Informal Digital Learning of English in Asian English as a Foreign Language Contexts: A Thematic Review

Research on informal digital learning of English (IDLE) has proliferated in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) over the past decade, due largely to the status of English as a global language and the increasing accessibility of digital technologies among students of the digital native generation. In this article, we report the results of a thematic review we conducted of 49 empirical studies on IDLE in Asian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts during the years 2014–2024. In this review, we first clarify the conceptual orientations of the IDLE scholarship in a changing world shaped by globalization and technological innovations. We then present three major research strands that Asian TESOL researchers and practitioners should attend to: how IDLE serves as a new individual difference variable in second language development; how language teachers perceive and prepare for pedagogically integrating IDLE; and how unequal IDLE practices reinforce issues of the digital divide. By mapping out the terrain of informal digital learning of English in Asian EFL contexts, we point out the pedagogical implications and future investigations that can create conditions for empowering and enabling Asian students to become self-directed and productive informal language learners in a rapidly changing digital world.