ICT beyond the Language Classroom in Technologically Advanced and Advancing Countries: The Case of Japan and Iran

It is believed that there is a significant difference between the use of technology in technologically advanced and advancing countries, and the users in the former act far better with technology than the users in the latter. However, there is not enough report on how this usage differs in terms of the independent use of technology in a foreign language or for learning that language. Therefore, the present cross-cultural case study was conducted to compare and contrast the patterns of using technology in two Asian universities, one in Japan (a technologically advanced country) and another in Iran (a technologically advancing country). The participants were ۲۴۸ Japanese and ۲۳۵ Iranian students. The data were collected through an online questionnaire that gained information about students’ use of technology in everyday life in their L۱ (Japanese & Persian) and in L۲ (English), students’ use of discipline-specific technology in English, and their attitudes toward the use of technology for language learning. The findings revealed that there is not a very significant difference between the patterns of using technology in Japan and Iran in both L۱ and L۲. The major difference was that the Japanese tended to use more information technologies in L۱, while the Iranians leaned toward communication technologies. It was also found that Iranian students used technology in L۲ more than the Japanese, especially in terms of communication technologies. 

Keywords:

computer-assisted language learning , out-of-class Language learning , normalization , Information and communication technology , discipline-specific technology