Updated on 2023/10/01

Affiliation
Faculty of International Research and Education, School of International Liberal Studies
Job title
Assistant Professor(without tenure)
Degree
Ph.D. ( 2023.03 Waseda University )
修士

Professional Memberships

  • 2022.12
    -
    Now

    LET

  • 2021.05
    -
    Now

    EUROCALL

Research Areas

  • Educational technology / Foreign language education

Research Interests

  • Second Language Teaching Methodology

  • Second Language Learning

  • Computer Assisted Language Learning

Awards

  • Jaclyn Ng Shi Ing Award for Best PhD Presentation

    2022.07   21st International CALL Research Conference  

 

Papers

  • Why do teachers participate in technology-focused online language teacher communities on Facebook?

    Yurika Ito

    Journal of Research on Technology in Education    2023.06  [Refereed]

    DOI

    Scopus

  • Examining a technology-focused language teacher community on Facebook during a crisis situation

    Yurika Ito

    Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education   8 ( 1 )  2023.01  [Refereed]

     View Summary

    Due to the chaos and confusion caused by the sudden transition from face-to-face teaching to online and remote teaching in early 2020, numerous language teachers had no choice but to rely on online communities on social networking sites. The current study therefore examined how some language teachers were utilising online communities on Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing a mixed-methods approach, data were mainly collected through: (1) an eight-month observation of a technology-focused language teacher community on Facebook to identify different types of posts generated by its members before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 340); (2) a questionnaire to understand the community members’ backgrounds and experiences of being in the community (n = 51); (3) semi-structured interviews with some of the questionnaire participants (n = 13); and (4) a post-interview questionnaire (n = 12) to get a better understanding of their responses. A content analysis of online posts and community members’ responses suggest that language teacher communities on Facebook were supporting teachers during the stressful periods of the pandemic professionally and emotionally. The main findings are discussed in terms of the benefits and drawbacks of using online language teacher communities for professional purposes. The overall goal of the study is to offer much-needed answers on how pre-existing communities can be used to assist language teachers in times of a crisis.

    DOI

    Scopus

    3
    Citation
    (Scopus)
  • Computer-assisted language learning and communicative competence

    Glenn Stockwell, Yurika Ito

    Communicative Competence in a Second Language     171 - 186  2022.12  [Refereed]

    DOI

    Scopus

  • A two-year investigation of a Facebook community for supporting language teachers using technology: Possibilities and challenges

    Yurika Ito

    Proceedings of the XXIst International CALL Research Conference     212 - 215  2022.07  [Refereed]

     View Summary

    The importance of educating language teachers to develop their competence in using technology for teaching purposes has been well established in the literature, but the reality is that many teachers around the world have been forced to educate themselves with little or no formal training. The Internet has opened up opportunities for individuals from all over the world to learn. With the use of Social Networking Sites (SNSs), language teachers are now able to connect with other like-minded teachers and support each other regardless of their geographic location and/or financial situation. Despite the increased number of online language teacher communities forming on these platforms, much remains unknown when it comes to how language teachers actually make use of such communities to learn about technology. Hence, the current mixed-methods longitudinal study investigated the role of online communities on SNSs for supporting language teachers who are using technology in their classes. The main data collection methods employed in the study were: (1) a content analysis of the posts shared in a Facebook community which consists of over 1000 online community members during the two-year observation period (i.e., October 2018 – September 2020), a questionnaire to understand the members’ backgrounds and experiences in the community, and semi-structured interviews with the questionnaire respondents to obtain an in-depth understanding of their views about being a community member. The findings will be discussed in terms of the benefits and issues of using Facebook communities as a source of professional and emotional support.

    DOI

  • Japanese EFL learners' perceptions of different accents in spoken English

    Yurika Ito

    Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics   2 ( 2 ) 61 - 82  2019.08  [Refereed]

    DOI

Presentations

  • Learning about technology for instructional purposes: Understanding how in-service language teachers are enhancing their professional knowledge and skills in technology

    JALTCALL 2023 

    Presentation date: 2023.06

  • Connecting with English teachers online: Challenges in teachers’ professional social media use

    The 30th Korea TESOL International Conference 

    Presentation date: 2023.04

    Event date:
    2023.04
     
     
  • Understanding the role of technology-focused Facebook communities for supporting language teachers in Japan

    EUROCALL 

    Presentation date: 2022.08

  • A two-year investigation of a Facebook community for supporting language teachers using technology: Possibilities and challenges

    XXIst International CALL Research Conference 

    Presentation date: 2022.07

  • Exploring the realities of online communities on SNSs for language teachers learning about technology for language teaching purposes

    EUROCALL 

    Presentation date: 2021.08

  • What do language teachers really think about technology?

    International Conference on Foreign Language Education & Technology 

    Presentation date: 2019.08

  • A comparison of elementary school English textbooks used in Japan, South Korea and China (Shanghai)

    JATLaC Conference 

    Presentation date: 2016.11

▼display all

 

Syllabus

 

Internal Special Research Projects

  • Understanding the role of technology-focused online communities for supporting foreign language teachers in Japan

    2022  

     View Summary

    At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many teachers, if not most, were forced to temporarily teach remotely and learn how to use various online tools despite not being properly trained in online teaching. Without any other place to turn to, it appeared that numerous teachers had no choice but to rely on online teacher communities formed on various social media platforms for support. The present study, which is part of a larger research project, set out to examine the ways in which foreign language teachers in Japan were utilising online teacher communities where the primary discussions are on technology during the ongoing pandemic situation. Data were mainly collected via online observations of three technology-focused online teacher communities which predominantly consisted of members who were foreign language teachers teaching in Japan. Specifically, the content of the initial posts and number of likes, shares, and comments were monitored and recorded for a period of three months. The content analysis of the online posts shared within the three technology-focused online teacher communities illustrated that many online members used them to share information about events, including seminars, conferences, and “how-to” sessions on Zoom, reading materials, and websites and ask questions about teaching and technology to other professionals in the communities. In several of the communities, members seem to rely on them for emotional support, with some members checking up on their wellbeing, inviting them to participate in online social gatherings, and sharing information about how to enhance their physical and mental wellbeing. The study’s findings clearly demonstrated how the online teacher communities, particularly the ones which placed a focus on technology, were useful for many foreign language teachers, including those who were professionally isolated as a result of the pandemic. As the present study’s findings seem to suggest that there is a difference in activity between private and public online teacher communities, the next step of the study is to look at teachers’ perceptions towards the use of private and public online communities and examine as to whether there are any psychological barriers towards participating in public communities which are open to anyone. 

  • Understanding the role of technology-focused online communities for supporting foreign language teachers in Japan

    2022  

     View Summary

    The education landscape is in a constant state of flux, with technology endlessly evolving. As the popularity of social media has grown immensely in the past decade, it is not entirely surprising that more and more teachers have been relying on social media and participating in online teacher communities for professional learning purposes. Although an increasing number of studies investigating online teacher communities on various social media platforms have been conducted, to date, there is a dearth of studies specifically set in the context of Japan. The present study, which is part of a larger research project, aimed to understand how foreign language teachers in Japan are capitalising on technology-focused online teacher communities. Employing a mixed-methods research design, data were mainly collected through surveys and interviews: Firstly, the initial questionnaire was distributed to language teachers who were members of online teacher communities (n=181). To obtain a better understanding of the initial questionnaire responses, semi-structured interviews with 18 questionnaire respondents were then conducted. Several months after the interviews, a post-interview questionnaire was distributed to all the interviewees to ask additional questions which arose after all the interview data were analysed. The content analysis of the self-reported data suggest that language teachers were utilising online teacher communities for a multitude of different reasons—to obtain new ideas, ask questions related to technology and/or teaching, find emotional support, obtain a sense of belonging, and ameliorate their feeling of professional isolation. Overall, the findings seem to suggest that online teacher communities, which are free and available to anyone as long as they have access to the Internet, play an important role in supporting foreign language teachers in Japan, particularly those who have limited professional learning resources and collegial support at their workplace. The results were presented at several international conferences and internal seminars and published in an international peer-reviewed academic journal.

  • Using Facebook groups to learn about technology for language teaching

    2021  

     View Summary

    The main objective of the current research project was to obtain a comprehensive understanding of how Facebook groups targeted at language teachers can be used as a source of professional learning. Building upon data collected since 2018, the main data sources used in the current study were: 1) an in-depth online observation of a Facebook group which predominantly consists of members who are language teachers using technology for teaching purposes; 2) a questionnaire distributed to language teachers on Facebook; and 3) interviews with some of the questionnaire respondents. The findings illustrated that many language teachers around the world were using Facebook groups to enhance their professional knowledge and skills. Since the study took place during the ongoing pandemic, the study also sheds light on the reality of how language teachers, including those who were forced to teach online without little or no technical training, were utilising Facebook groups during a pandemic. In times of a pandemic, the demand for the Facebook groups appeared to be even greater since language teachers were able to connect with like-minded teachers without the need for in-person interactions. The main results were presented at EUROCALL 2021, an international conference on Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL).