Innovations in learning technologies for English language teaching

Innovations in learning technologies for English language teaching

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.

CALL has its origins in the development of the first mainframe computers (Levy, 1997; Beatty, 2010; Davies et al., 2013) and articles about the use of computers in language education started appearing in earnest in the 1980s, over 30 years ago, at the same time as early desktop computers started to make an appearance. At the time of going to press there are 11 organisations listed in the entry on CALL on Wikipedia starting with the Asia Pacific Association for CALL (APACALL) and ending with WorldCALL, an umbrella group which runs an overarching conference every five years (in 2013 in Glasgow). There are also a number of dedicated journals that focus on the field of technology and language learning including: CALICO, CALL, International Journal of Computer Assisted Language Learning and Teaching, Language Learning and Technology and ReCALL. CALL is also written about in journals that take a more general focus on technology in education, for example, Computers in Education, or the British Journal of Educational Technology and arguably more significantly for the general acceptance of the discipline, there 6 | Introduction Introduction | 7 are a number of journals in the language teaching field that also regularly feature articles on CALL. English Language Teaching Journal (ELTJ), arguably one of the most influential practitioner oriented journals in the TESOL field, in a recent special issue has an article by Dudeney and Hockly (2012) in which they review the 30 years of technology in language teaching, and Nicky Hockly continues a tradition started by David (Diana) Eastment in each issue of producing a short article on technology in language learning. In the special issue of ELTJ just mentioned, the topic is mobile learning. You will also see other general language journals referenced throughout this book.

CALL has then moved from being a niche field practised by a few early adopters, to being mainstream and arguably having significant impact with two of the journals mentioned above, Computers in Education and Language Learning and Technology being ranked in the top 20 most influential journals in education.

The diversification of CALL 

CALL is no longer one subject; in fact, Arnó-Macià (2012) has argued that we are now in the realm of a definite division between computer mediated communication as one branch of the world of educational technology and ELT and CALL, as another. I would argue for further sub-divisions of CALL, for the teaching and learning of specific purposes languages as well as CALL for younger learners, and you will find chapters on each of these areas in this book. We can also appreciate these developments in the creation of special interest groups in organisations like EuroCALL and CALICO.

In very recent times we have also seen a growth of overview articles in journals that address these very specific domains. In Language Teaching there has been a recent review of CALL for young learners (Macaro, Handley and Walter, 2012); in the Modern Language Journal there was an overview of ESP (Arnó-Macià, 2012), which acted as an introduction to a special issue. We have seen for a while more specificity in books too, with Kern and Warschauer starting the trend with Network Based Language Teaching (2000), Dudeney on the Internet and the Language Classroom (2000 and 2007), an ESP book on technology (Arnó, Soler and Rueda, 2006), O’Dowd on online intercultural exchanges (2007), a book on social media in language learning (Thomas, 2009), Mawer and Stanley on digital games (2011) and an expected glut around mobile learning in the next few years. However, there are still influential general books in the field, for example, Levy and Stockwell (2006), Thomas, Reinders and Warschauer (2013), this latter forming part of a series which is always a good sign of a healthy field, as are second editions, for example Beatty (2010). 

Issues of methodology and technology

 Since computers started to be introduced in language learning (and in education in general) people have rightly asked whether the investment we are making in these technologies gives us value for money. As digital technologies have taken a hold in society in general, this particular question is not asked quite so often, but it is still important to make sure that the technologies that we have available are used effectively. People are always tempted to try to make an argument for technology having an impact on the development of pedagogy and in many cases we can see that the use of technology has enabled teachers to re-think what they are doing. We also see people trying to populate this domain by talking about notions like the ‘flipped classroom’, ostensibly a methodology that sees input as occurring at ‘home’ and physical classrooms being used as spaces to explore what has been presented in the input. This is far from being a new idea, but these agendas are pushed for a while and then disappear again. What is a contender for a methodology that is central to the world of technology and language learning is that of blended learning (Motteram and Sharma, 2009). We see this methodology still being developed, but when handled best it is the most likely candidate for a starting point for getting teachers to work with technology in their practice. It is still the case that most teachers work in physical classrooms and looking at ways that these spaces can be augmented with digital technologies is a very good starting point. In our recent project for Cambridge University Press, Diane Slaouti, Zeynep Onat-Stelma and myself added the idea of the extended classroom to the notion of blended learning (see Chapter 3 for further discussion). An extended classroom is one that allows learners to engage in material beyond the regular class period, so while a blended classroom is looking at ways that an activity might be enhanced by a technology, we also see technologies being used to make it possible to cover areas of the curriculum that there is just not enough time for in the busy world of formal education, particularly in primary and secondary schools. Thorne and Reinhardt (2008) have also proposed the notion of ‘bridging activities’, which simplistically is about getting learners to talk about how learners are using technology in their ‘out of class lives’ in the classroom. Thorne and Reinhardt (2008) are interested in fan fiction, the sort of narrative material that is created around digital gaming. What they propose is that teachers encourage learners to bring this activity into the classroom with them and they use it as the foundations of lessons. 

The range of technologies

At the beginning of this introduction I talked about the range of technologies that are now regularly used in classrooms throughout the world. In the research that I mentioned above: Motteram, Onat-Stelma and Slaouti (2008), we surveyed teachers 8 | Introduction Introduction | 9 of adults about the technologies that they use with their learners and we saw a very wide range. What we found was that it wasn’t always the case that new technologies replaced old ones. In some cases, when a newer technology is not always available, what drove teachers’ choices was the needs of the lesson and the perceived needs of the learners. 

In many of the teaching resource books that are produced, we do not get a real insight into how teachers actually make use of the technologies to support the learning outcomes of the classes. What we tried to do in the Cambridge project and what we have tried to do here is to provide good examples of teacher practice embedded in a broader understanding of what happens in the classrooms, so the Cambridge project produced a series of detailed case studies of teacher activity that you can find and read on the web (http://blogging.humanities.manchester. ac.uk/CUP/). This book continues this trend, but it broadens the database of cases on display. The CUP project focused on the adult world, whereas this book includes chapters that discuss a wider and more detailed view of the world of ELT, which also reflects the broader uses of technology in the world.

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