challenges of a carefully designed…

This article considers how language learners conceptualize their ideal teacher within the context of gig economy language platforms (GELPs). GELPs differ significantly from traditional language learning in that their users are able to change between teachers easily and also select teachers according to a far wider range of criteria than is…

Affordance refers to the opportunity available to a learning activity. Taking affordance as a theoretical and analytical construct, this exploratory study investigates learners' attitudes and the opportunities WeChat may provide for Chinese cultural knowledge (CCK) learning. The aim is to find out the potential new affordances and compare learners…

Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) has recently attracted the researchers' attention in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context; however, insufficient studies seem to have examined the role of online programmes in enhancing EFL learners' ICC. The current study, therefore, employed a mixed-methods approach to explore EFL learners'…

Telecollaboration in the language classroom promotes both second-language development and Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC). However, previous research identified its potential limitations, including instances of failure, misunderstanding, tension, and a reluctance to participate. The current study contributes to emerging literature…

This study reports on the results of a semester-long Chinese-American telecollaborative exchange via WeChat, in which students from China and the U.S. shared thematically similar songs in their respective languages and discussed relevant cultural topics that were suggested by the students. Various types of qualitative data collected from the…

By using small focus group discussions, the present study aims to gain insight into students' perceptions about the impact of WhatsApp use in their learning process. More specifically, this study presents a cross-cultural analysis of British and Spanish university students' personal beliefs about the effectiveness of using WhatsApp to complete…

This study introduces a new scale of willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC) in digital and non-digital EFL contexts. The psychometric testing of the revised L2 WTC (L2 WTC-R) was undertaken with 114 Indonesian EFL students by means of exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The results yielded an 11-item scale composed of three…

In an attempt to promote telecollaborative exchanges in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, this paper conducts a comprehensive review of telecollaborative practice from the past twenty years and focuses on five important themes emerging from the literature on telecollaboration, i.e. models, tasks, challenges, technologies, and…

Increase in diversified teaching contexts has led researchers to investigate the potentials of telecollaboration in multicultural learning environments. While there are abundant telecollaboration studies, improving intercultural awareness through a theoretical model is usually under-investigated. Based on Byram's (1997) co-orientational and…

This study examined the online exchanges of 28 pre-service foreign language teachers (14 in Russia, 14 in the US) as they discussed in English their opinions about cultural products, practices, and perspectives, and their study abroad experiences via voice-based telecollaboration. Informed by intercultural competence frameworks, a qualitative…

The aim of this research study around the co-construction and sharing of authentic and meaningful artefacts within the 'Youth Entrepreneurship for Society' virtual exchange was to find out how the implementation of artefact-based telecollaborative tasks fosters 21st competences and social entrepreneurship in English for Specific Purposes settings.…