Technology and language learning is a vibrant field that has generated vast amounts of research. Clear evidence of this can be seen in the length of the online bibliography on the ICT4LT website which runs to more than 500 volumes. In addition to this there is a large number of print and online journals (see below) which present ongoing, cutting-edge research in the area.

However, a recurring issue with CALL research has long been that notwithstanding this stream of research, it has somehow lacked coordination and, more importantly, a theoretical framework: ‘this apparent maturity […] conceals a central characteristic of CALL research and practice, namely the quest for an accepted framework common to researchers and practitioners.’ (Reference ChambersChambers, 2010). This had been pointed out by Reference ChapelleChapelle (2003: 128) in her own seminal work on language learning and technology, as well as by others such as the authors of this EC report: ‘at present, not enough attention is being devoted to questions of how the new media can systematically aid language acquisition and learning’ (ICC Report, 2003: 5).

In this new volume, we have a large collection of research, theory and practice on the use of Web 2.0 for language learning. As probably the most comprehensive published collection to date in this area, Handbook of Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning goes towards filling this gap and is thus long-awaited and much overdue.

The 45 contributors to this massive volume – it runs to more than 600 pages – come from around the globe and as is to be expected, include many well-known names in the field: Michael Vallance, Bernd Rüschoff, Gary Motteram and the ‘guru’ of ICT, Mark Warschauer.

The layout of the book makes it very accessible, despite its daunting size, and it is clearly designed to be used as the ‘handbook’ of its title. The table of contents provides a synopsis of each chapter, and each chapter is followed by an index of ‘key terms’. The 28 chapters fall into three sections, Network communities and second language learning; The read/write web and second language learning; and Pedagogy 2.0 and second language learning.

While all three sections intersperse theoretical chapters with research studies, the first and third sections have the strongest theoretical bias. Section 1, Network communities and second language learning, sets the context for the volume, with chapters on pedagogical uses that exploit the essence of Web 2.0, community-building and participation. This section has the strongest focus on language learning and teaching theory, with chapters examining the operation of contemporary approaches to language learning – such as task-based learning and the communicative approach – in the Web 2.0 context, and it concludes with a timely exploration of the ‘digital native’ generation.

The second section, The read/write web and second language learning, is perhaps the most empirical, presenting nine chapters reporting studies on the use of a variety of Web 2.0 applications for language learning: social network sites (SNSs), blogging, mobile technology, and podcasting. Together with technologies discussed in the two other sections, which include Skype, Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), and Interactive Whiteboards, it can be seen that while keenly up-to-date, the research in this volume explores the more common technologies, ones with which readers will be familiar. This gives the book the advantage of being accessible and not overly technical. Especially given that many practitioners come to CALL from non-technical backgrounds, the book is thus perfectly pitched for its audience.

The tone of Section 3, Pedagogy 2.0 and second language learning, is set clearly by its first chapter, The Pedagogical Implications of Web 2.0, an ambitious and wide-ranging chapter that starts by contextualising the use of Web 2.0 tools within constructivist philosophy, before turning to look at the pedagogy of this in terms of teacher competencies. Other chapters in this section continue this focus on pedagogy, most notably perhaps, Chapter XXIII on the Internet and language teacher education. Other aspects of pedagogy include the use of Interactive Whiteboards (Chapters XXVI and XXVII) and Content Management Systems (CMSs) (Chapter XXVIII) and an interesting update of what would traditionally have been considered Web 1.0 applications, corpora and concordancing (Chapter XXII).

The first thing the reader might seek from this volume is a ‘definition’ of Web 2.0 and how it differs from Web 1.0. As McCarty points out on page 183, Web 2.0 is really ‘imprecise shorthand’ for the second generation of Web-based technologies where the content is user-generated, as in blogging, using SNSs, wikis and podcasting. These technologies create ‘a knowledge-oriented environment where users cooperatively create malleable content with shared presence’ (Vallance, page 7). These communicative and collaborative aspects make Web 2.0 a ‘social web’ (Pegrum, page 21), whereas Web 1.0 was ‘information-oriented’ (ibid., page 20). The contrast is neatly summed up by the editor as the evolution from ‘connecting information’ (Web 1.0) to ‘connecting people’ (Web 2.0) (Thomas xxii), a transition, then, from sharing knowledge to shared participation, making Web 2.0 quite simply ‘an architecture of participation’ (Reference O’ReillyO’Reilly, 2004). Of particular interest with regard to this distinction is Benito-Ruiz’s table contrasting the ‘ecologies’ of Webs 1.0 and 2.0 (page 65).

One of the main differences that emerge here between the pedagogical applications of Web 2.0 and Web 1.0 is the learning theories that underpin them. Whereas the pedagogical use of Web 1.0 drew largely on a Communicative framework, Web 2.0 pedagogy is here given a constructivist framework. This is developed in a number of chapters (II, III and XX, for example), with Wikipedia being cited as ‘the poster child for the collaborative construction of knowledge […] that the new interactive Web facilitates’ (Richardson, Reference Richardson2006: 61). The emergence of this new environment, then, might be seen as enabling a ‘concretisation’ of this classical pedagogical philosophy, a case of ‘philosophy in action’ perhaps. In this regard, this collection can be said to go some way towards responding to Chambers’ call for a ‘common framework’ (Reference ChambersChambers, 2010).

One of the problems of publishing books on technology and language learning has always been how quickly they outdate due to the speed of technological development. Publishing research on technology within its own medium has been the logical and successful solution to this, with a number of excellent online journals in the area such as Language Learning and Technology,CALL-EJ Online, and ReCALL. The editor of this volume was clearly aware of this dilemma and he carefully delimits his aim in presenting this collection as gathering ‘a representative selection’ of current, international research in order to ‘provide a snapshot of work-in-progress’ (Thomas, page xxii). In doing so, he has succeeded in sourcing cutting edge research on Web 2.0 pedagogy which is sure to remain relevant for some time. Along with this, and this is one of the main attractions of the book, come chapters having a broader sweep over the pedagogical aspects of using Web 2.0 for language learning. The research is also international, with contributions from practitioners throughout Asia, North America and Europe. The collection will thus appeal to a broad, worldwide readership, from teachers hunting for ideas for using the technologies with their classes, to researchers seeking theoretical underpinnings to Web 2.0 pedagogy.

Another aspect of the chapters in this volume which attest to its stated objectives is that it presents no dewy-eyed vision of Web 2.0. Many of the chapters deal with issues in using Web 2.0, ranging from the cognitive to the linguistic and sociological. The ingeniously labelled phenomenon of ‘infoxication’ (content overload) in Chapter IV (Benito-Ruiz, page 60); ‘fragmentia’ – a lack of wholeness due to excessive exposure to incomplete information (ibid., page 67); the messiness of multiple literacies and ‘linguistic mashups’ (evolving codes and registers used in different modes of online communication) (Pegrum, page 22); questioning the validity of tarring the whole of the younger generation with the same ‘digital native’ brush (MacLean and Elwood, Chapter IX).

The most discouraging problem voiced by many of the researchers writing here is the fact that after more than 30 years of CALL, technology has yet to be ‘normalised’ in language education. Despite being so much a part of our daily lives, technology is still seen by many teachers as serving a separate set of pedagogical goals (Pegrum, page 32). While huge financial investments have been made in hardware and training at all levels from national to individual institutions, the ‘grand narrative of educational policy statements lack clear guidelines on […] ICT integration’ (Vallance, Vallance and Matsui, page 1).

This also has to do with cultural differences in pedagogy, and comes across in Chapter I which offers snapshots of the varying levels and types of integration of technology in education in various countries.

The only minor issue I might have with this book, and this is mainly a factor of the quality and variety of its content, is that the thematic divisions of the three sections do not quite work, and the chapters do not all fall neatly into the three sections to which they are ascribed. For instance, many more, or indeed all, of the chapters might have fitted into Section 3, Pedagogy 2.0 and second language learning, so stringent is the attention to theoretical grounding in all of the contributions. A more transparent organisational approach might have been taken, therefore, possibly grouping according to technology. This in no way detracts from the accessibility of this collection, as the annotated table of contents serves as the main point of reference.