Innovative Learning Design & Technology

This study investigates preservice teachers’ discourse about CALL in a required CALL class which combines theory and practice. Thirty-three students in a Linguistics MA program CALL course were observed over a 10-week quarter. For all of these students, it was their first formal exposure to CALL as a discipline. Communication in the class consisted of student-led in-class discussions, web-based wiki, chat, and discussion fora. All communication during the course was recorded for the purpose of investigating teachers’ emerging perceptions of CALL and the role it plays in language teaching and learning. All the preservice teachers were new to CALL and consequently had a lack of awareness of the breadth of the topic. They were initially apprehensive about the notion of CALL. A lack of awareness of the potential for CALL and negative experiences with poorly designed technology accounted for much of this apprehension. There was also an overwhelming sense that CALL threatened the teacher in myriad ways. Competent with technology for personal purposes, these teachers did not easily transfer skills to CALL contexts. When faced with the opportunity to discuss CALL in depth they began to ap- preciate the potential for technology use in language teaching. However, they expressed sustained concern over a potential loss of control over the teaching environment and students. Suggestions for cultivating a student-centered CALL classroom address these concerns.

In recent years in CALL, there has been much anecdotal evidence to suggest that language teachers who wish to learn more about the uses of technology in lan- guage learning are not able to locate the appropriate formal courses or programs to help them. As a result, language teachers are often compelled to take one of two alternatives, or both, to acquire some of the requisite skills. The first alternative is to attend short, generic courses on new learning technologies, or introductory courses on a particular piece of software, for example a new or upgraded e-mail application, or a learner management system (LMS) that the institution has cho- sen to adopt, such as a Blackboard. The second alternative is to “do it yourself ”, for example through asking colleagues, through attending workshops at CALL con- ferences, or by joining a discussion group where more experienced members of the group answer specific questions. Though these alternatives have their place and value, they have their limitations too. To explore this problem, Greg Kessler collected data from practicing teachers, teacher trainers, and teacher education Program coordinators through an online survey, focus groups and interviews. In analyzing the findings, he sheds light on trends and patterns of activity in teacher education and CALL. He also provides more detail on how motivated language teachers respond to prevailing conditions, how they compensate for the lack of formal courses, and the many ways in which they seek to educate themselves. On the basis of the data collected, he concludes the chapter with a series of recom- mendations for both pre-service and in-service teacher training and support.

This study reports on student initiated attention to form within the collaborative construction of a wiki among pre-service Non-Native Speaker (NNS) English teachers. Forty NNS pre-service teachers from a large Mexican university were observed over a period of a sixteen week semester in an online content-based course aimed at improving their language skills while studying about the cultures of the English-speaking world. A core element of the course was a wiki that was collaboratively created, developed, and revised throughout the course. Students were encouraged to focus on language accuracy while actively participating and interacting with their peers in varied ways. This article explores the degree to which these NNS EFL teacher candidates attempt to correct their own and others’ grammar errors in a long-term collaborative task. The article also addresses the level of accuracy these participants achieve and the attention they pay to grammar revision versus content revision. Follow-up interviews with participants provided insight into the perception of the importance of grammar in the context of collaborative technologies among these NNS pre-service teachers.

The word virtual is an exceptional technology oriented neologism deserving explanation. It is commonly accepted as referring to computer simulation or indicating lack of authenticity. However, the increasing polysemic nature of the word virtual has resulted in a much broader range of use within natural language. Many of these meanings appear to increasingly conflict with previously recognized meanings. The author explores contemporary natural language use of the word virtual in the context of the Enron email dataset. This dataset has been selected for three reasons: it represents the largest authentic collection of email available to date, Enron was a tech savvy company with high proclivity for use of neologisms, and Enron has been referred to by some as a virtual company.
Examples of virtual in this study indicate broad reference to nearly anything computer related, including computer business, computer based simulation and varied forms of computer mediated communication. It is also observed illustrating inauthenticity, hyperbole and potential deception. This study demonstrates a lack of confidence that suggests an underlying concern about the potential ambiguity of the word virtual, resulting from the increasing polysemic nature of this word.

This study compares characteristics of fluency in student audio journals recorded in a laboratory setting with those recorded using mobile audio devices. Forty graduate students enrolled in four oral communication courses at an American university recorded weekly audio journals for a 10-week term. Students chose the environment in which they recorded these journals, provided that they recorded at least once in the audio laboratory and at least once using the mobile audio devices. The frequency of preferred recording environment was observed. Two independent raters assigned rank scores to the students’ volume, pausing, utterance length, and rate in relation to the observable influence of anxiety upon fluency in order to determine if there is a significant difference between fluency in these two environments. Implications for language learning are discussed.

This chapter addresses the technology preparation of future second language (L2) writing teachers. Particular attention is paid to issues associated with the integration of technology based writing tools and their role in the writing classroom. In spite of a wealth of research into the increasing variety of writing activities in language classrooms, there has been little written about the role of technology in the preparation of language teachers focused upon varied forms of writing using new and emerging tools. This chapter addresses the CALL preparation of teachers who specialize in second language writing, CALL writing specialists, and those teachers who teach writing as well as other skills. In attempt to align this preparation with appropriate expectations for language teachers, this discussion is presented in the context of the TESOL technology standards. Suggestions for varied writing activities, practices and opportunities within new and emerging writing contexts are presented.

As the Internet has matured we find ourselves immersed in a multiplicity of content, communities and communication tools. These developments offer new possibilities and challenge us to reflect upon our language teaching pedagogy. Many technologies have found their way into ubiquitous use in our daily lives, yet they are often overlooked, or even avoided, in the classroom. Maintaining a focus upon the role of teachers and students, the presenter explores how we might proceed to rethink pedagogy in an era of ubiquitous computing.

• So6llo (2000) Students in ACMC devoted 49% of their pos6ngs to responding to the teacher.• Student responses to each other,“suggested agreement and disagreement in indirect ways”(p. 104).• Anecdotal observa6on of superficial ACMC• No explicit previous research into agreement and disagreement in online language learning

International TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) is currently developing sets of standards related to using digital technology in language teaching. The standards are designed to clarify appropriate uses of technology and support best practices in CALL in diverse settings around the world. We begin by describing the process through which the current versions of the standards have been developed since the project was initiated in early 2006.

We live in a world with varied emerging contexts for practicing writing. This is evident in the breadth of topics covered in this CALICO monograph. We are also witnessing a dramatic change in the nature of writing itself, including the emer-gence of netspeak and a merging of written and spoken discourse in web contexts (Crystal, 2001, 2008).