Research into the online informal learning of English (OILE) examines how nonnative speakers of English may develop L2 skills through participation in leisure activities on the Internet in the target language. Such activities include, e.g., watching television series, films, or videos, interacting on Facebook, reading articles, or listening to…

This paper presents the prototype of a foreign language learning space, based on the construction of an integrated formal/informal learning environment. Before the background of the continued innovation of information technology that places conventional learning styles and educational methods into new contexts based on new value-standards,…

This ethnographic case study examines a bilingual child's academic socialization in both formal and informal academic communities. The study follows a high-achieving, bilingual student in a public US elementary school, who paradoxically is seen as a slow learner in her Korean-American Sunday school. From the academic socialization and community of…

Learning takes place across different social contexts, and understanding how learners perceive and traverse different learning contexts enables educators to gain a more comprehensive view of their learning processes and to support their learning better. This study examined how undergraduate foreign language learners perceived their learning…

Online Informal Learning of English (OILE) involves the many different types of language practices that non-specialist EFL students of English are involved in on the Internet. This article reviews previous studies in the area and summarises the specific outcomes that OILE is thought to produce. It then presents an analysis of a survey of teachers'…

The development of generic skills is a focal issue in education policy and school curriculum reform across countries. This study in the Hong Kong context explores the sources of formal and non-formal curriculum and learning activities related to senior secondary students' perceptions of learning outcomes in creativity, communication, and problem…

Research into the online informal learning of English has already shown it to be a widespread phenomenon involving a range of comprehension and production activities such as viewing original version television series, listening to music on demand and social networking with other English users. Dynamic systems theory provides a suitable framework…

A lack of adequate German language skills is often discussed as a major reason for the disadvantage of children of immigrants in the German educational system. This article analyses the access to formal and informal early education of Turkish-origin children in Germany and the influence of these early education contexts on the children's German…

The use of mobile technology for learning in organizations and the workplace is spreading widely with the development of infrastructure and devices that allow ubiquitous learning and training. Since learning, teaching, and training in a mobile-saturated environment is a developing field, implications for a combined overview of these topics may be…

The study is situated in a bridge writing course that serves multilingual international students during their first year in college. Based on interviews with 36 Chinese international students and detailed tracing of one focal student's literacy activities, this study examines the social production of a translocal literacy learning space that spans…

The paper considers whether bilingualism has an economic value in Slovenia's two ethnically mixed regions, or whether its value is more related to identity, and restricted primarily to the personal, educational and cultural spheres. Specifically, it asks whether bilingualism is rewarded on the labour market and what local people think about this…

Research conducted by English-speaking researchers about other language speaking subjects is essentially cross-cultural and often multilingual, particularly with qualitative research that involves participants communicating in languages other than English. In research using non-English data, scholars have noted that the translation process can be…

The telecollaborative project under study involves, on the one hand, Masters students who are studying to become teachers and who design the tasks as well as tutor them, and, on the other hand, French language students. The relationship in this type of telecollaboration has been shown to be both asymmetric and symmetric. The hypothesis this paper…

This paper reports on a PhD study about informal second language learning in online communities (Livemocha and Busuu). In these communities learners autonomously seek opportunities for telecollaboration with Native Speakers (NSs) in the absence of teachers and pedagogical tasks, and in an informal context. This paper focuses on learning and social…

This study examines the effect of group work scaffolding on participation. The procedural scaffolding of two cooperative learning techniques, Numbered Heads Together and Think-Pair-Share, are compared based on levels of participation, learning, and satisfaction they elicit. Aspects of participation that are examined include levels of group…