ABSTRACT Purpose This study investigates two extensive reading (ER) programmes carried out in a secondary school in Beijing during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of analysing how differentiated instruction (DI) is reflected in the ER implementation and how this forced online learning inform foreign/second language (L2) pedagogy in relation to ER and DI. Design/methodology/approach Adopting an exploratory case study approach, the study collected data from multiple sources: interview with six students and two teachers; questionnaire survey (N = 74 + 27); teachers’ reflective journal; documents related to the two reading programmes. Data collection lasted for a semester (six months). Thematic analysis was used to code and interpret data. Findings Following the five-category framework for differentiated instruction (Tomlinson, C. A., and T. Moon. 2013. Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiated Classroom. Alexandria: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development), this study collects evidence of DI implementation in terms of content (three-tiered system of providing reading materials), process (personalised reading frequency and quantity), and product (diversified forms/platforms of presentation of reading results) of the reading programmes. However, due to the online teaching mode, DI was not fully reflected in aspects of affect (inadequate collaborative activities and interaction between students and teacher) and learning environment (lack of studying-together atmosphere). Results also indicate a widening gap between higher and lower achieving learners regarding engagement with ER activities due to differences in student autonomy and parental involvement. Originality/value This study provides some insights into differentiated instruction in ER implementation in the lockdown period, and proposes implications for L2 pedagogical design and innovation with a DI approach to ER.

ABSTRACT We argue that growth (vs. fixed) mindsets are important for positive emotions and self-development because growth mindsets can foster adaptability, referring to the ability to adjust oneself in different circumstances. This study examines the role of mindsets in adaptability and whether adaptability, in turn, predicts learning emotions (anxiety and enjoyment), self-concept, and self-efficacy. The data were collected through self-report questionnaires from 211 (141 females and 70 males, Mage = 17.2 years, SDage = 6.8) Iranian intermediate language learners. The path analysis results showed that fixed mindsets negatively predicted anxiety, enjoyment, self-concept, and self-efficacy through the mediation of adaptability, whereas growth mindsets positively predicted enjoyment, self-concept, and self-efficacy and negatively predicted anxiety through adaptability. The results held even after accounting for ideal L2 self and perceived competence. These findings highlight that growth mindset is an essential factor for developing positive learning emotions and self in foreign language classrooms.

ABSTRACT Purpose: This poetic inquiry investigates second language (L2) learners’ experiences of English language learning and examines the role of emotions in the language learning process. Design/methodology: The methodology chosen in the current study is qualitative, case-study research through which 209 English poems written by twenty-one Japanese EFL college students were coded and categorized into several thematic issues. Findings: This study reveals fourteen different thematic issues and twenty-two different emotional responses regarding their English language learning experiences. Poetry illustrated here not only expresses their positive and negative emotions but also represents their challenges, desires, hardship, and failure in their language learning journey. Originality/value: This study also exemplifies how poetry writing as a form of ‘meaningful literacy’ (Hanauer 2012) can transform the traditional EFL classroom and provide some pedagogical and methodological implications for L2 poetry writing in the EFL context.

ABSTRACT The proliferation of educational technologies has had a profound impact on the dynamics of education and has raised questions regarding how the nature of teaching and learning should be conceptualized. This study explores how the use of technology mediates class interaction, shapes class discourse, and supports the English learners’ language development. This study's findings show that technology worked as a mediational tool in the classroom to influence class interactions and student learning experience. The study also draws our attention to the important role of the teacher in orchestrating multimodal interactions and providing learners with clear intentions of multiple modes and with necessary linguistic scaffolding, suggesting that teachers should be mindful of the role that social interactions play in achieving an intended pedagogical purpose with the use of computer tools.

ABSTRACT This pilot study utilizes 360° camera and viewer technology in a science content-based EFL class at a Japanese University. Due to a lack of initial knowledge on how to best incorporate this technology into a content driven EFL class, a co-development strategy was devised between the teacher and students to dynamically design a course over 16-weeks. The course is then evaluated in terms of the resulting co-conceived activities and assessment and their role in developing student understanding. In addition, an appraisal of student created 360° science videos as a final group project not only sheds light on the efficacy of the formative activities implemented, but also identifies that whilst the 360° project was able to create a forum to tie English to the students’ broader science studies, and facilitate a high level of language use, the linguistic benefits that are explicitly unique to the technology are somewhat limited. Implications suggest how to improve upon the learning activities implemented, as well as an appraisal of the efficacy of using 360° technology to help EFL students explain science concepts as a reference for other educators considering using the technology in an EFL setting.

ABSTRACT Purpose Communication technology is used in diverse ways in our everyday lives. This research aims to fill a gap in research into L2 learner psychology connected with using online communication tools such as messaging platforms. Approach The article focuses on practitioner research into feelings experienced during online L2 text chat. Twenty-one undergraduates studying English as a Foreign Language at a university in Japan, and nineteen Japanese as a Foreign Language undergraduates from a university in Australia participated. In chat sessions, learners had thirty minutes interacting in their first language, and thirty minutes with their second language. Longitudinal, qualitative data was collected over the seven-week exchange through reflective session reports. Findings Analysis uncovered seven positively- and four negatively-valenced feelings experienced through L2 online chat. In both the EFL and JFL groups, mentions of positive amounted to more than double those of negative emotions. These feelings connected with various object-foci such as topics about culture, differences in life experiences, hobbies, linguistic aspects of the L2, L2 identity, chat partners and the chat process itself. Originality The article builds on existing research by adding greater qualitative detail to understandings of feelings emergent through online L2 learning.

ABSTRACT Of the major aspects of language use, perhaps the least frequently taught and the least understood by teachers is the system of turn-taking Wong and Waring [2010. Conversation Analysis and Second Language Pedagogy: A Guide for ESL/EFL Teachers. New York: Routledge]. For second language learners, this may be an important contributing factor to the experience of being unable to detect and seize opportunities to speak in multi-party talk, and more generally to the low participation rates of some learners to group discussions involving native speakers. However, pedagogical interventions are hampered by the lack of commercially available turn-taking resources. To address this issue, the authors initiated an 18-month action research project with the aim of developing relevant tasks and materials and exploring the reactions of learners to such unfamiliar content. Both teachers and learners recorded their reflections, and these responses were used to refine the activities and inform the creation of new ones. Among the challenges faced were the lack of learner awareness of turn-taking as an issue, the unconventional nature of relevant tasks, and the necessary focus on contingent possibilities rather than firm rules. The findings discuss the navigation of such issues, indicating both the teachability of turn-taking and general student receptiveness to turn-taking-focused tasks as being a worthwhile use of class time.

ABSTRACT The current study invited a group of adolescent Taiwanese learners to take the role of citizen journalists and make news reports on issues of their interests. Student perceptions of the affordances and constraints of this multimodal writing assignment were gauged through an open-ended questionnaire which students filled out at the end of the semester. It was found that the top three affordances perceived by students were film-making techniques, Chinese-to-English translation skills, and organizing information to make a video. The project also provided them with novel experiences such as interviewing someone. However, because of the varying levels of student commitment to group projects and how different tasks were delegated, some students felt that their exploration was not in-depth enough, and their learning was limited to the tasks they were responsible for. Students also set their future learning goals after they completed their videos. This article concludes with recommendations for future research and pedagogy.

ABSTRACT The paper documents the final project in an undergraduate seminar on multilingualism at the University of Toronto from a pedagogical perspective. The multimodal and multimedia project – centered on the idea of a fictitious festival of popular music, the Mondovision Song Contest – uses the genre of pseudo-documentary as a channel for collaborative and experiential learning. The students get engaged in multiple roles: script writer, graphic designer, film editor, actor/actress, and dancer, to mention a few. The Mondovision project serves as a medium to not only master subject matter content that focuses on multilingualism across continents, but also gives the students an opportunity to develop interpersonal and collaboration skills and to acquire multimedia and multimodal literacies. The paper provides both student and instructor perspectives on the experience, focusing on their respective roles and exemplifying what is here referred to as affirmative pedagogy of multilingualism.