Despite the range of varieties of Han Chinese, Mandarin is the most widely studied variety in research on Chinese as a heritage language (CHL) around the world. To better understand the role of other varieties of Han Chinese in addition to Mandarin, this article presents a synthesis of research on the learning of Chinese varieties in formal and…

Online informal language learning has surged due to the growing interaction on social networking sites, such as TikTok and YouTube. One vital interaction method is through comments, revealing insights into learner behaviors and thoughts. Concurrently, the "Korean Wave" has made Korean a sought-after language. This study examined comments…

This volume focuses on the learning of host-country languages by migrants in Europe. It identifies, clarifies, and offers insights into issues and central questions related to the learning of host-country languages with an emphasis on adolescent and adult language learners in formal and informal settings. The book draws on data collected following…

Based on Fredrickson's (2001) broaden-and-build theory, this study investigates how Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE; consisting of "teacher appreciation, personal enjoyment," and "social enjoyment") mediates the relationship between Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) and EFL secondary students' willingness to…

This study examines creative uses of emerging image-based social media for informal language learning. Adopting the ecological concept of affordances, it investigates new technological features on Instagram and TikTok and how they are utilised as resources for language learning. Using public data of Instagram photo/video and TikTok video posts,…

Background: As more people around the globe become immigrants or refugees, an increasingly popular subsection of research has aimed to investigate how these populations use mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) to learn the language(s) of the host country. Objectives: This study examines how the language learning, inclusion and self-regulation…

This article comprises two international studies. Study 1 aimed to develop a scale to measure the frequency of learners' voluntary, informal, out-of-school engagement with English, so-called Extramural English (EE) activities. It involved three stages -- pilot study, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis -- followed by…

The primary aim of this research study was to examine the impact of informal digital English learning, facilitated by various online sources such as educational content, entertainment content, and socialisation content, on students' motivation to acquire English as a second language and their general attitude towards the process of learning…

This chapter discusses the informal practice of learnful L2 gaming, that is, playing a vernacular (commercial, non-educational) game for the intentional, sometimes incidental purpose of L2 use and practice. The introduction discusses the reasons for this widespread practice and the background section surveys associated theory and research,…

The present research used a longitudinal framework to test a model of willingness to communicate (L2WTC), informal digital learning of English (IDLE), and foreign language boredom (FLB) in learning English as a foreign language among 325 Iranian university students attending a course in general English for 4 months via a latent change score…

With mobile phones now in the hands of virtually all of our learners, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to imagine environments that do not include learning through mobile devices in even some small capacity. The interest in mobile learning is reflected in the enormous number of publications which have appeared over the past 10 to 15…

More than 300 million people use the gamified mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) application (app) Duolingo. The challenging tasks, reward incentives, systematic levels, and the ranking of users according to their achievements are just some of the elements that demonstrate strong gamification elements within this popular language learning…

Intercultural competence is an increasingly desirable life skill in a multicultural and globalized world. To promote this learning outcome, higher education institutions can offer internationalization activities both at home and abroad. Research investigating to what extent 'Internationalization at home' (IaH) initiatives, as opposed to study…

This study investigates school segregation for newly arrived adolescent students (aged 16-22) in Norway. Based on an interview study in two Norwegian adult education establishments and drawing on a sociocultural framework, the article highlights the students' experiences with and perceptions of school segregation. More specifically, it analyzes…

The suitability of mobile apps for language learning finds increasing recognition in the field of language education. Recent research investigates the new learning experiences apps provide, taking the perspective of the language learner. This chapter seeks to contribute to this new line of autoethnographic research. As researcher-participant, I…