In this qualitative systematic meta-synthesis study, 57 studies from the international literature published between 2010 and 2024 on the use of voice-based artificially intelligent chatbots in English language learning were analyzed. The present study aimed to explore the most recent studies on this topic by investigating the theoretical frameworks, methodological and technological properties, user reports of chatbot usage experience, and pedagogical implementations. It sought to identify research and implementation trends for voice-based chatbots via qualitative data analysis methods. Based on the reviewed studies, this paper presents data-based pedagogical implications that align with the latest voice-based AI chatbot research trends.

Blended language learning has recently experienced substantial growth, offering numerous potential benefits such as increased learning opportunities and personalization. However, digital inequalities persist, particularly affecting vulnerable groups like migrants with limited education. While the integration of technology in adult education may pose additional challenges for these groups, online learning paradoxically holds the promise of enhancing their basic skills. This study addresses this apparent contradiction, focusing on blended learning in Dutch second language (L2) education in Flanders (Belgium) for L2 learners with emerging literacy and limited formal education, representing the most vulnerable subgroup of L2 learners. This group is referred to as LESLLA learners (LESLLA is an acronym for Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults). Through a combination of a systematic literature review and a needs analysis of stakeholders, including LESLLA learners themselves, the study explores the benefits and challenges of blended learning for LESLLA learners. The study reveals that while many affordances and limitations for adult L2 learners in general also apply to LESLLA learners, the significance varies based on their characteristics, curriculum goals, and context. In order to realize the affordances, while also tackling the challenges, effective blended education for low-literate L2 learners requires (1) a thoughtful design of the blend, in which instructional design principles are integrated with didactic principles for L2 teaching; (2) effective teacher conduct; and (3) powerful policy of adult education centers. This paper outlines the characteristics of each component, offering insights to strengthen blended L2 learning experiences for LESLLA learners.

This systematic review maps the trends of computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) research based on the pedagogy of second language (L2) pronunciation instruction and assessment. The review was limited to empirical studies investigating the effects of CAPT on healthy L2 learners’ pronunciation. Thirty peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1999 and 2022 were selected based on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were collected about the studies’ contexts, participants, experimental designs, CAPT systems, pronunciation training scopes and approaches, pronunciation assessment practices, and learning measures. Using a pedagogically informed codebook, the pronunciation training and assessment practices were classified and evaluated based on established L2 pronunciation teaching guidelines. The findings indicated that most of the studies focused on the pronunciation training of adult English learners with an emphasis on the production of segmental features (i.e. vowels and consonants) rather than suprasegmental features (i.e. stress, intonation, and rhythm). Despite the innovation promised by CAPT technology, pronunciation practice in the studies reviewed was characterized by the predominant use of drilling through listen-and-repeat and read-aloud activities. As for assessment, most CAPT studies relied on human listeners to measure the accurate production of discrete pronunciation features (i.e. segmental and suprasegmental accuracy). Meanwhile, few studies employed global pronunciation learning measures such as intelligibility and comprehensibility. Recommendations for future research are provided based on the discussion of these results.

This article addresses a critical gap in international research concerning digital literacies and empowerment among adults who are English as an additional language (EAL) learners. In the Australian context, where digital communication and services are embedded in all aspects of life and work, proficiency in digital literacies, including advanced technologies like generative artificial intelligence (AI), is vital for working and living in Australia. Despite the increasing prevalence and significance of generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT, there is a notable absence of dedicated programs to assist EAL learners in understanding and utilising generative AI, potentially impacting their employability and everyday life. This article presents findings from a larger study conducted within training providers, spanning adult educational institutions nationwide. Through analysis of data gathered from surveys and focus groups, the article investigates the knowledge and attitudes of students, educators, and leaders regarding integrating generative AI into the learning program for adult EAL learners. The results reveal a hesitance among educators, particularly concerning beginning language learners, in incorporating generative AI into educational programs. Conversely, many adult learners demonstrate enthusiasm for learning about its potential benefits despite having limited understanding. These disparities underscore the pressing need for comprehensive professional development for educators and program leaders. The findings also highlight the need to develop the AI literacy of learners to foster their understanding and digital empowerment. The article concludes by advocating for a systemic approach to include generative AI as an important part of learning programs with students often from adult migrant and refugee backgrounds.

Migrants encounter multiple challenges, such as learning new languages and adapting to a new life. While digital technologies help them learn, limited research has been conducted on their digital skills development. In this article, we report on migrants’ digital skills development while learning language through culture using a web app developed by an EU-funded project that aimed to promote social cohesion through a two-way exchange of knowledge and skills. Forty-six migrant and 43 home community members in Finland, Spain, Türkiye, and the UK participated in intercultural and intergenerational pairs to engage with and co-create interactive digital cultural activities in multiple languages. Participants’ digital, linguistic and cultural gains were measured before and after the workshops. We report on participants’ digital skills, measured by a digital competence self-assessment tool developed based on DigComp, and interviews with the participants. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data were analysed deductively using the categories of the DigComp framework. Findings indicate statistically significant improvement in migrants’ self-reported digital skills. Highest gains were in the competency area of digital content creation. Comparison of migrants’ digital skill development with that of home community members did not show any statistically significant differences, supporting our argument against the deficiency perspective towards migrant populations. Interview data suggested overall positive evaluations and highlighted the role of the web app instructions for content creation. We conclude with suggestions for further research and argue for inclusive pedagogies, emphasising how both community members learned from and with each other during the workshops.

This study explored how collaborative writing, an often-used instructional strategy in second language (L2) learning, intersects with large-group dynamics, and investigated their potential impact on the quality of writing outcomes in an online distance learning course. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research scrutinized intra-group interaction processes in two large groups undertaking a computer-assisted language learning writing assignment and evaluated the impact of these interaction processes on their writing products. Data from discussions in both a public online forum and a private social communication platform (WeChat) were collected, systematically coded, and analysed quantitatively and qualitatively based on language functions. Data collection also included an assessment of the written products and follow-up group interviews. The findings indicate distinct interaction patterns between high-performing and low-performing groups, characterised by an expert/participant pattern and a dominant/passive pattern, respectively. Additionally, insights from the interviews shed light on these interaction patterns and the potential impact on student learning outcomes. The study suggests practical implications, highlighting the importance of task design in promoting high levels of collaborative knowledge construction to enhance students’ writing skills and L2 language learning in large-group settings.

The research field of online informal English learning has revealed associations of various informal digital English activities and second language vocabulary development. However, most of these studies have regarded digital resources as uniform entities when investigating their potential for vocabulary development and have failed to consider learners’ idiosyncratic interaction with the resources driven by self-defined purposes of use. Informed by the uses and gratifications theory, this study explored how three purposes of extramural digital experience (entertainment, socialization and information) relate to vocabulary knowledge, based on the survey responses from 322 undergraduate Chinese EFL learners and their receptive vocabulary knowledge. PLS-SEM analysis uncovered differential associations of the three media use purposes with receptive vocabulary knowledge. The study also revealed that the associations between the purposes of informal digital activities and vocabulary knowledge differed depending on whether the vocabulary was high frequency or low frequency. Additionally, it was found that the strategic use of digital resources, in terms of cognitive attention to and processing of lexical information that are facilitative of vocabulary learning during and/or after the interaction, played a significant moderating role in the relationship between digital activities for information purposes and receptive knowledge of high-frequency vocabulary. The findings highlight the importance of considering media use purposes in future research and pedagogical practices.

Drawing upon Darvin and Norton’s (2015) model of investment, this article examines how Xing and Jimmy (both pseudonyms) as two male Chinese English as a foreign language learners from rural migrant backgrounds negotiate their identities and assemble their social and cultural resources to invest in autonomous digital literacies for language learning and the assertion of a legitimate place in urban spaces. Employing a connective ethnographic design, this study collected data through interviews, reflexive journals, digital artifacts, and on-campus observations. Data were analyzed using an inductive thematic approach as well as within- and cross-case data analysis methods. The findings indicate that Xing and Jimmy experienced a profound sense of alienation and exclusion as they migrated from under-resourced rural spaces to the urban elite field. The unequal power relations in urban classrooms subjected them to marginalized and inadequate rural identities by denying them the right to speak and be heard. However, engaging with digital literacies in the wild allowed these migrant learners to access a wide range of linguistic, cultural, and symbolic resources, empowering them to reframe their identities as legitimate English speakers. The acquisition of such legitimacy enabled them to challenge the prevailing rural–urban exclusionary ideologies to claim the right to speak. This article closes by offering implications for empowering rural migrant students as socially competent members of the Chinese higher education system in the digital age.

This study investigated how multimedia glossing affects incidental vocabulary learning from a listening task on mobile devices. A total of 118 English language learners were asked to listen to a story with 25 glossed target words on their mobile phones. In order to examine the effects of different types of glossing, participants were divided into four groups with access to four glosses during their listening: L1 textual, L2 textual, L1 textual and pictorial, and L2 textual and pictorial. Two vocabulary tests (i.e. definition-supply test and meaning-recognition test) were administrated immediately after treatment and two weeks later to measure vocabulary gain for target words. The results indicated that participants who had access to L1 textual and pictorial glosses had significantly higher vocabulary gains than other conditions, especially in meaning-recall word knowledge. Finally, a detailed discussion of the findings was provided to explain the results based on the theoretical framework of the study.

This three-year longitudinal case study explored how trilingual Uyghur intranational migrant students utilized digital technologies to learn languages and negotiate their identities in Han-dominant environments during their internal migrations within China, a topic that has been scarcely researched before. Adopting a poststructuralist perspective of identity, the study traced four Uyghur students who migrated from underdeveloped southern Xinjiang to northern Xinjiang for junior high school education, and to more developed cities in eastern and southern China for senior high school education and higher education. A qualitative approach was adopted, utilizing semi-structured interviews, class and campus observations, daily conversations, WeChat conversations, participants’ reflections, and assignments. Findings reveal that Uyghur minority students utilized digital technologies to bridge the English proficiency gap with Han students, negotiate their marginalized identities, integrate into the mainstream education system, and extend the empowerment to other ethnic minority students. This was in sharp contrast to the significant challenges and identity crises they faced when they did not have access to digital technologies to learn Mandarin in boarding secondary schools. An unprecedented finding is that, with digital empowerment, Uyghur minority students could achieve accomplishments that were even difficult for Han students to attain and gain upward social mobility by finding employment in Han-dominant first-tier cities. The implications of utilizing digital technologies to support intranational migrant ethnic minority students’ language learning and identity development are discussed.

The aim of this study was to contribute to the field of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) by investigating the individualization of intentional vocabulary learning. A total of 118 Japanese-speaking university students studied 20 low-frequency English words using flashcard software over two learning sessions. The participants practiced retrieval of vocabulary under different learning schedules, with short or long time intervals between encounters of the same word in each learning session: Short–Short, Short–Long, Long–Short, and Long–Long. Two individual difference measures – learning efficiency and language aptitude – were examined as predictors of long-term second language (L2) vocabulary retention. Learning efficiency was operationalized as the number of trials needed to reach a learning criterion in each session, whereas a component of aptitude (rote memory ability) was measured by a subtest of Language Aptitude Battery for the Japanese. Multiple regression and dominance analyses were conducted to evaluate the relative importance of learning efficiency and language aptitude in predicting delayed vocabulary posttest scores. The results revealed that learning efficiency in the second learning session was the strongest predictor of vocabulary retention. Language aptitude, however, did not significantly predict vocabulary retention. Moreover, the predictive power of learning efficiency increased when the data were analyzed within each learning schedule, underscoring the need to assess learners’ abilities under specific learning conditions for optimizing their computer-assisted learning performance. These findings not only inform the development of more effective, individualized CALL systems for L2 acquisition but also emphasize the importance of gauging individuals’ abilities such as learning efficiency in a more flexible, context-sensitive manner.

Language is central to issues of displacement and education. This paper examines how English language teachers in refugee settings negotiated and exercised autonomy in teaching and learning in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It draws on the notion of autonomy and its dynamics in language classrooms in refugee settings. The paper focuses on one displacement context – Jordan’s refugee settings – to offer a fine-grained analysis of teachers’ accounts to synthesise how teachers negotiated the transition to online teaching and developed practices and relations across different sites. The study recognises teachers’ rights in contributing their own experience and expertise and draws on the Participatory Ethnographic Evaluation Research (PEER) methodology, which involved working closely with a group of six language teachers as peer researchers, who conducted in-depth interviews with two of their peers. The analysis examines the ways in which autonomy was exercised, mobilised, resourced, constrained and shaped by contextual factors during the pandemic and thus provides a nuanced understanding of teachers’ experiences. The study points to the importance of understanding teacher autonomy in the context of language teaching in technology-poor environments. By providing critical insights into the dynamics of teacher autonomy in unique professional settings, it contributes to the broader discourse on digital language learning and agency, roles and skills needed by teachers to support crisis preparedness for the future.

This study used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the efficacy of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) in teaching English phrasal verbs (PVs) in a 12-week study. The participants were 122 EFL college students divided equally into an experimental and a control group. The experimental group was assigned PV learning on an iOS-based application (henceforth referred to as “app”) for eight weeks; the control group learned the same PVs through paper-based material. Pre-tests, post-tests, and weekly class tests were conducted, and one-way ANOVAs were performed to evaluate the differences between the two groups using their pre-test and post-test scores, with repeated measures ANOVA used to analyse the learning gains in weekly tests. The results revealed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in the post-test (F = 6.09, p = .015, Cohen’s d = 0.45) and weekly tests (F = 31.68, p = .000). A Likert-scale-based e-questionnaire consisting of 19 items was administered to the experimental group to obtain their perceptions of the app’s usefulness for learning English PVs. The overall results suggest that MALL, particularly with this specific mobile app, may enhance students’ ability to understand and use English PVs, a key aspect of vocabulary skills. The findings can be used to encourage instructors to employ MALL for teaching the English lexicon for better learning outcomes in EFL settings.

The highly digitalised nature of contemporary society has made digital literacy important for newly arrived migrants. However, for teachers, the use of information and communication technologies can be challenging. The aim of the present study is to gain a deeper understanding of how teachers perceive digital resources as useful for teaching migrants language and subject skills. The research question is, In what way do teachers at the language introduction programme for newly arrived migrants in Sweden articulate the use of digital resources in relation to language teaching and in relation to subject teaching? This qualitative study is based on observations of 28 lessons in different subjects in the language introduction programme, as well as interviews with the observed teachers. In analysing the material, we first used the TPACK in situ model (Pareto & Willermark, 2019) to organise the data on the use of digital resources, and thereafter discourse theory (Howarth, 2005) was used to analyse the data. The results show that the teachers limited their students’ use of digital resources during the lessons, which is apparent in two discourses: distrust and dichotomy. In the discourse on distrust, digital technology is seen as an obstacle to teaching, and the discourse dichotomy is about the opposition between the digital and the physical. Moreover, articulations were often expressed in terms of identity; the teachers talked about themselves in relation to digital resources, rather than talking about how they use digital resources in their teaching.

This study creates a virtual space for language learning using a user-customizable metaverse platform and explores its potential for EFL learning. To this end, a virtual learning space, grounded in constructivist learning principles – contextualized learning, active learning, and collaborative learning – was created on a 2D metaverse platform. The metaverse was designed as a simulated deserted island for enjoyable and playful learning, allowing the students to actively explore, discover, and interact as they look for clues to escape the island. For educational application, 29 Korean middle school students participated in a two-hour activity. Data included screen recordings of student activities, student surveys, and interviews with the students and teachers. The findings showed that, as an EFL learning space of playful constructivism, the metaverse had great potential to embed contextualized learning and served as a medium for active learning that positively affected student interest and motivation. The results confirmed that the team-based approach combined with a game-like metaverse fostered student collaboration. Overall, the study showcased how language instructors can make use of a customizable metaverse for L2 learning and how a virtual space may serve as an arena for learner-centered instruction.

Increasing global digitalization is changing the everyday language skills required to participate in society, to carry out professional activities, and to take advantage of educational opportunities. As a result, new linguistic and digital competences are required for migrants. At the same time, digitalization offers new potential for learner-oriented language learning. In this article, we compare the results of two studies on teachers of adult multilingual migrant learners. These teachers instruct learners at different levels of literacy and with varied prior formal learning experiences. Both studies are situated in the German education system. The results illustrate how teachers and learners can work together using digital technologies to promote language learning. We explore the opportunities for effective, multilingual, and motivating language learning, as well as the challenges faced by learners and teachers, pointing to the need for further training in digital technology for both groups.