This study reports on the preliminary findings of a qualitative case study exploring medical students’ engagement and autonomy in a blended Spanish language course in the English-speaking Caribbean. Data come from surveys, e-learning platform student activity reports, and in-depth interviews with volunteering students. The project spans two academic years (2023–2025) and includes responses from over 500 students at a university in Trinidad and Tobago, where a new institutional policy requires all students to complete a credit-bearing foreign language course. Engagement with the online course component is key to investigating student autonomy, as students often lack genuine interest in Spanish. The course is generally perceived negatively among medical students due to heavy core course workloads and the perceived irrelevance of Spanish. Preliminary findings, emerging from an analysis of online activity completion and thematic analysis of open-ended survey questions and interviews, suggest a high level of superficial engagement with online activities. Students who demonstrated deeper engagement had positive prior experiences with Spanish. The main pedagogical implication is the need to better promote learning beyond the classroom to encourage meaningful engagement with online materials.

This study explored nursing students’ motivation and behavioral patterns in a GenAI-mediated English copywriting task focused on medical innovation. Participants were 43 second-year nursing majors in a required ESP course at a private Taiwanese polytech university. The core task required students to identify a clinical nursing challenge and "invent" a conceptual medical product, followed by creating a promotional campaign. Using AI as a collaborative partner, students applied the AIDA framework (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) to structure their persuasive copywriting.

Quantitative results indicated high intrinsic and utility value toward AI-supported learning. Notably, higher frequencies of AI prompt iterations were positively associated with stronger self-regulation and organization scores on the MSLQ. Qualitative data revealed that high-performing students utilized iterative prompting to balance technical clinical specifications with empathetic marketing language. While AI improved fluency and reduced writing anxiety, participants noted challenges in maintaining a unique "human" voice. This process—navigating between complex clinical logic and persuasive communication—served as a primary indicator of developing digital literacy. Overall, the findings suggest that AI-assisted innovation tasks can significantly enhance motivation, provided that explicit instruction in prompt design and the AIDA framework is integrated into the curriculum.

This presentation reports on the design and implementation of a first-year Academic English course that systematically integrates four AI tools— such as Research Rabbit, Zotero, ChatGPT, and Talkpal—to support students’ research, academic writing, and presentation skills.

The course is organized around three scaffolded assessments on a self-chosen topic: (1) a research paper proposal, (2) a problem–solution essay, and (3) an oral presentation. Each assessment is paired with targeted AI-supported activities. For the proposal, Research Rabbit helps students explore a research field, identify key works, and narrow their focus, while Zotero supports source management, note-taking, and accurate citation. For the problem–solution essay, ChatGPT is used for brainstorming, outlining, language feedback, and revision, with explicit guidance on prompt design, verification of AI output, and academic integrity. For the oral presentation, Talkpal offers individualized practice in pronunciation, fluency, and delivery, complementing in-class training.

The presentation will showcase concrete lesson designs, sample activities, and reflective tasks that encourage critical and strategic use of AI rather than passive dependence. It will also address challenges such as uneven digital literacy, over-reliance on AI, and the need to strengthen students’ critical evaluation of AI-generated content, concluding with practical recommendations for integrating multiple AI tools into EAP courses.

This pilot study begins with a familiar fail: digitally competent students engaged in group tasks still hesitate to participate visibly on platforms such as Padlet. It asks which creativity orientations are most closely associated with digital learning dimensions that support online participation and global collaboration. Ninety first-year students enrolled in compulsory English communication courses at a national STEAM university in Japan completed two self-report questionnaires via Google Forms in autumn 2025. The first was a creativity style questionnaire measuring internal thinking, expressive risk-taking, social attunement, and collaborative facilitation. The second was an ISTE-aligned digital learning questionnaire assessing digital citizenship, collaboration, communication, and responsible participation. Both used five-point Likert scales; data were analysed using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and correlation analysis. Findings reveal a digital citizenship–collaboration gap: students report confidence in responsible digital participation yet weaker readiness for outward-facing collaboration. Relationships between creativity and digital learning become visible only when creativity is disaggregated by quadrant. Relational orientations, social attunement and collaborative facilitation, show the strongest links to digital learning profiles, while expressive risk-taking shows weaker connections. These findings suggest participation in platform-based EFL tasks is a threshold shaped by the relational costs of visibility, with implications for scaffolding technology-enhanced collaboration.

This presentation illustrates our four-year experience using Vooks.com, an animated storybook platform, to enhance English learning among secondary school students. Vooks.com integrates text, narration, and animation, creating an immersive environment that makes reading both enjoyable and meaningful. Through consistent classroom use, we have observed significant growth in students’ reading fluency, listening comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and overall engagement with English texts. The platform’s storytelling approach has also encouraged creative thinking, collaboration, and confidence in language use. During the session, participants will explore practical strategies for integrating Vooks.com into lessons, designing interactive activities, and assessing skill development. By sharing classroom examples and outcomes, this workshop aims to demonstrate how digital storytelling can transform traditional reading instruction into a dynamic, multi-skill learning experience that sustains students’ motivation and love for English. Initially in 2022, forty students from 8th grades had read vooks.com and after 4 years the number of readers reached to 250. Reading digital books affected students' English learning positively. This presentation frames Vooks as a free-to-use educational tool and is not commercial.

This forum features five presentations that collectively evaluate the theme of motivation—or the lack thereof—when using computers in language learning. Ken Ikeda analyzes student engagement with the NGSL Profiler, revealing technical advantages but a persistent reluctance to incorporate the tool independently. Kayo Ozawa discusses fostering authentic motivation for digital extensive reading and SDG-related research, set against a backdrop of leadership education. Ellen Head and Won Kim present a “human-in-the-loop” model, highlighting how student agency can be encouraged or undermined in AI-supported classrooms. Blair Barr explores how digital platforms for collaborative writing affect learners’ sense of autonomy and their willingness to engage with technology-driven tasks. Kimberly Reyes examines the complexities of learner motivation when integrating language learning apps, focusing on barriers, incentives, and how teachers can support meaningful digital engagement. Together, these presentations offer practical insights and research-based reflections on what drives—or hinders—students in their digital language learning journeys, inviting participants to consider how educators can better foster motivation and agency in an age of rapid technological change.

This practice-oriented presentation examines the frequency and depth of learners' responses to an online self-access task sheet at one private Japanese university. The sheet structures students' self-access work into three stages: preparation, task completion, and reflection. Designed for use in a self-access centre, it prompts students to log task goal(s) and planned resources beforehand, describe their session task, and reflect on outcomes, challenges, and next steps. Over a semester, usage logs and response data of 150 English majors were analysed using a mixed-methods approach for two questions: How often do students engage with the task sheet, and to what extent do responses—preparation plans, task descriptions, and reflections—move beyond brief/minimal entries toward detailed, specific, future-oriented content? Quantitative measures included submission counts per student and average response length per section. Qualitative coding assessed depth (superficial vs. detailed) and specificity (vague vs. concrete strategies/plans) in a stratified sample of 100 submissions using a simple three-level rubric. Preliminary analysis revealed high completion rates, but consistent lack of depth. This ranged from minimal effort responses and AI-generated content to vaguely/superficially action-oriented reflections. The presentation concludes by exploring reasons for these patterns and measures being considered moving forward.

As translation and generative AI tools become increasingly accessible, many EFL learners using these technologies produce linguistically advanced output that exceeds their actual level of comprehension and communicative control. In response to students using translation tools to write speeches in a Japanese secondary EFL course, and later using generative AI to write essays in an intensive EFL writing course, this practice-oriented presentation presents a practical classroom intervention activity designed to regulate technology use and address student motivation. First, the presentation outlines methods for identifying AI-generated work in student writing. Then, drawing on the Extensive Reading Foundation’s levels of comprehensive input, the in-class activity simulates language comprehension levels and guides students to realize how unrestricted access to digital tools can push learners into an unproductive “Pain Zone” of language learning. Rather than discouraging technology use, the activity aims to curb a reliance on digital tools while advising students to prioritize student-generated language, particularly in preparation for high-stakes university entrance exams. A comparison of student writing samples before and after the intervention activity suggests a reduced reliance on direct replication from AI. The session concludes by discussing implications for mediating AI integration in exam-oriented EFL contexts.

This qualitative pilot study examines a researcher-developed custom GPT, the “English & Well-Being Coach,” designed to extend positive psychology learning beyond class for Japanese university EFL students. Grounded in Seligman’s PERMA framework (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment), the coach prompts weekly reflection on one PERMA element and responds in CEFR A2–B1 English with brief, empathetic mentor-style guidance (validation, strengths-focused reframing, follow-up questions, and encouragement), ending with a short summary and targeted English feedback. The study aims to increase students’ everyday exposure to PERMA concepts for reframing school/life challenges while providing low-stakes opportunities for meaningful English self-expression. Over a five-week cycle (P–E–R–M–A), participants completed one coaching chat per week and provided transcripts of their conversations. Additional data include a pre-survey on prior AI use/expectations and a post-survey on perceived effectiveness and areas for improvement. The presentation reports students’ perceptions of coaching support, the role of PERMA prompts in shaping reflection, and the perceived usefulness of end-of-chat language feedback, with implications for future CALL research.

This presentation reports on the evolution of a multi-university collaborative learning project that integrates analog and digital tools to support student collaboration. Building on previous student engagement projects, the initiative has expanded to include additional institutions, introducing new challenges related to initiating collaboration among students who do not share a common class, instructor, or institution.

Earlier iterations of the project demonstrated that analog tools, such as instant photography, effectively fostered student engagement and reduced feelings of detachment common in digital exchanges. However, while successful in promoting interaction, the logistics proved difficult to enact further collaboration in a timely manner. In response, the current phase will build a digital layer of communication on top of the analog student work to improve the speed and volume of exchange.

Students now collaborate on presentation-based projects using Google Vids, with completed media shared via the Padlet platform. This allows participants to asynchronously view and comment on peers’ work. This study examines how combining analog and digital tools influence collaboration, participation patterns, and learner interaction. These findings should be of interest to instructors concerned about digital fatigue and who desire to increase meaningful student engagement.

This classroom action research investigates how a music-based, AI-supported CALL approach can improve grammar learning and reduce affective barriers among Thai primary EFL learners. Grounded in Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis, the study integrates LyricsTraining for interactive song-based grammar tasks, Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) for structured pre-task/task/post-task cycles, and Project-Based Learning (PBL) for creative multimodal output. Participants are 45 Grade 5 students (CEFR A1–A2) at La-orutis Demonstration School, Lampang, Thailand, implementing a 10-week intervention across two cycles: Cycle 1 focuses on grammar learning through LyricsTraining and collaborative analysis of target forms (present passive, will-future, first conditional, and present perfect with for/since). Cycle 2 culminates in a group mini project where students compose English songs using SUNO AI and design promotional posters with Canva for Education. Data will be collected through 20-item grammar tests (pre, post-1, post-2), an affective filter questionnaire, observation checklists, student reflection logs, and a song–poster rubric. Quantitative analyses (means, SD, paired-sample t-tests) and qualitative thematic analysis will examine changes in grammar performance, motivation, confidence, and anxiety. Expected outcomes include improved grammar accuracy, reduced anxiety, increased confidence and motivation, and high engagement through AI-assisted creative production.

Young learners aged 13–15 have been learning English at this small private school for 90 minutes every Wednesday night, but they have struggled to stay motivated in their language learning. The biggest issue was that they were bored of speaking English with the same Japanese classmates, so the presenter started preparing global projects to encourage active learning. In 2024, ten students undertook a homestay project in Taiwan and exchanged emails with students in Norway. In 2025, they engaged in cross-cultural projects with students in Sweden (writing letters) and Ukraine (video letters on Padlet). To examine their increased motivation, questionnaires and interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data. All students stated that these cross-cultural projects were meaningful, and that they were motivated to produce English content and make more effort to improve their language skills. However, there are limitations to stating that cross-cultural learning in CALL helped increase their motivation, as only qualitative data was analysed. Nevertheless, it is worth sharing information about the activities of this small private school with a global focus in CALL, as the students were inspired by their counterparts around the world and this changed their approach to learning at the school.