- Ward Peeters is a Lecturer in Linguistics at Monash University (Australia) and a Visiting Professor at Kanda Universi... moreWard Peeters is a Lecturer in Linguistics at Monash University (Australia) and a Visiting Professor at Kanda University of International Studies (Japan). His main research interests include studying digital discourse in language learning contexts, language acquisition and development, and learning analytics. Ward has coordinated research projects in Australia, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands and South Africa as part of an extensive study on computer-supported collaborative language learning.edit
As more practitioners use social media as a part of their teaching, this chapter will be of interest as it investigates both social media and Web 2.0, from the point of view of how scaffolding can be used successfully in these new... more
As more practitioners use social media as a part of their teaching, this chapter will be of interest as it investigates both social media and Web 2.0, from the point of view of how scaffolding can be used successfully in these new environments. Peeters points out that in recent years the field of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has increasingly explored and assessed the possibilities and constraints social media and Web 2.0 hold for language education, resulting in an intricate collection of research projects, applications and recommendations (cf. Peeters & Pretorius, 2020; Reinhardt, 2019, Zourou, 2019). Next to the enquiry into the affordances of these technologies, the growing adoption of Web 2.0 in language learning has also reignited a much older debate: how to conceptualise and interpret scaffolding as a pedagogical technique (Little et al., 2003). Generally speaking, scaffolding refers to any kind of support that teachers, learning advisors or peers can provide for...
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Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) research includes examination and development of second language learners' cognitive and metacognitive self-regulated learning skills, but the affective learning component of self-regulation in... more
Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) research includes examination and development of second language learners' cognitive and metacognitive self-regulated learning skills, but the affective learning component of self-regulation in this context remains largely unexplored. Support for affective learning, which is defined by learners' beliefs, attitudes, and emotions, has been shown to influence learners' cognitive processes, performance, and engagement considerably, and is therefore critical to promote and foster throughout the learning process. This paper defines the importance of supporting affect in MALL, sets out a theoretical perspective on supporting affective self-regulation in MALL, and elaborates on what designers and teachers can do to facilitate affective development through the use of mobile technology, learning analytics, and artificial intelligence. It examines and further delineates the role of affective computing and the role of the teacher in fully har...
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While the scholarship on computer-mediated communication (CMC) can be described as a diverse field of study, with a variety of niche areas and transdisciplinary domains, one of the main recurring research practices within the field... more
While the scholarship on computer-mediated communication (CMC) can be described as a diverse field of study, with a variety of niche areas and transdisciplinary domains, one of the main recurring research practices within the field involves analytic examinations of digital discourse (Vásquez, 2022). These examinations generally include qualitative and quantitative measures of digital text which is produced, used and re-used in a fast-evolving communicative landscape. Because of the rapid succession of devices, programs and applications that are used for mediation, the methods for analysis sometimes lag behind (as discussed by Herring, 2019). This has raised the question among scholars on how to effectively study and visualise digital discourse, taking into account all affordances and contextual factors that digital resources provide (Car, 2020; Lin, 2015). This paper presents a number of key issues and challenges in the field, bringing together findings from Computer Assisted Langua...
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. In recent years, the field of CALL has been increasingly influenced by the rapid development of digital and social media. These Web 2.0 technologies – often referred to as the participatory, or social web – encourage users to interact... more
. In recent years, the field of CALL has been increasingly influenced by the rapid development of digital and social media. These Web 2.0 technologies – often referred to as the participatory, or social web – encourage users to interact and collaborate in “interest-driven activities” (Chik & Breidbach, 2014: 101) which Gee and Haye (2011) have referred to as “passionate affinity spaces” (69). In contrast to earlier models of learner autonomy, which have focused on learners’ independent interaction with learning materials and technologies with the aim of pursuing their own individual learning goals (e.g. Nunan, 1997; Blin, 2004, 2005), more recent approaches to the concept (e.g. Dam, 1995; Little, 1991) highlight the social and collaborative dimension of learner autonomy (see, for example, Lewis, 2014 for further discussion). This chapter aims to explore the potential of social networking sites (SNSs) for developing learner autonomy. In a first step, existing models of learner autonomy will briefly be revisited. Here the focus will be on Dam’s 2008 simplified model of the physical autonomous classroom, understood as an environment where learners can exercise their autonomy. Subsequently, a model of learner autonomy based on recent findings from two studies – which centered around peer collaboration through the SNS Facebook – will be proposed.
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The present chapter formulates and applies a range of network methods for the analysis of computer-mediated communication (CMC) to improve our understanding of CMC text in educational contexts. It uses data from a case study in which... more
The present chapter formulates and applies a range of network methods for the analysis of computer-mediated communication (CMC) to improve our understanding of CMC text in educational contexts. It uses data from a case study in which foreign language learners (N = 188) at a Japanese private university were given the opportunity to interact with their peers in a collaborative online space, part of a strategic self-regulated learning module. Special attention is paid to some key aspects of the social network analysis approach, including the need to incorporate temporal measures in such an analysis, as well as to some basic building blocks, including the creation of heatmaps. This chapter, furthermore, demonstrates how Smart CALL can serve as a contemporary, comprehensive lens through which data-driven methods for text analysis can be contextualised and explained.
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This volume explores some of the theoretical, empirical, and practical considerations when supporting educators and learners in promoting language learner autonomy. Through six detailed chapters, we look at different aspects of learner... more
This volume explores some of the theoretical, empirical, and practical considerations when supporting educators and learners in promoting language learner autonomy. Through six detailed chapters, we look at different aspects of learner autonomy that support both students and educators as they become more autonomous in their practise. The authors pay special attention to the ‘social turn’ in researching language learner autonomy development and second language acquisition, and focus on the social, interactive and co-dependent nature of the concept. The breadth of research presented provides a more holistic view of learner autonomy, and how many aspects of teaching and learning are connected to this. The volume concludes with a research agenda which draws on the social factors and agency that are likely to be the subject of further work in the coming years. This research agenda aims to inform and inspire the research field, and revisit certain methods, metaphors and terms we have use...
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While over the past decade social network sites have enabled both learners and teachers to set up various forms of online collaborative learning environments, there is an ongoing discussion on how collaboration through these social media... more
While over the past decade social network sites have enabled both learners and teachers to set up various forms of online collaborative learning environments, there is an ongoing discussion on how collaboration through these social media platforms can be situated with regard to the development of metacognitive awareness (Li, Pow & Cheung, 2015). This paper presents a study on the development of learners’ metacognitive awareness of first-year English majors collaborating in a closed Facebook group. The theoretical framework for the development of metacognition, proposed by Gunawardena et al. (2009), was used to analyse the students’ metacognitive strategies when working together online. The study shows that students utilise the social network site to complete given learning tasks, and extend their use of the forum by setting new learning goals and socialising with their peers. The students show that, through peer collaboration, they are able to evaluate and plan their learning proces...
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Students’ ability to self-regulate their individual and collaborative learning activities while performing challenging academic writing tasks is instrumental for their academic success. Presently, the majority of such learning activities... more
Students’ ability to self-regulate their individual and collaborative learning activities while performing challenging academic writing tasks is instrumental for their academic success. Presently, the majority of such learning activities often occur in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) settings, in which students generate digital learner data. Examining this data may provide valuable insights into their self-regulated learning (SRL) behaviours. Such an understanding is important for educators to provide adequate support. Recent advances in the fields of learning analytics (LA) and SRL offer new ways to analyse such data and understand students’ dynamic SRL processes. This study uses a novel psychological network method, i.e., Gaussian Graphical Models, to model the interactions between the students’ SRL tactics and how they influence language learning in a CSCL setting for academic writing. The data for this study was generated by first-year foreign language students ...
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This paper reports on a forum featuring four presentations on learner autonomy research, all with practical applications. The paper gives an overview of the purpose of the forum, a short summary of each of the presentations, a discussion... more
This paper reports on a forum featuring four presentations on learner autonomy research, all with practical applications. The paper gives an overview of the purpose of the forum, a short summary of each of the presentations, a discussion of some of the main themes and methods, and a summary of the ways in which the forum themes were continued to be investigated through the Q&A session and in follow-up recordings and interviews. The four projects described in the paper are: the role of classroom teachers in fostering out-of-class, autonomous language learning, exploring online peer interaction in social networking sites, examining the relationship between students’ agency and affordances for learning when studying abroad, and investigating learner autonomy in a self-access context from a self-determination theory perspective.
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To assist second language learners in becoming effective, aware, and reflective participants in higher education, support can be provided by integrating structured awareness raising approaches in the language curriculum. Drawing on... more
To assist second language learners in becoming effective, aware, and reflective participants in higher education, support can be provided by integrating structured awareness raising approaches in the language curriculum. Drawing on self-regulation principles, such a structured awareness raising curriculum is most notably sustained by reflective one-to-one dialogue, also known as advising in language learning (ALL). While previous studies have shown that students who received this kind of support in face-to-face settings were able to successfully develop effective learning strategies, little research has demonstrated to what extent students can develop these strategies, supported by ALL, when learning online. This study shows how four groups of second language majors (n = 252) demonstrate knowledge and control of learning and learning strategies when discussing their planning and progress with peers online. This study draws on Google Classroom data (posts and comments: n = 957) collected over two semesters. Using digital conversation analysis and social network analysis, students were found to demonstrate (1) awareness of approaches to learning, (2) awareness of facilities, roles, and resources, and (3) awareness of self when collaborating with peers. This study shows how ALL can support students in effectively applying different learning strategies when engaged in computer-supported collaborative work.
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This paper summarizes the initial phases of a study which investigates how learners of a foreign language interact with one another in an online space as part of their self-directed learning course, how they make use of their peers, and... more
This paper summarizes the initial phases of a study which investigates how learners of a foreign language interact with one another in an online space as part of their self-directed learning course, how they make use of their peers, and what communicative functions they use. The authors provide a state of the art, a description of the project and its objectives, and comment on how the project supports the goal of the Japanese Ministry of Education to improve students digital literacy skills, while also benefitting from increased interaction with their peers in an online setting.
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This paper reports on a forum featuring four presentations on learner autonomy research, all with practical applications. The paper gives an overview of the purpose of the forum, a short summary of each of the presentations, a discussion... more
This paper reports on a forum featuring four presentations on learner autonomy research, all with practical applications. The paper gives an overview of the purpose of the forum, a short summary of each of the presentations, a discussion of some of the main themes and methods, and a summary of the ways in which the forum themes were continued to be investigated through the Q&A session and in follow-up recordings and interviews. The four projects described in the paper are: the role of classroom teachers in fostering out-of-class, autonomous language learning, exploring online peer interaction in social networking sites, examining the relationship between students’ agency and affordances for learning when studying abroad, and investigating learner autonomy in a self-access context from a self-determination theory perspective. Keywords: learner autonomy, research, methods, Japan
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The field of self-access has spanned 50 years, and in this report, the authors give a brief overview of a recent event organized by the Research Institute for Learner Autonomy Education (RILAE) with the theme of ‘Landmarks in... more
The field of self-access has spanned 50 years, and in this report, the authors give a brief overview of a recent event organized by the Research Institute for Learner Autonomy Education (RILAE) with the theme of ‘Landmarks in self-access’. The authors also make reference to some landmark and recent publications in learner autonomy and self-access that have influenced the field.
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With the increasing prominence of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in higher education, the number of programmes and studies integrating online peer interaction opportunities on social media, likewise, has surged. Nevertheless,... more
With the increasing prominence of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in higher education, the number of programmes and studies integrating online peer interaction opportunities on social media, likewise, has surged. Nevertheless, little quantitative research has been performed on the ways in which learners interact with one another via these platforms for academic purposes. As a result, little is known about how learners develop a network of peers and how they interact with this peer group through social media tools. This paper analyses the peer interaction process in a Facebook environment, integrated into the foreign language curriculum at university level. In two consecutive years, two groups of Belgian first-year foreign language learners of English (N = 119, N = 112) were invited to consult with a community of learners about their learning trajectory via the platform. Through social network analysis, it is determined which topics, challenges and personal experiences students discuss on Facebook and how these are embedded in the peer interaction process overall. While the two learner groups have different approaches to addressing learning challenges and needs, certain topics and activities consistently co-occur in interaction sequences, exemplifying how learners tend to provide scaffolded support and co-construct knowledge online. This study shows how learners can develop both their learning and language ability as a scaffolded, dialogic process within an online social networking environment when having access to a combination of information and learning resources.
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Research Interests:
In this volume, it is Albert Weideman’s declared intention to help the reader discover the philosophical foundations of the theoretical endeavours of applied linguists and appreciate applied linguistics as a discipline of design – a... more
In this volume, it is Albert Weideman’s declared intention to help the reader discover the philosophical foundations of the theoretical endeavours of applied linguists and appreciate applied linguistics as a discipline of design – a discipline which is to be primarily concerned with developing responsible, or theoretically informed, solutions to concrete language problems. He does so by taking us on a journey that traces the phased historical development of the discipline which takes into account, systematically, the various turning points in that development. Both historical and systematic perspectives form what he terms the theoretical backbone of his text. Just as the author takes us through the systematic development of applied linguistics as a design discipline, we will take the reader through the different chapters of the volume. In our review, we will discuss the various philosophical theses and assertions that lie at the foundations of the field and offer our evaluation of t...
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Writing in an academic context often requires students in higher education to acquire a new set of skills while familiarising themselves with the goals, objectives and requirements of the new learning environment. Students’ ability to... more
Writing in an academic context often requires students in higher education to acquire a new set of skills while familiarising themselves with the goals, objectives and requirements of the new learning environment. Students’ ability to continuously self-regulate their writing process, therefore, is seen as a determining factor in their learning success. In order to study students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) behaviour, research has increasingly been tapping into learning analytics (LA) methods in recent years, making use of multimodal trace data that can be obtained from students writing and working online. Nevertheless, little is still known about the ways students apply and govern SRL processes for academic writing online, and about how their SRL behaviour might change over time. To provide new perspectives on the use of LA approaches to examine SRL, this study applied a range of methods to investigate what they could tell us about the evolution of SRL tactics and strategies on a...
Over the years, educational institutions have increasingly integrated Web 2.0 platforms as support tools in the foreign language learning curriculum to facilitate learners’ engagement with the foreign language, increase motivation, and... more
Over the years, educational institutions have increasingly integrated Web 2.0 platforms as support tools in the foreign language learning curriculum to facilitate learners’ engagement with the foreign language, increase motivation, and enable them to socially and collaboratively interact with fellow learners online. While descriptive studies on the topic have long dominated the field, they often lack close examinations of the nature of peer interaction, its mediating factors, and the effect it has on participants’ learning curve. Presenting a research project in which two groups of more than 200 first-year foreign language majors were introduced to collaborative writing through Facebook, this study demonstrates how and why online peer interaction occurs and unfolds. It is shown that learners engage in cognitive and metacognitive processes while being social and responsible participants in the learning process. These findings are compiled in a taxonomy, modelling the communicative functions of peer interaction for academic purposes in the Facebook environment. This study illustrates how first-year English majors use language to establish themselves as learners in a new learning environment while discussing academic writing challenges online. In the peer interaction process, learners initiate cardinal learning activities in which they strive for proper cognitive, metacognitive, organisational and social functioning.
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This paper summarizes the initial phases of a study which investigates how learners of a foreign language interact with one another in an online space as part of their self-directed learning course, how they make use of their, and what... more
This paper summarizes the initial phases of a study which investigates how learners of a foreign language interact with one another in an online space as part of their self-directed learning course, how they make use of their, and what communicative functions they use. The authors provide a state of the art, a description of the project and its objectives, and comment on how the project supports the goal of the Japanese Ministry of Education to improve students digital literacy skills, while also benefitting from increased interaction with their peers in an online setting.
Research Interests:
Due to their social framework and often informal character, social network sites such as Facebook are believed to promote out-of-class learning by encouraging learners to participate in online peer collaboration. Yet, the evidence remains... more
Due to their social framework and often informal character, social network sites such as Facebook are believed to promote out-of-class learning by encouraging learners to participate in online peer collaboration. Yet, the evidence remains inconclusive when it comes to the effectiveness and students’ appreciation of collaborating via social network sites, which indicates the need for further research. The first part of the present paper discusses the ‘out-of-class’ use of a closed Facebook group by analysing the online communication behaviour of 119 first-year foreign language English majors at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) participating in a writing course. The assessed data (more than 4,000 Facebook posts and a post-questionnaire) suggest that the socio-communicative context of a Facebook group motivates students to learn collaboratively beyond the physical classroom walls. The remaining part of this paper investigates which conclusions can be drawn from this for increasing t...
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Students describing feelings of anxiety and a lack of confidence for speaking in a foreign language can be a common phenomenon in the context of Japanese higher education. We believe that cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques can... more
Students describing feelings of anxiety and a lack of confidence for speaking in a foreign language can be a common phenomenon in the context of Japanese higher education. We believe that cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques can be used to help such learners overcome these feelings. A scenario-based questionnaire, adapted from Gkonou and Oxford’s MYE (2016), was designed in order to examine a number of speaking situations which were thought to induce anxiety, the emotions students associate with these situations and why they feel them, whether there are any situational factors influencing their perceptions, and what coping strategies they may or may not use. Using data collected from 85 first-year English-language majors, we found that ‘You want to say something in English in class, but you don’t’ was the most negatively rated scenario. This was reported as a frequent occurrence and was also a scenario where they lacked coping strategies to deal with their negative emotion...
The field of self-access has spanned 50 years, and in this report, the authors give a brief overview of a recent event organized by the Research Institute for Learner Autonomy Education (RILAE) with the theme of 'Landmarks in... more
The field of self-access has spanned 50 years, and in this report, the authors give a brief overview of a recent event organized by the Research Institute for Learner Autonomy Education (RILAE) with the theme of 'Landmarks in self-access'. The authors also make reference to some landmark and recent publications in learner autonomy and self-access that have influenced the field.
Research Interests:
Creating collaborative working and learning experiences has long been at the forefront of computer-assisted language learning research. It is in this context that, in recent years, the integration of social networking sites and Web 2.0 in... more
Creating collaborative working and learning experiences has long been at the forefront of computer-assisted language learning research. It is in this context that, in recent years, the integration of social networking sites and Web 2.0 in learning settings has surged, generating new opportunities to establish and explore virtual communities of practice (VCoPs). However, despite the number of studies on the concept, research remains inconclusive on how learners develop a sense of community in a VCoP, and what effect this may have on interaction and learning. This research project proposes to use social network analysis, part of graph theory, to explore the configuration of a set of VCoPs, and presents an empirical approach to determine how interaction in such communities takes shape. The present paper studies the concept of “community” in two VCoPs on Facebook. Participants (Group 1: N = 123, Group 2: N = 34) in both VCoPs are enrolled in English as a foreign language courses at two ...
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Research Interests:
Due to students’ growing networking needs, educational institutions are increasingly looking for tools to bolster peer communication and information exchange. These tools, furthermore, need to facilitate students’ adaptation to the new... more
Due to students’ growing networking needs, educational institutions are increasingly looking for tools to bolster peer communication and information exchange. These tools, furthermore, need to facilitate students’ adaptation to the new academic culture and support their academic acculturation. This study proposes to integrate the social networking site Facebook into the learning programme, providing students with a low-threshold online environment where they can share ideas , experiences and information while creating social bonds. Data from two case studies show that students experience various challenges associated with academic acculturation and try to overcome them by consulting their peers via Facebook. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that through social networking, careful assignment design and tutor support, students are encouraged to acculturate and become active, responsible learners.
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Creating collaborative working and learning experiences has long been at the forefront of computer-assisted language learning research. It is in this context that, in recent years, the integration of social networking sites and Web 2.0 in... more
Creating collaborative working and learning experiences has long been at the forefront of computer-assisted language learning research. It is in this context that, in recent years, the integration of social networking sites and Web 2.0 in learning settings has surged, generating new opportunities to establish and explore virtual communities of practice (VCoPs). However, despite the number of studies on the concept, research remains inconclusive on how learners develop a sense of community in a VCoP, and what effect this may have on interaction and learning. This research project proposes to use social network analysis, part of graph theory, to explore the configuration of a set of VCoPs, and presents an empirical approach to determine how interaction in such communities takes shape. The present paper studies the concept of “community” in two VCoPs on Facebook. Participants (Group 1: N = 123, Group 2: N = 34) in both VCoPs are enrolled in English as a foreign language courses at two ...
Research Interests:
Over the years, educational institutions have increasingly integrated Web 2.0 platforms as support tools in the foreign language learning curriculum to facilitate learners’ engagement with the foreign language, increase motivation, and... more
Over the years, educational institutions have increasingly integrated Web 2.0 platforms as support tools in the foreign language learning curriculum to facilitate learners’ engagement with the foreign language, increase motivation, and enable them to socially and collaboratively interact with fellow learners online. While descriptive studies on the topic have long dominated the field, they often lack close examinations of the nature of peer interaction, its mediating factors, and the effect it has on participants’ learning curve. Presenting a research project in which two groups of more than 200 first-year foreign language majors were introduced to collaborative writing through Facebook, this study demonstrates how and why online peer interaction occurs and unfolds. It is shown that learners engage in cognitive and metacognitive processes while being social and responsible participants in the learning process. These findings are compiled in a taxonomy, modelling the communicative functions of peer interaction for academic purposes in the Facebook environment. This study illustrates how first-year English majors use language to establish themselves as learners in a new learning environment while discussing academic writing challenges online. In the peer interaction process, learners initiate cardinal learning activities in which they strive for proper cognitive, metacognitive, organisational and social functioning.
Research Interests:
With the increasing prominence of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in higher education, the number of programmes and studies integrating online peer interaction opportunities on social media, likewise, has surged. Nevertheless,... more
With the increasing prominence of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in higher education, the number of programmes and studies integrating online peer interaction opportunities on social media, likewise, has surged. Nevertheless, little quantitative research has been performed on the ways in which learners interact with one another via these platforms for academic purposes. As a result, little is known about how learners develop a network of peers and how they interact with this peer group through social media tools. This paper analyses the peer interaction process in a Facebook environment, integrated into the foreign language curriculum at university level. In two consecutive years, two groups of Belgian first-year foreign language learners of English (N = 119, N = 112) were invited to consult with a community of learners about their learning trajectory via the platform. Through social network analysis, it is determined which topics, challenges and personal experiences students discuss on Facebook and how these are embedded in the peer interaction process overall. While the two learner groups have different approaches to addressing learning challenges and needs, certain topics and activities consistently co-occur in interaction sequences, exemplifying how learners tend to provide scaffolded support and co-construct knowledge online. This study shows how learners can develop both their learning and language ability as a scaffolded, dialogic process within an online social networking environment when having access to a combination of information and learning resources.
Research Interests:
In this volume, we have explored some of the theoretical foundations, philosophical underpinnings, practical applications as well as evaluations of learner autonomy and learner autonomy spaces. In the editors’ view, the findings that are... more
In this volume, we have explored some of the theoretical foundations, philosophical underpinnings, practical applications as well as evaluations of learner autonomy and learner autonomy spaces. In the editors’ view, the findings that are presented throughout the chapters exemplify the ‘social turn’ in researching learner autonomy development and second language acquisition, in which the social, interactive and co-dependent nature of the concept has increasingly come to the foreground (cf. Little, Dam, & Legenhausen, 2017; Peeters & Ludwig, 2017; Toohey & Norton, 2003). This social turn also forms the backbone of the research agenda that is presented in this section, with questions about the context of learning, the different frames in which autonomy can develop and how we define ‘value’ in learning. By making suggestions on how to start answering these questions, this chapter aims to outline a pathway for future research in the field of learner autonomy.
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This chapter presents a number of example cases to demonstrate how we can understand and interpret the concept of scaffolded support in a social media environment. The data that are used for this study have been generated by two groups of... more
This chapter presents a number of example cases to demonstrate how we can understand and interpret the concept of scaffolded support in a social media environment. The data that are used for this study have been generated by two groups of Belgian first-year English as a foreign language (EFL) majors (Group 1: N =119, Group 2: N = 112) at the University of Antwerp. Participants—who have intermediate or upper-intermediate language proficiency in English—were asked to use Facebook to interact with their peers, perform peer review and provide feedback on several academic writing tasks for one of their English proficiency courses. By taking examples from the peer interaction process, this chapter provides illustrations of some of the most salient features of scaffolding: collaborativeness, contingency, fading, and the transfer of responsibility (Gonulal & Loewen, 2018) in a Facebook context. These examples demonstrate how scaffolded support in symmetrical dyads—i.e. where peers have approximately equal levels of experience and expertise—can contribute to the development of learner autonomy as learners increasingly take control and manage their learning, their academic output, resources and feedback (Benson, 2011). Finally, this chapter aims to illustrate how learners make use of different techniques to provide scaffolded support in the peer interaction process on Facebook, show what kind of roles they adopt in doing so, and provide more insights into how we can harness the power of social networking to foster learner autonomy development.
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This paper reports on a forum featuring four presentations on learner autonomy research, all with practical applications. The paper gives an overview of the purpose of the forum, a short summary of each of the presentations, a discussion... more
This paper reports on a forum featuring four presentations on learner autonomy research, all with practical applications. The paper gives an overview of the purpose of the forum, a short summary of each of the presentations, a discussion of some of the main themes and methods, and a summary of the ways in which the forum themes were continued to be investigated through the Q&A session and in follow-up recordings and interviews. The four projects described in the paper are: the role of classroom teachers in fostering out-of-class, autonomous language learning, exploring online peer interaction in social networking sites, examining the relationship between students’ agency and affordances for learning when studying abroad, and investigating learner autonomy in a self-access context from a selfdetermination theory perspective.
Research Interests:
This paper summarizes the initial phases of a study which investigates how learners of a foreign language interact with one another in an online space as part of their self-directed learning course, how they make use of their, and what... more
This paper summarizes the initial phases of a study which investigates how learners of a foreign language interact with one another in an online space as part of their self-directed learning course, how they make use of their, and what communicative functions they use. The authors provide a state of the art, a description of the project and its objectives, and comment on how the project supports the goal of the Japanese Ministry of Education to improve students digital literacy skills, while also benefitting from increased interaction with their peers in an online setting.
. In recent years, the field of CALL has been increasingly influenced by the rapid development of digital and social media. These Web 2.0 technologies – often referred to as the participatory, or social web – encourage users to interact... more
. In recent years, the field of CALL has been increasingly influenced by the rapid development of digital and social media. These Web 2.0 technologies – often referred to as the participatory, or social web – encourage users to interact and collaborate in “interest-driven activities” (Chik & Breidbach, 2014: 101) which Gee and Haye (2011) have referred to as “passionate affinity spaces” (69). In contrast to earlier models of learner autonomy, which have focused on learners’ independent interaction with learning materials and technologies with the aim of pursuing their own individual learning goals (e.g. Nunan, 1997; Blin, 2004, 2005), more recent approaches to the concept (e.g. Dam, 1995; Little, 1991) highlight the social and collaborative dimension of learner autonomy (see, for example, Lewis, 2014 for further discussion). This chapter aims to explore the potential of social networking sites (SNSs) for developing learner autonomy. In a first step, existing models of learner autonomy will briefly be revisited. Here the focus will be on Dam’s 2008 simplified model of the physical autonomous classroom, understood as an environment where learners can exercise their autonomy. Subsequently, a model of learner autonomy based on recent findings from two studies – which centered around peer collaboration through the SNS Facebook – will be proposed.
Research Interests:
This paper brings together key observations of a peer interaction project using Facebook. The participants in the project collaborated on pre-designed learning tasks, working together towards a common learning goal. Additional to this... more
This paper brings together key observations of a peer interaction project using Facebook. The participants in the project collaborated on pre-designed learning tasks, working together towards a common learning goal. Additional to this collaboration, students took the opportunity to discuss task-based and curriculum-based learning problems which they experienced over time. This paper presents four stages of collaboration in which the peer and the peer group negotiate content and meaning in order to construct solutions for a posed problem.
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While over the past decade social network sites have enabled both learners and teachers to set up various forms of online collaborative learning environments, there is an ongoing discussion on how collaboration through these social media... more
While over the past decade social network sites have enabled both learners and teachers to set up various forms of online collaborative learning environments, there is an ongoing discussion on how collaboration through these social media platforms can be situated with regard to the development of metacognitive awareness (Li, Pow & Cheung, 2015). This paper presents a study on the development of learners' metacognitive awareness of first-year English majors collaborating in a closed Facebook group. The theoretical framework for the development of metacognition, proposed by Gunawardena et al. (2009), was used to analyse the students' metacognitive strategies when working together online. The study shows that students utilise the social network site to complete given learning tasks, and extend their use of the forum by setting new learning goals and socialising with their peers. The students show that, through peer collaboration, they are able to evaluate and plan their learning process online.
Research Interests:
Due to their social framework and often informal character, social network sites such as Facebook are believed to promote out-of-class learning by encouraging learners to participate in online peer collaboration. Yet, the evidence remains... more
Due to their social framework and often informal character, social network sites such as Facebook are believed to promote out-of-class learning by encouraging learners to participate in online peer collaboration. Yet, the evidence remains inconclusive when it comes to the effectiveness and students’ appreciation of collaborating via social network sites, which indicates the need for further research. The first part of the present paper discusses the ‘out-of-class’ use of a closed Facebook group by analysing the online communication behaviour of 119 first-year foreign language English majors at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) participating in a writing course. The assessed data (more than 4,000 Facebook posts and a post-questionnaire) suggest that the socio-communicative context of a Facebook group motivates students to learn collaboratively beyond the physical classroom walls. The remaining part of this paper investigates which conclusions can be drawn from this for increasing the effectiveness of independent self-access modules and study programmes blending self-access and classroom learning. Here, results hint at the fact that students attach particular importance to social network sites as support networks for sharing positive and critical learning experiences and language learning tips.
Research Interests:
This volume explores some of the theoretical, empirical, and practical considerations when supporting educators and learners in promoting language learner autonomy. It contains selected papers from the IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG events,... more
This volume explores some of the theoretical, empirical, and practical considerations when supporting educators and learners in promoting language learner autonomy. It contains selected papers from the IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG events, held in Liverpool, UK from 1-5 April 2019, as well as chapters which address and further explore topics and trends that were discussed during these events. These chapters look at different aspects of learner autonomy that are not necessarily based in the classroom but which nonetheless support both students and educators as they become more autonomous in their practice. The findings that are presented throughout the chapters pay special attention to the ‘social turn’ in researching language learner autonomy development and second language acquisition, and focus on the social, interactive and co-dependent nature of the concept. The breadth of research presented provides a more holistic view of learner autonomy, and how many aspects of teaching and learning are connected to this. The volume concludes with a research agenda which draws on the social factors and agency that are likely to be the subject of further work in the coming years. This research agenda aims to inform and inspire the research field, and revisit certain methods, metaphors and terms we have used within the field for decades.