A bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy advocates student's unrestricted classroom access to their own technology devices to assist in the completion of learning objectives. Literature illustrates that implementing BYOD can cause trepidation at the administrative and teaching levels due to the potential negative consequences and distractions that it…

Past research on digital games and virtual worlds suggests that these platforms provide multiple benefits for language learning, including positive effects on motivation and opportunities for authentic learner interaction. Despite this, adoption of these platforms in classrooms appears largely nonexistent. We provide a review of research on the…

Digital game-based language learning (DGBLL) is a field that promotes language learning by combining game entertainment and mechanics inducive to learning. Researchers have proposed evidence of various language-learning benefits, yet downsides persist, such as negative stigmas, a lack of participation of non-gamers, and potential adverse…

This article discusses the concept of digital literacy and presents a digital literacy questionnaire containing questions related to the use of digital technologies and the level of digital literacy skills. It also reports the results of two studies that used the digital literacy questionnaire to investigate the digital literacy level of 100…

Receiving adequate pronunciation feedback is an ongoing challenge for L2 learners. Although instructors are the most important source of corrective pronunciation feedback (Szpyra, 2014; Timson, 2007), L2 learners can also benefit from peer pronunciation feedback (Lord, 2008; Kim & Yoon, 2014; Roccamo, 2015). This paper examines Japanese…

Many teachers are increasingly using Social Networking Services (SNS) in their classrooms, which allows for the first time the outside world to peer into students' private learning spaces (Blyth, 2011). However, the adoption of social media has mostly been done without careful consideration of possible ramifications students may suffer.…

Online intercultural collaborations using wiki pages are becoming common in foreign language education. However, research into their effectiveness and the types of comments students make in their interactions remains scant. This study addresses this gap by exploring three years' worth of interactions among Japanese students of English and American…

This small-scale, longitudinal study tested for the influence of video recording with a camcorder, and recording and self-viewing with an iPad. The study tested for changes in confidence, anxiety and foreign language (FL) willingness to communicate (WTC; McCroskey & Baer, 1985) using self-report measures before and after the intervention (N =…

Online student response systems (OSRSs) are fast replacing classroom response systems (CRSs), also known as personal or audience response systems or "clickers". OSRSs can more easily be implemented in the classroom because they are web-based and allow students to use any browser and device to do the "clicking" required to…

This paper provides a synthesis of the pedagogical practices of e-learning teacher experts into a four-part framework of approaches: out-of-class, blended language practice, blended Web 2.0 projects, and online. Examples of each approach are illustrated with short extracts from case studies of the participant teachers. It is hoped that these four…

Learning Management Systems (LMSs) have become important tools in higher education language instruction, which can facilitate both student learning and the administration of courses. The decision regarding which LMS a particular university adopts is a complicated process where the needs and opinions of several stakeholders, including…

Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) wants English language education to be more communicative. Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) need to adapt their instructional practices to meet this goal; however, they may not feel confident enough to teach speaking themselves. Using technology, JTEs have the ability…

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the talking-pen device called the Mimic Me, an educational technology product of a large English conversation school in Japan, as an educational learning tool. The product will be reviewed in terms of its developmental appropriateness for the target audience based on current research. Although the Mimic Me…

The use of social networking systems has enabled communication to occur around the globe almost instantly, with news about various events being spread around the world as they happen. There has also been much interest in the benefits and disadvantages the use of such social networking systems may bring for education. This paper reports on the use…

This study investigates how native-speaker English teachers working at Japanese universities use the Internet in their classes. In 2008, 50 instructors completed a survey about their teaching-related use of the Internet; another group of 50 was polled in 2012. The respondents were asked about their teaching situations, whether they used…