Toward an Ecological CALL

1. Toward an Ecological CALL Lafford, B. A. (2009). Toward an Ecological CALL: Update to Garrett (1991). The Modern Language Journal, 93, 673-696. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00966.x

2. Computer-based technology • expanding the repertoire of possible task types • giving learners more immediate access to authentic materials and speakers of the target language, • madingus rethink/reconceptualize how we teach grammar, vocabulary, the four skills, communicative competence and cultural competence.

3. Access to the Internet • Pre-Internet tools: CD-ROM formats provide students with a “tireless tutor,” traditional drill-and-kill exercises and engaging games to teach grammar and vocabulary but may be limited to L2 learners’ access (sometimes outdated). • Internet technologies are widely available to L2 learners from popular Web sites (e.g., iTunes and YouTube) onto their computers or mobile devices (e.g., Kindles, iPod, mobile phone, Tablet/iPad).

4. Innovative technologically mediated ways • Innovative technologically mediated ways to learn grammar and vocabulary may be realized by having L2 learners use text- or video-based multi-modal concordancers to examine corpora of target language authentic written and oral texts to see “grammar in action” and to understand nuanced interpretations of target language lexical items that appear in various contexts (Ackerley& Coccetta, 2007; Huang & Liou, 2007). Ackerley, K., & Coccetta, F. (2007). Enriching language learning through a multimedia corpus. ReCALL Journal, 19, 351–370. Huang, H. -T., & Liou, H. -C. (2007). Vocabulary learning in an automated graded reading program. Language Learning & Technology, 11(3), 64–82.

5. CMC tools now in theirsecond generation • First generation: asynchronous CMC tools – email, text- or audio-based discussion boards, forums • Second generation: blogs, wikis, social networking sites (YouTube, Slideshare, Facebook) • Third generation: including Web 2.0 applications such as Skype, Twitter(made possible in mobile computing devices), and L2 gaming applications in virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life) Chun, D. (2008). Computer-mediated discourse in instructed environments. In S. Magnan (Ed.), Mediating discourse online (pp. 15–45). Phildelphia: Benjamins.

6. Normalization of CALL in Pedagogical Practice • One of the most promising tools that can be used to promote the normalization of CALL is Web 2.0 technology.

7. FUTURE RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONOF CALL • 1. Replace generalized studies comparing the use of a CALL versus non-CALL approach with qualitative case studies of certain aspects of CALL used in given local contexts. • 2. Continue to carry out research to track the attention learners pay to certain parts of the online input and their own output and to understand the complex paralinguistic factors that may affect the online composition process.

8. FUTURE RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONOF CALL • 3. Compare and contrast the relative affordances of different types of quantitative (e.g., CBT, CAT) and qualitative (e.g., e-portfolio) approaches to the assessment of communicative and cultural competence. • 4. Explore the attitudes and abilities (other than the attainment of linguistic outcomes) developed in learners who participate in virtual environments (e.g., self-confidence, pragmatic competence).

9. FUTURE RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONOF CALL • 5. Explore the relative affordances of different authoring tools to create task-based activities, intelligently evaluate learner responses, and provide contingent feedback on the acquisition of specific L2 outcomes. • 6. Carry out more ethnographic case studies of how different types of learners (e.g., nonnative speaker vs. heritage) use technological affordances in virtual worlds to establish identities and acquire linguistic and cultural knowledge while interacting with nonnative and native speakers of the target language.

10. FUTURE RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONOF CALL • 5. Explore the relative affordances of different authoring tools to create task-based activities, intelligently evaluate learner responses, and provide contingent feedback on the acquisition of specific L2 outcomes. • 6. Carry out more ethnographic case studies of how different types of learners (e.g., nonnative speaker vs. heritage) use technological affordances in virtual worlds to establish identities and acquire linguistic and cultural knowledge while interacting with nonnative and native speakers of the target language.

11. FUTURE RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONOF CALL • 7. Conduct more studies of the use of Web 2.0 communication technologies and on the most efficient applications for sharing information (e.g.,Evernote). • 8. Carry out more emically based qualitative case studies to understand the stages that learners go through when entering into social networks (e.g., peripheral participation may precede active engagement in social networks).

12. FUTURE RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONOF CALL • 9. Conduct ethnographic case studies of individual learners acquiring languages in distance learning environments to understand the relative success of certain types of language learning strategies to facilitate the acquisition of the target language. • 10. Conduct research on the efficacy of various ways of training instructors to use technology and on their motivation to do so. • 11. Carry out research via surveys and interviews of decision makers at various levels about their evaluation of CALL scholars for promotion and tenure.