Toward a model of informal digital learning of English and intercultural competence: a large-scale structural equation modeling approach

Liu, Guangxiang; Ma, Chaojun; Jie, Bao; Liu, Zhixin

doi:10.1080/09588221.2023.2191652

Cited by 17 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Foreign language learning paves the way to appreciate different views and perspectives, equipping the learners with more original, elaborate, and flexible ideas (Fürst & Grin, 2021). Foreign language learners are required to transcend conventional logic and cultural idioms of their own; therefore, they are more likely to see the world, express themselves, and solve problems in diverse ways (Liu et al, 2023). This suggests that multilingualism is associated with greater creativity or open-mindedness (Fürst & Grin, 2021).…”

Section: Foreign Language Learning Directly and Indirectly Influences...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Foreign Language Learning Enhances Cognitive flexibility, which Facilitates Reported Perspective-taking: Evidence from PISA 2018

Yang

2023

IJLLT

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Multilingual speakers have often been found to be superior in taking another person’s perspective. Also, females are commonly found to have enhanced perspective-taking (PT) abilities compared with males, with male PT being generally more easily affected by external factors. Research on bilingual advantages has been widely verified in children, adults, and the elderly. However, few researchers have paid attention to the bilingual advantages and perspective-taking in adolescents. Perspective-taking skills are often associated with positive behaviors such as prosocial behavior and understanding others. In this study, we used a large and representative sample derived from the 2018 PISA survey to examine the relationship between bilingual experience, perspective-taking, and cognitive flexibility. The moderating effect of cultural individualism was also analyzed. The results of multi-level structural equation modeling (MSEM) indicate that: (1) foreign language learning is positively associated with perspective-taking and cognitive flexibility after controlling for individual-level and country-level demographic variables; (2) cognitive flexibility mediated the association between foreign language learning and perspective-taking; (3) the moderating effect of cultural individualism is significant. Specifically, in collectivist (vs. individualist) countries/societies, there is a stronger association between foreign language learning and perspective-taking.

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Section: Foreign Language Learning Directly and Indirectly Influences...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Foreign Language Learning Enhances Cognitive flexibility, which Facilitates Reported Perspective-taking: Evidence from PISA 2018

Yang

2023

IJLLT

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“…This is noted in Ortega's (2017) envisioning of an equitable multilingual future in the digital age, with the argument that technology can be both a catalyst for inequality and “a source of empowerment at the individual and societal levels” (p. 300). Additionally, a long line of research has highlighted that in the wider social, semiotic, historical, and cultural contexts of digital media, language learners can engage in new types of sense‐making and meaning‐making practices with English users from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds (Black, 2006; Darvin, 2018a; Darvin, 2023, Hafner, 2020; Lam, 2000; Liu, Ma, et al., 2023). In the 2019 special issue of Language Learning & Technology , Shannon Sauro and Katerina Zourou conceptualized the non‐instructional and digitalized contexts in which language learning and literacy development occurs as the digital wilds .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Rural China to the Digital Wilds: Negotiating Digital Repertoires to Claim the Right to Speak

Liu

Darvin

2023

TESOL Quarterly

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Based on data from a qualitative case study of two Chinese university EFL learners from rural backgrounds, Andy and Jimmy, this study traces their progress from being struggling English language learners to confident speakers of English. Drawing on Darvin and Norton's (2015) model of investment that recognizes the intersection of identity, capital, and ideology, this study dissects Andy and Jimmy's engagement with the digital wilds and their negotiation of resources in online and offline environments. Analysis of interviews, observations, and digital artifacts reveal that as students from rural and migrant worker families, Andy and Jimmy positioned themselves and were positioned by others as inadequate speakers of English, contributing to their initial non‐participation in the English classroom. Participation in the digital wilds however provided these learners with opportunities to acquire a wider range of resources and to reframe their identities as legitimate speakers. Such expanded repertoires empowered them to claim the right to speak and to be heard across online and offline spaces. These findings reiterate the pedagogical potential of the digital wilds in creating conditions that enable rural EFL learners to invest in their learning of English.

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“…In China, although scholars have started to examine students' technologymediated self-initiated language learning beyond the classroom (e.g. Liu & Darvin;Liu, Ma, Bao & Liu, 2023;Liu, Zhang & Zhang, 2023), more academic research is needed to explore the extent to which IDLE can account for the complexity of the online learning ecology. Such a contextual gap is particularly significant given that the unique controlled and censored internet reality in China may be able to largely shape the language learning conditions and opportunities that Chinese EFL learners can access in the digital and out-of-class setting (Liu, 2023a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the relationships among motivation, informal digital learning of English, and foreign language enjoyment: An explanatory mixed-method study

Liu,

Zhang,

Zhang

2023

ReCALL

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This explanatory mixed-method study seeks to understand the relationships between second language (L2) motivation (including the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self) and students’ informal digital learning of English (IDLE) and whether such relationships are mediated by the most prominent positive emotion – enjoyment. A total of 391 Chinese university students participated in the survey, and 15 of them were interviewed later. Quantitative analysis revealed a strong positive relationship between the ideal L2 self and participants’ IDLE, which was partially mediated by foreign language enjoyment (FLE), while the hypotheses that the ought-to L2 self significantly predicted FLE and IDLE were rejected. The qualitative data added details to how a vivid and elaborate L2 vision contributed to enhanced English learning enjoyment and served as the most influential motivator for IDLE practices. Meanwhile, the external and instrumental motives could not predict Chinese university students’ enjoyment, disempowering them to invest in productive language learning practices in the informal and digitalized environment. The discussion of these findings and pedagogical implications helps to chart the path for utilizing the power of the ideal L2 self to engage Chinese university students with the extramural and digitalized language learning ecology.

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Toward a model of informal digital learning of English and intercultural competence: a large-scale structural equation modeling approach

Cited by 17 publications

References 32 publications

Foreign Language Learning Enhances Cognitive flexibility, which Facilitates Reported Perspective-taking: Evidence from PISA 2018

Foreign Language Learning Enhances Cognitive flexibility, which Facilitates Reported Perspective-taking: Evidence from PISA 2018

From Rural China to the Digital Wilds: Negotiating Digital Repertoires to Claim the Right to Speak

Examining the relationships among motivation, informal digital learning of English, and foreign language enjoyment: An explanatory mixed-method study

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