Although smartphones have become normalised in people's everyday behaviours, they remain under-exploited from a language learning perspective. This paper describes a study in an Irish university which explored the nature and extent of language learners' existing use of smartphones for informal learning purposes through a survey, a case study, and…

Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning (ICALL) involves using tools and techniques from computational linguistics and Natural Language Processing (NLP) in the language learning process. It is an inherently complex endeavour and is multi-, inter-, and trans-disciplinary in nature. Often these tools and techniques are designed for tasks and…

This study aims to identify a few perception-action relations or affordances enacted in an asymmetrical (tutor-tutee) videoconferencing environment for L2 learning. Following Engeström's (2014) Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and an ecological Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) perspective, the study focusses on the interactions…

The higher educational landscape nationally and internationally has changed over the last decades, moving from an elite to a mass higher educational system (Trow,1984). Currently this system and the organisations within it are contending with new external influences on their future structure--the arrival of the technological revolution and…

This paper describes an innovative model of teacher professional learning that has evolved over a decade. Working in a range of different school contexts, in conjunction with an ongoing engagement with the research literature, has enabled the development over three phases of a robust, yet, flexible framework that meets teachers' expressed needs.…

Irish is a compulsory subject in Irish schools. However, there are several pedagogical issues with teaching and learning the language. Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is under-utilised in schools in Ireland and even more so in the case of Irish, as there are very few CALL resources for the language. This paper looks at the lessons…

The high dependence on technology for economic activities in developed countries stresses the importance of lifelong learning in order to equip adult workers with the skills required to perform work related tasks, and also increase labor force participation. We use data from the 2012/2014 Program for the International Assessment of Adult…

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…

Mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones have entered education and started being used by teachers and learners for studying. This evidence-based case study focuses on the enhancement of a syllabus with BYOD classes and the role it played in boosting motivation and classroom engagement. It shows how to enhance a syllabus for Intermediate…

Although Text-To-Speech (TTS) synthesis has been little used in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), it is ripe for deployment, particularly for minority and endangered languages, where learners have little access to native speaker models and where few genuinely interactive and engaging teaching/learning materials are available. These…

Course specific hashtags are a feature of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) delivered through many of the major MOOC platforms. Their pedagogic objective is usually considered as a means to facilitate social learning and collaboration between learners. Research into the use of hashtags by learners illustrates limited engagement and integration…

Ireland's new strategy for foreign language education, "Languages Connect," identifies the establishment of Mandarin Chinese as a curricular language as a key goal for the coming years. Within the curriculum specification for Mandarin at Junior Cycle (ages 12-15), "using digital technology is identified as a core component: the…

Information and communications technology (ICT) has become an acknowledged and integral part of everyday life for many people. As research shows, the use of ICT in appropriate contexts in education can add value to teaching and learning by enhancing the effectiveness of learning itself and being a significant motivational factor in the students'…

This paper is concerned with a small pilot study to ascertain the use of, and changes in the use of e-learning to promote the learning of foreign and additional languages in a variety of countries in Europe. It was undertaken by individual researchers in an attempt to examine how the drive towards the teaching of new languages, encouraged by the…

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) can create large scale communities of learners who collaborate, interact and discuss learning materials and activities. MOOCs are often delivered multiple times with similar content to different cohorts of learners. However, research into the differences of learner communication, behavior and expectation between…