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Innovations in learning technologies for English language teaching
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In this early part of the 21st century the range of technologies available for use in language learning and teaching has become very diverse and the ways that they are being used in classrooms all over the world, as illustrated in this book, have become central to language practice. We are now firmly embedded in a time when digital technologies, the focus of this book, are what Bax has referred to as ‘normalised’ (2003, 2011) in daily life in many parts of the world, although not amongst all people as there are digital divisions everywhere (Warschauer, 2003), and still not always in the world of education. However, digital tools, or what I will describe in Chapter 7
as ‘technical cultural artefacts’ have long been a feature of the world of education (Bates, 2005), and particularly language education (Salaberry, 2001). These digital tools are, of course, central in what I would argue is the established and recognised field of computer assisted language learning (CALL), but are also increasingly a core part of English language teaching (ELT) in general.
People continue to debate the use of the term CALL itself, asking whether it is
still relevant. Levy and Hubbard making the argument for (2005), whilst Dudeney and Hockly (2012) are rather less convinced. In a world where we increasingly see laptops, tablet computers, or mobile phones as the technology of choice, it might be argued that we are at a tipping point when this common term will soon disappear. However, in this chapter at least I will refer to the discipline as CALL, because along with the names of the different special interest groups and the predominant journals in the field, this continues to be the most common referent. A useful definition of CALL comes from Levy: ‘the search for and study of applications of the computer
in language teaching and learning’. (1997: 1) and this is what this book presents, albeit in a new way of thinking about the field. This fresh approach sees it as one that has significantly diversified, illustrates real practice with a considerable number of authentic case studies and then in the final chapter shows how CALL makes an increasingly significant contribution to the general world of ELT
Gary Motteram - Personal Name
1st Edtion
978-0-86355-713-2
NONE
Innovations in learning technologies for English language teaching
Management
English
British Council
2013
Britian
1-201
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