2.1 English as an international Language (EIL) and learners’ perceptions

Smith (Reference Smith1976: 38) was one of the first scholars who defined EIL as the “[language] used by people of different nations to communicate with one another”. He pointed out that every English user could take ownership of this international language regardless of their status as (non)native. Since then, scholarship has explored a range of issues related to EIL in various contexts: (1) understanding of the present status of English (Crystal, Reference Crystal1997; Graddol, Reference Graddol1999; Kachru, Reference Kachru1986; Kubota, Reference Kubota2012; Matsuda, Reference Matsuda2012), (2) perception of the English user’s identity (Cook, Reference Cook2016; Crystal, Reference Crystal2003; Holliday, Reference Holliday2008; Kubota, Reference Kubota2012; Matsuda & Matsuda, Reference Matsuda and Matsuda2001; Phillipson, Reference Phillipson1992; Widdowson, Reference Widdowson2003), (3) strategy for multilingual/multicultural communication (Byram, Reference Byram1997; Canagarajah, Reference Canagarajah2007; Kubota, Reference Kubota2012; McKay, Reference McKay2002; McKay & Brown, Reference McKay and Brown2016; Yano, Reference Yano2009), and (4) attitude toward different English varieties (Canagarajah, Reference Canagarajah2006; Hino, Reference Hino2012; Jenkins, Reference Jenkins2000; Matsuda, Reference Matsuda2003; McKay, Reference McKay2002; McKay & Brown, Reference McKay and Brown2016; Seidlhofer, Reference Seidlhofer2004; Yano, Reference Yano2001). With EIL becoming increasingly prevalent, Matsuda (Reference Matsuda2015) explains that there are several frameworks of EIL that come with different names such as teaching EIL (e.g. Matsuda, Reference Matsuda2012; McKay, Reference McKay2002), ELF-aware pedagogy (Bayyurt & Sifakis, Reference Bayyurt and Sifakis2015; Sifakis, Reference Sifakis2014), and Global Englishes language teaching (Galloway, Reference Galloway2013; Galloway & Rose, Reference Galloway and Rose2015).

With EIL becoming increasingly more popular, research on learners’ perceptions about EIL has also grown. For instance, some attempts have been made to implement EIL ideas in the classroom and raise students’ perceptions toward EIL: an online forum between Taiwanese and Japanese students and their EIL perceptions (Ke & Suzuki, Reference Ke and Suzuki2011), Global Englishes content-based English course and Japanese students’ perceptions toward EIL (Galloway, Reference Galloway2013; Galloway & Rose, Reference Galloway and Rose2014), pre-service teachers’ perceptions and perspectives toward EIL in the United States (USA) context (Ates, Eslami & Wright, Reference Ates, Eslami and Wright2015), and students’ perceptions toward EIL as a result of online intercultural exchanges between Taiwanese and Indonesian students (Ke & Cahyani, Reference Ke and Cahyani2014). All of these studies have used various interventions such as listening journals, multimedia (e.g. YouTube videos), EIL guest speakers from various countries, and computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools in order to raise learners’ EIL perceptions.

2.2 Videoconference-embedded classroom (VEC)

Despite these increasing attempts to teach EIL, two gaps in our field of research need to be filled. First, our field still needs more studies with detailed overviews of how to integrate EIL pedagogy into the classroom (Kubota, Reference Kubota2001). Second, we need more empirical studies to bridge the discrepancy between theory and practice (Matsuda & Friedrich, Reference Matsuda and Friedrich2011). Combining the strengths of the flipped class and videoconferencing, the authors would like to address these issues by illustrating and implementing VEC as an instructional intervention and raise students’ perceptions toward EIL.

In contrast to a conventional classroom (e.g. students learn new information and knowledge primarily disseminated by a teacher in class while practicing those skills at home as assignment), the flipped classroom allows students to study new information and knowledge at home by watching video lectures or reading assigned materials before practicing those skills in class through interaction with peers and teachers (Bishop & Verleger, Reference Bishop and Verleger2013). This offers “a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter” (Flipped Learning Network, 2014: 1). Several studies have attested to pedagogical benefits of the flipped classroom as it can improve students’ motivation (Hsieh, Wu & Marek, Reference Hsieh, Wu and Marek2017; Strayer, Reference Strayer2012), increase their engagement (Dill, Reference Dill2012), and increase their learning outcomes (Baepler, Walker & Driessen, Reference Baepler, Walker and Driessen2014; Day & Foley, Reference Day and Foley2006; Hung, Reference Hung2015; McLaughlin, Roth, Glatt, Gharkholonarehe, Davidson, Griffin, Esserman & Mumper, Reference McLaughlin, Roth, Glatt, Gharkholonarehe, Davidson, Griffin, Esserman and Mumper2014).

Kinginger (Reference Kinginger1998: 504) described videoconferencing as “a telephone call with the addition of video. Both sites are equipped with video cameras, microphones, and televisions.” Although this is a somewhat rudimentary definition of videoconferencing, Kinginger’s study shows two pedagogically significant implications in relation to teaching EIL. First, videoconferencing helped foreign language learners motivate their language learning as it allowed them to get exposed to authentic spoken language. In particular, it raised students’ awareness of the varieties of spoken French, which helped them understand differences between language presented in formal instruction and how native speakers of French actually talk. Additionally, several “zone of proximal development” (Vygotsky, Reference Vygotsky1978) and “scaffolding” (Wood, Bruner & Ross, Reference Wood, Bruner and Ross1976) incidents took place during the follow-up activity (e.g. getting L2 learners to analyze varieties of French language recorded during the conference), which “help learners become keen and critical observers of language use, aware of the complex relationship between language and context” (Kinginger, Reference Kinginger1998: 511).

More recently, multimodal desktop videoconferencing technology (i.e. FlashMeeting) turned out to be a useful tool for active and interactive learning among L2 learners. For instance, Berglund (Reference Berglund2009) shows that FlashMeeting encourages passive L2 learners (e.g. less talkative students) to more actively participate. Hampel and Stickler (Reference Hampel and Stickler2012) highlighted multimodal aspects of FlashMeeting (e.g. combining text, image, and audio with video modes), which contributed to facilitating more interaction and communication (e.g. social conversations and negotiation of meaning) among L2 learners.

An increasing number of scholars have attempted to integrate free, synchronous CMC software into foreign language lessons. For example, Journell and Dressman (Reference Journell and Dressman2011) used Skype to connect a class of Moroccan undergraduate students with a class of American pre-service teachers. Through this use of Skype, students in each respective group were able to discuss their various opinions about religion, politics, and culture. In this context, Skype served as a pedagogical tool to allow students from both sides to get exposed to diverse perspectives of various academic disciplines (e.g. history, language arts, and multicultural education). Particularly, it was beneficial to the Moroccan EFL learners as they could interact with native speakers of English. In the Taiwanese EFL context, Wu, Marek and Chen (Reference Wu, Marek and Chen2013) incorporated Skype into an English class where Taiwanese EFL learners interacted with American counterparts (e.g. critically analyzing the content knowledge such as holidays, entertainment, and clothing in the USA provided by an American professor, preparing and making presentations on the related topics, and writing reflective papers on the same topics). The study shows that Skype-based English lessons fostered active learning and helped improve learners’ L2 proficiency in areas such as pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and fluency. Also, the lessons deepened the students’ content knowledge. Dooly and Sadler (Reference Dooly and Sadler2016) also made use of both Skype and the virtual world Second Life in an exchange between elementary school students studying EFL in schools in Barcelona, Spain, and Vienna, Austria. In this case, the researchers recruited the students to become “little scientists” in a project exploring healthy habits, thus requiring the students in both countries to “[co-construct] knowledge through shared information about the target content between the two classes” (60).

In order to utilize the pedagogical benefits of flipped classrooms and video conferencing, the authors developed and implemented VEC as an instructional intervention in an attempt to raise students’ perceptions toward EIL. This pioneering research project, implemented in the Japanese EFL context, was initiated to answer the following two research questions:

1. 1. How could VEC offer pedagogical benefits in relation to EIL instruction?

2. 2. To what extent does EIL instruction through VEC influence students’ perceptions toward EIL?

3.1 Participants and context

Undergraduate students majoring in various disciplines (N=20 in 2014; N=21 in 2015) took part in this 14-week study at a major private university in Japan (hereafter referred to as K University), which has one of the largest international student bodies in that country (The Japan Times, 2015). It was an optional course for credit, which was taught in English by the instructor (the second author). The English levels for students in both classes were upper-intermediate and above, and most of them were from expanding circle countries such as Japan, Korea, and China. But none of the students had ever taken an EIL-related class before the beginning of the semester.

Japan – what Kachru’s (Reference Kachru1986) model calls an “expanding circle countryFootnote ¹ ” – was chosen because the Japanese perception toward EIL is low (Matsuda, Reference Matsuda2003; Young & Walsh, Reference Young and Walsh2010). That is, they still do not believe in the equal status of the non-native English speaker (NNES) with the native English speaker (NES). For example, NES norms are prevalent across the country as English tests target the NES norms and the majority of Japanese people still perceive NESs as their “ideal” English teachers (Galloway, Reference Galloway2013).

3.2 VEC as an instructional intervention

VEC as an instructional intervention consisting of three stages is detailed below:

1. Pre-videoconference task (11 weeks)

Pre-videoconference task (Pre-VT) was a preparatory stage for the during-videoconference task (During-VT). At the Pre-VT stage, students engaged in both in-class and out-of-class tasks. Prior to each class, all students read one chapter of Seargeant’s (Reference Seargeant2011) book (see Table 1) and supplementary EIL-related articles. Two students were chosen to make a 10-minute presentation on the chapter before leading a follow-up group discussion for approximately 20 minutes. The instructor graded his students based on their preparation and performance while acting as a facilitator (e.g. providing additional examples, giving expert opinions, and eliciting more critical questions).

Table 1

Overview of Seargeant’s (Reference Seargeant2011) book

2. During-videoconference task (2 weeks)

At the During-VT stage, two consecutive videoconferences took place with seven EIL scholars from all three circle countries (i.e. USA, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia). Three EIL scholars from Seoul, Hong Kong, and Tokyo had groups of students in the same room, which dramatically helped construct a far more authentic EIL environment for the K students. In Japan, the instructor set up the videoconferencing using an LCD projector, the Internet, and audiovisual equipment in collaboration with the university staff and his graduate assistant. In terms of seating arrangements, his students faced a projector screen at the front of the classroom.

The topic of the first videoconference was Beyond Borders of the Inner Circle, Outer Circle, and Expanding Circle with five EIL scholars from Hong Kong, USA, South Korea, Indonesia, and Japan. Each scholar spoke in turn on how English language and English education were perceived in each country. Specifically, they discussed topics such as the general perception of English in each country, the status of non-native English-speaking teachers and native English-speaking teachers in each country, age of learning English, and the role of English and local languages/mother tongues. After the completion of the main presentation by each speaker altogether (around 55 minutes), K students could interact with those EIL scholars and students during a Q&A session (around 35 minutes). The guest speakers also discussed and disagreed with one another on some topics.

The theme of the second videoconference was Revisiting Principles of Teaching English as an International Language (EIL) with six EIL scholars from the USA (N=2), Japan (N=2), Korea (N=1), and Indonesia (N=1). One of the leading EIL experts was invited to the classroom and delivered the main lecture entitled Revisiting Principles of Teaching EIL for nearly 20 minutes. This time, as illustrated in Figure 1, every speaker’s PowerPoint slides (of written text and images) were combined with audio and video using Skype’s screen-sharing function, which created a much rich multimodal environment and noticeably enhanced the understanding of the EIL content knowledge among students (Berglund, Reference Berglund2009; Dressman, Reference Dressman2016; Hsu, Reference Hsu2015; Hung, 2015). After the completion of the main speaker’s presentation, the other invited speakers discussed EIL topics for a total of half an hour before a Q&A session, similar to the first videoconference. According to the end-of-semester class evaluation, the students felt as if they had been physically present at an international conference, a process that would not have been possible without videoconferencing technology.

Figure 1

Creating a rich multimodal environment using Skype’s screen sharing

3. Post-videoconference task (1 week)

Based on Pre-VT and During-VT, the students wrote reflective essays. For this activity, similar to Kinginger’s (Reference Kinginger1998) study, they watched the video clips of the videoconferences again that were archived on the website (http://eslweb.wix.com/esol-roundtable) and critically analyzed the content as well as the different varieties of Englishes, which would “help [them] become keen and critical observers of language use” (Kinginger, Reference Kinginger1998: 511). After essay submission, each student made a final presentation regarding his or her essay during the last week of the 2015 spring semester. As the students went through a thorough process of Pre-VT, During-VT, and Post-VT, as exhibited in Table 2, they could engage in critical thinking by reviewing diverse opinions on an EIL theme on book chapters and papers during Pre-VT, comparing/contrasting a particular issue from various perspectives discussed by the EIL experts during During-VT, and coming up with their own original opinions (in the form of a reflective essay and final presentation) during Post-VT.

Table 2

Three stages of VEC

3.3 Data collection

Data were collected through a questionnaire, post-course class evaluations having been collected in spring 2014 (without VEC) and spring 2015 (with VEC), and in-class observation. A matrix is constructed in Table 3 in which the research questions are listed along the vertical axis and data sources along the horizontal axis. The open-ended questionnaire (see Appendix A), which had been developed based on the second author’s observation and informal interview prior to the main study, was distributed at the end of the During-VT stage to examine the students’ overall perception of the VEC. Students were asked to respond to question items about the structure of the VEC, the influence of the VEC on their EIL awareness, and the pedagogical benefits of the VEC on their learning in comparison to the conventional instruction. At the end of the questionnaire, there was also a prompt that encouraged them to make suggestions about improving VEC.

Table 3

A matrix of data source and research questions

Two post-course class evaluations using the same instrument (see Appendix B) were administered at the conclusion of the spring 2014 and 2015 semestersFootnote ² . The students were asked about the interaction between the professor and students, material/content quality of an EIL class (without VEC) in 2014 and an EIL class (with VEC) in 2015, and overall satisfaction of an EIL class (without VEC) in 2014 and an EIL class (with VEC) in 2015. Eight 5-point Likert-scale statements ranging from 1 (“strongly agree”) to 5 (“strongly disagree”) were used to obtain specific responses. The results of the two post-course class evaluations were compared to examine the pedagogical effectiveness of VEC in terms of interaction and the understanding of students’ EIL content. Qualitative data were also generated via open-ended questions, which provided examples and illustrative quotes, thereby adding more depth and color to the data than would be the case with answers provided for closed response items (Brown, Reference Brown2009).

The instructor and his research assistant collected in-class observation data to gain greater depth of understanding of the learners’ experience in the following procedure: (1) Prior to the in-class observation, they discussed the particular goals of the observation (i.e. research questions); (2) During the observation, all observation data relevant to the research questions were recorded in the field notes; (3) After the observation, they arranged a debriefing meeting for the data analysis. In particular, the discussion focused on how the students interacted with EIL scholars and other students at the During-VT stage.

3.4 Data analysis

A grounded theory was adopted to analyze the recursive data and recognize the themed findings (Strauss & Corbin, Reference Strauss and Corbin1998). The authors read through the questionnaire reiteratively, and bits of data that were relevant to “the pedagogical benefits of VEC” (for RQ 1) and “the influence of VEC on students’ perceptions toward EIL” (for RQ 2) of the study were coded. Similar codes were aggregated into three major analytic categories, respectively: for RQ 1, linking between Pre-VT and During-VT, promoting critical thinking, and no pedagogical benefits, and for RQ 2, understanding the EIL content more deeply, experiencing diverse English accents and EIL concept, and no influence. The results of the post-course class evaluations in spring 2014 (without VEC) and spring 2015 (with VEC) were also compared in order to investigate the effectiveness of the EIL instruction through VEC. Finally, the field notes from the in-class observations were used to produce concrete categorizations under the themes such as “link between Pre-VT and During-VT” and “promote critical thinking”. For instance, the authors read the field notes line by line, and they coded the meaningful segments of text that were relevant to the first research question.