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As technology has advanced, so have opportunities for language socialization and practice. This reciprocal relationship has resulted in the emergence of a subfield of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL): Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE). IDLE has manifested in various forms, including the more notable extramural and extracurricular varieties. Given the recent attention given to IDLE by Applied Linguists and language educators, this scoping review provides a roadmap for future research and explores the potential of IDLE to support English language teaching and learning in informal digital contexts. A "Web of Science" core eight database search for relevant research published between 1980 and 2019 using 35 IDLE-related key terms resulted in 38 studies of which 30 aligned with the inclusion criteria. Results showed the studies were conducted mostly under a mixed-method and qualitative paradigm and were published between 2017 and 2019. Only two studies used longitudinal data collection methods. Topics investigated included the linguistic dimension of CALL, the affective and cultural dimension of CALL, and the agency and digital literacies dimension of CALL. The small, yet salient, body of emergent IDLE literature points towards three trends: a growing relevance of langua-technocultural competence, the importance of digital literacies to communicative competence, and the importance of non-professional translation and interpreting to digital language learning.

This study explored factors that have influenced Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) in an extramural digital (ED) context, an ever-increasing second language (L2) communication context. To this end, the researcher interviewed 50 Iranian secondary school language learners. Having used thematic analysis, four broad sources influencing students' L2 WTC were found, such as educational practices (K-12 instruction), interpersonal variables (familiarity with the interlocutors and supportive communities), affective variables (L2 confidence and anxiety in ED context), and social variable (intergroup climate). More importantly, these factors seem to influence each other during communication in the ED contexts. This study can broaden our understanding of how Iranian secondary students use ED contexts to improve their L2 WTC. Understanding these factors can give insight to Iranian policymakers and teachers to promote the L2 WTC of Iranian students in classroom contexts.

Objective: While academic writing is considered a core competency in academia, academic writing anxiety is ubiquitous in doctoral student cohorts. Doctoral writing groups provide a space for participants to learn from each other's writing through the peer feedback process. In this conceptual review, we explore the dialogic nature of the peer feedback process in doctoral writing groups. Methods: The findings in this study are based on thematic analyses of published peer-reviewed research using standard word processing, annotation, and referencing software. Results: We focus on how the space of security and trust that is created in doctoral writing groups encourages participants to explore writing as a social practice. Through the relationships built in this type of interactive community, doctoral writing group participants discover and explore the discourses of scholarly communication. Furthermore, doctoral writing groups foster students' ability to navigate the often-times implicit narratives of academia, thereby building student agency. Conclusion: We argue, therefore, that feedback in doctoral writing groups should be viewed as a space of academic social practice. Implications: This study underscores the importance of embedding opportunities for peer-based learning into doctoral programmes not only in the fields of educational and developmental psychology, but also in other disciplines more broadly.

ABSTRACT Artificial Intelligence (AI)‐driven chatbots, such as ChatGPT, have significantly impacted education, especially for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. However, there is paucity of empirical evidence concerning the role of chatbots in psycho‐emotional constructs like well‐being and emotion regulation. It is important to address this issue because it can further our understanding of the ways through which using ChatGPT affects psycho‐emotional constructs in EFL learners. This study aimed to unpack the intersection between using ChatGPT and well‐being, with a focus on the mediating role of emotion regulation in the EFL context of Iran. Using convenience sampling, 492 EFL learners (205 males and 287 females) were invited to complete validated scales measuring ChatGPT use, well‐being, and emotion regulation. The outcomes of structural equation modelling revealed a strong mediation effect of emotion regulation in the relationship between using ChatGPT and well‐being. Additionally, significant positive correlations were found between using ChatGPT and both well‐being and emotion regulation. Besides, a significant positive relationship was established between emotion regulation and well‐being among the EFL learners. The results imply that the integration of ChatGPT into the Iranian EFL learning environment can be beneficial, considering its positive correlations with both well‐being and emotion regulation among the Iranian EFL learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that the home digital literacy practices of children are shaped based on their parents' mediation strategies. While there is extensive literature on parental mediation strategies for children's digital media use as well as first language learning, this line of inquiry is not extensively explored in the context of second language learning. Driven by these points, in this study, I have used demographic profiles, semi-structured interviews, and video-recordings to discover the mediation strategies used by Iranian mothers based on sociocultural theory. Drawing on thematic analysis and deductive-inductive coding, I found that there were porous boundaries between the types of mediation strategies that were used by Iranian mothers to control or support the home digital literacy practices of their children. These differences and similarities were caused by the social, historical, cultural, economic, and political factors in the context of Iran. The findings of this study have extended the knowledge about how parents control or support their children's second language learning (L2) through digital technologies in the home context. These findings can provide worthwhile insights to English Language Teaching (ELT) stakeholders in the context of Iran, particularly how to establish a nexus between children's second language learning in the home and classroom context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis mixed-methods study examined the association between informal digital learning of English (IDLE) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ vocabulary knowledge (VK). A total of 365 EFL learners, including 172 males and 193 females, participated in the quantitative part, while 24 EFL learners (12 males and 12 females) participated in the qualitative part. The participants completed the Informal Digital Learning of English Scale (IDLES), an English vocabulary test, and wrote a reflective statement. Pearson correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and thematic coding analysis were employed to analyze the collected data. The findings revealed a significant positive correlation between IDLE and the EFL learners’ VK. Additionally, the results indicated that the EFL learners’ VK was influenced by all dimensions of IDLES, including IDLE-enhanced benefits, IDLE practices, others and support, authentic L2 experience, resource and cognition, and frequency and device. Moreover, four overarching themes emerged from the qualitative findings: having authentic learning experiences, receiving support from others, benefiting from quantity and diversity, and being motivated and confident. The findings evidenced that IDLE is an effective way of enhancing EFL learners’ VK as it can provide them with exposure to authentic and diverse English learning resources and activities beyond traditional classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Iran, many children spend a great deal of their time in home contexts where they often use different digital technologies such as smartphones, tablets, and some other digital devices. However, the way that children use these digital technologies largely depends on their mothers whose perceptions can shape their home digital literacy practices. While mothers' perceptions of their children's home digital literacy practices have been investigated in other contexts such as Turkey, Spain, England, and Sweden, there is a scarcity of knowledge about the perceptions of Iranian mothers. To bridge this gap, I conducted a qualitative case study using demographic profiles and semi-structured interviews to uncover Iranian mothers' perceptions of their bilingual children's home digital literacy practices in English. Drawing on thematic analysis, the findings demonstrated that while Iranian mothers urged their children to engage in home digital literacy practices in English, they had different motives such as migration, higher education, decision-making, practical skills, and early formal education. The findings of this study can offer valuable insights to the Iranian English language teaching (ELT) stakeholders to better address the needs of Iranian children and their parents using digital technologies in English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the study of serious games has received due attention, few studies have investigated their potentials of simultaneously offering a route to both content and language acquisition. Understanding the interdisciplinary educational affordance of serious game play is significant, as it might provide game designers and teachers with insight into how to best design and implement serious games. In our study, the serious game Saving Lives was used to teach healthcare knowledge and English vocabulary to Iranian nursing students in an experimental group (N = 80), while control group students were taught healthcare knowledge and English vocabulary using traditional methods (N = 80). Using a mixed-methods approach (pre- and post-tests, an open- and closed-ended questionnaire), intentional content learning, incidental vocabulary acquisition, and learners' perceptions of digital game play were investigated. Results showed statistically significant improvement in participants' healthcare knowledge and incidental vocabulary acquisition in the experimental group compared to the control group. Vocabulary and content knowledge gains in the experimental group were the result of students' positive attitudes toward game play, the multimodal contextual clues provided during game play, and repetitive exposure to target words in the game instructions. Using serious games to integrate content and language teaching for specific purposes, such as nursing, was found to be both a viable option for teachers and a preferable medium for fostering students' learning and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In today's society, a growing body of literature attests to the importance of young children's early digital literacy skills in their home environments and how acquisition of these digital literacy skills relates to their future learning and digital literacy. Objectives: Research on young children's digital literacy practices at home was reviewed to explore the positive and negative influences on early learning. This is important due to the children's rapid uptake of online digital technologies over the past decade. Methods: Peer‐reviewed research articles on home digital literacy practices of children (aged 0–8 years old) published between 2010 and 2021 from four education databases were carefully selected based upon pre‐determined criteria and examined using content analysis. Results and Conclusion: A high proportion of studies (29 of the 31; 93.5%) demonstrated significant benefits of young children gaining a range of skills, including digital operational, early literacy and language, socio‐emotional, and STEM, through the use of digital technologies at home. Five of the 31 (16.12%) studies reported negative effects of digital technologies in the home context, including distraction, aggressive behaviour, and false self‐confidence. Tablets and smartphone use gained greater momentum in the home context, especially between 2015 and 2021, and there was a positive shift in parental mediation, family involvement, and the children's home digital literacy practices. Implications: By leveraging children's acquisition of digital literacy skills in the home and taking into account the sociocultural context, we can enhance young children's preparation for the future and provide opportunities for skill development across various learning domains. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: The literature shows use of tablets in the home by children have gained momentum.Parents have different attitudes towards using digital technologies in the home context.Parents have used different mediation strategies to control, supervise and support their children's home digital literacy practices. What this paper adds: Within the past decade, parents have extended their mediation strategies to support their children's home digital literacy practices.Young children move from early digital literacy to proficient digital literacy within the home.Home digital literacy practices can foster important skills in young children such as language and literacy, operational, socio‐emotional, and STEM.Artificial intelligence devices such as smart robots are extending children's home digital literacy practices. Implications for practice and/or policy: Understanding the sociocultural differences of young children can help parents, teachers, and policymakers to facilitate digital literacy skill acquisition.Fostering young children's basic language literacy, operational, socio‐emotional, and STEM skills through technology use in the home before formal education is essential.Extending young children's home digital literacy practices to other contexts such as the classroom is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review was conducted to explore the use of digital technologies with young children in early childhood language and literacy education. It centers on peer-reviewed empirical journal articles published during the past two decades. An initial sample of refereed journal articles (N= 631) was compiled from systematically searching the Web of Science Core Collection databases. Following strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, 89 articles were included in the review. Five major dimensions of the selected studies were coded: demographic information, setting, digital technology used, research designs, and research findings. All of the articles selected for inclusion were systematically mapped to provide a valuable resource for researchers in this area. The main findings of the review were categorized and are reported in five subsections: print knowledge, alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, early vocabulary knowledge, and narrative skills. Each subsection is framed with practical implications gleaned from the empirical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]