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This study proposes and tests a comprehensive model (with demographics, informal digital learning of English, ideal/ought-to L2 self, L2 enjoyment, and self-perceived communication competence) of face-to-face and digital communication anxiety's relationship to willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC) within in-class, out-of-class, and digital contexts. A structural equation model of survey responses from 1,269 Koreans learning English as a foreign language (746 secondary and 523 university students) showed that in all three settings, students with lower anxiety showed greater L2 WTC. Within in-class and out-of-class contexts, students with higher self-perceived English ability had lower face-to-face anxiety, which in turn yielded higher L2 WTC. In digital settings, students with a higher ideal L2 self (i.e., a more positive evaluation of their ability to attain the ideal L2 self) showed less overall anxiety (comprising face-to-face and digital anxieties), which yielded greater L2 WTC. These results suggest that future studies can test whether interventions to lower anxiety can increase L2 WTC across communication venues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study examined the potential connections between informal digital learning of English (IDLE), strategic competence for cross-cultural communication and perception of varieties of English. A total of 266 Korean EFL university students, who had no overseas experience, filled in a questionnaire survey. Follow-up semi-structured interviews were also carried out to complement the quantitative data. Results of structural equation modelling showed that perception of varieties of English mediated the relationship between IDLE and strategic competence for cross-cultural communication. The qualitative data also confirmed that EFL students without overseas experience tended to adopt more effective cross-cultural communication strategies when their perception of different varieties of English became more positive through their engagement in IDLE activities. These results can offer pedagogical insights into how ELT researchers and teachers can better prepare contemporary English learners for cross-cultural interactions in multicultural environments, whether in digital or face-to-face milieus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the accumulated body of research on teaching English as an international language (EIL), few have offered a detailed overview of how to implement an EIL classroom, and still fewer empirical studies have been conducted. Twenty-one university students at a Japanese university participated in the study in the spring semester of 2015. The videoconference-embedded classroom (VEC) as an instructional intervention was implemented for 14 weeks: (1) pre-videoconference task (i.e. reading and presenting/discussing EIL issues) (11 weeks), (2) during-videoconference task (i.e. interacting online with EIL experts from three circle countries) (2 weeks), and (3) post-videoconference task (i.e. writing/presenting the final term paper on EIL issues) (1 week). Using a mixed research method consisting of a questionnaire, post-course class evaluations in spring 2014 (without VEC) and spring 2015 (with VEC), and in-class observations, VEC was found to have important pedagogical benefits as it created an interactive learning environment and deepened the understanding of the EIL content. Additionally, 81% of the participants had positive perceptions of EIL. Pedagogically, practitioners can implement EIL ideas using VEC pedagogy at the instructional level. Theoretically, it can also add new empirical findings to the field, which may help bridge a discrepancy between theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]