High-immersion virtual reality (HiVR) attracts increasing attention among language learning researchers because of its potential to enhance language learning. Prior studies focused mainly on HiVR and linguistic knowledge acquisition, and little is known about HiVR and emotions in language learning. Foreign language speaking anxiety (FLSA) is a common emotion that inhibits language learning and use, so it is important to explore approaches to alleviate it. This study investigated the potential use of HiVR for coping with FLSA in which 140 Chinese EFL learners were randomly assigned to four groups (35 students each) with a different combination of learning environments (HiVR or classroom) and learning principles (situated learning or teacher-centred learning). Students’ pre- and post-test of FLSA levels within and among four groups were compared via t-tests and ANOVA. Participants’ descriptions of FLSA change and perceptions of the effects of HiVR on FLSA were integrated with quantitative results for analysis. The integration of analysis showed that although most students perceived HiVR as a useful tool for alleviating FLSA, it is difficult for them to apply the reduced anxiety experienced in HiVR to real-life situations. The statistical results also showed that HiVR did not influence students’ real-life FLSA significantly. Most participants reported that HiVR offered them an authentic environment and enjoyable learning activities, which engaged them in learning, but the use of avatars in HiVR sometimes created an obstacle to communication. Implications for using HiVR technology to enhance foreign language learning are provided.

Mentored online intercultural interaction offers foreign language learners the opportunity to develop different competences, including intercultural, linguistic, and digital competence (O’Dowd, 2021). Such virtual exchange (VE) projects typically involve computer-mediated communication via, for example, Zoom. However, the use of high-immersion virtual reality (VR) for synchronous online collaboration in VE projects has received little attention. This study investigated the effect of VR on students’ levels of presence and engagement, on students’ communication and on students’ views on using VR for intercultural encounters compared to traditional videoconferencing tools. Twenty-seven university students from the Netherlands and Germany utilised VR to carry out intercultural learning tasks using English as a lingua franca during a four-week implementation period. Participants responded to pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, completed reflection journals, audio- or video-recorded their VR meetings and participated in interviews. Results showed that the levels of presence and engagement and preferences of social VR compared to videoconferencing for intercultural encounters depended on students individually. A VR immersion experience and comfortability scale was created based on the data which showed mixed experiences. VR influenced participants’ interactions, topics of conversation and communication strategies when they explored their spaces together. The results showed that students’ attitudes towards VR and their subjective experience of VR seem to play an important role in the VE-VR setting. VR provided a safe space for many participants. Positive attitudes towards communicating in the VR environment are highly correlated with positive attitudes towards meeting students from other countries in VR. Implications for language education are provided.

Lay participation in criminal trials has primarily been studied in common law systems, thereby mainly focusing on the separate role of juries. These studies have provided detailed accounts of language use between jurors during deliberation as well as their use of storytelling techniques and common-sense reasoning in decision-making. However, only few studies have focused on the linguistic learning processes that lay judges in other legal systems go through when they deliberate cases together with a professional judge both in reaching a verdict and in sentencing. In Denmark, lay judges are appointed for a period of four years, and this paper presents findings from an ethnographic study of lay judges and their growing experience with interactions in the deliberation room. It argues that lay judges learn to use legal language in order to strengthen their arguments vis-à-vis the professional judges. Lay judges feel that their influence is dependent on how well they master new, legal context-specific ways of expressing themselves, a point that may run counter to their legitimation as lay voices in an otherwise formalized judiciary.

The aim of this article is to offer introductory theoretical arguments in order to research the role that urban ludic spaces play in post-migrants' everyday processes of situated learning. I discuss how situated learning processes are embedded in everyday webs of relationships, with special reference to spatial construction of intersectionality within power laden spaces affecting the way in which communities of practice develop in urban areas. I draw on results from a previous research carried out in diverse neighbourhoods of central and north-east Italian cities as an example of the way in which public playgrounds could be laden by power and could in this way affect the opportunities to share everyday practices and to build up a community of practices in non-formal and informal learning environments.

In this paper, the perspective of situated cognition, which gave rise both to the pragmatic theories and the so-called semantic theories of learning and has probably become the most representative standpoint of constructivism, is examined. We consider the claim of situated cognition to provide alternative explanations of the learning phenomenon to those of psychology and, especially, to those of the symbolic perspective, currently predominant in cognitive psychology. The level of analysis of situated cognition (i.e., global interactive systems) is considered an inappropriate approach to the problem of learning. From our analysis, it is concluded that the pragmatic theories and the so-called semantic theories of learning which originated in situated cognition can hardly be considered alternatives to the psychological learning theories, and they are unlikely to add anything of interest to the learning theory or to contribute to the improvement of our knowledge about the learning phenomenon.

This paper presents research findings of a longitudinal empirical case study that investigated an innovative Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) professional development program for pre-service English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. The conceptualization of the program was based on the assumption that pre-service language teachers learn better in situated contexts (Egbert, 2006). Therefore, a key component of the program was the development of school-based research projects, in which the student teachers needed to design, implement, and evaluate technology-enhanced EFL lessons in collaboration with in-service teachers. Data were collected via field notes, video recordings of lessons, academic research reports produced by the pre-service teachers, and in-depth interviews with the pre-service and in-service teachers. Our findings indicate that the field experiences provided professional learning opportunities that supported the student teachers’ development as CALL practitioners. The participating pre-service teachers especially emphasized the important role played by school-based experiences in allowing them to use technology in authentic language teaching scenarios and to evaluate the impact of technology on language teaching and learning. The paper concludes with a discussion of important principles and guidelines that should underlie and inform such collaborative efforts and a summary of the implications of the findings for the design of CALL pre-service teacher education programs.

Situated learning is often proposed as a model for CALL teacher education. However, we know little about how students perceive situated CALL coursework and activities, and the nature of the relationship between situated learning and CALL learning. This exploratory case study addresses these issues. Survey, questionnaire, and open-ended data were collected from 21 MA TESOL students enrolled in a CALL course in South Korea. The results showed that students perceived that the course offered many elements of situated learning environments, and that some course activities were more situated than others. Additionally, the relationship between situated learning and CALL was strong and positive. Implications for research into situated learning and CALL teacher education are discussed.

The use of mobile phones and other portable devices is beginning to have an impact on how learning takes place in many disciplines and contexts, including language learning. Learners who are not dependent on access to fixed computers can engage in activities that relate more closely to their current surroundings, sometimes crossing the border between formal and informal learning. This creates the potential for significant change in teaching and learning practices. Taking the broader field of mobile learning as the setting within which developments in mobile-assisted language learning may be understood, the paper argues that an emphasis on mobility can lead to new perspectives and practices. The paper offers reflections on what mobile learning has to offer and considers whether it is likely to change how languages are taught and learnt. ‘Mobile learning’ is not a stable concept; therefore its current interpretations need to be made explicit. Examples of current projects and practices show an affinity between mobile and games-based learning, and can further illuminate what is distinctive and worthwhile about mobile learning.

The application of mobile technologies to learning has the potential to facilitate the active participation of learners in the creation and delivery of content. Mobile technologies can also provide a powerful connection between a variety of formal and informal learning contexts and can help to build a community of learners. However these versatile tools present challenges to educators and learners alike. The paper discusses the pedagogical challenges that result from the introduction of mobile technologies in language learning in the context of an intensive week of study abroad. We describe and evaluate a pilot project that uses mobile blogging to promote a constructivist, situated and informal learning experience of the foreign language and culture based on theories of active learning. We aim to encourage interaction and a sense of community among learners outside formal educational environments and in different locations as we ask them to engage with the foreign culture by capturing, sharing and reflecting on their experiences for their peers.