A comparative study of Japanese and Iranian students’ use of ICT for language learning beyond the classrooms

Research show that the use of technology in technologically advanced and advancing countries differ significantly and the users in the former act far better with technology than the users in the latter. However, how this usage differs in terms of the actual usage of technology in a foreign language or for learning that language has received little attention. Therefore, the present cross-cultural case study tried to compare and contrast the patterns of using technology in two Asian universities in a technologically advanced and a technologically advancing country. Consequently, ۲۴۸ Japanese and ۲۳۵ Iranian students were selected as the participants of the study. The data was collected through an online questionnaire that gained information about students’ use of ICT in English, students’ use of discipline-specific technology in English, students’ challenges with technology, and finally their future language needs. Overall, it was found that Iranian students used technology in L۲ more than the Japanese, especially in terms of communication technologies. In terms of the challenges with ICT, Japanese pointed out their lack of knowledge about the available technology as their major barrier while the Iranians referred to lack of IT support such as slow computers and internet connection. Finally, both groups selected listening skill as the skill for which they would need more expert support.

Keywords:

Computer-assisted language learning , Out-of-class language learning , Normalization , Information and communication technology , Discipline-specific technology