Effectively implementing technology into the foreign language classroom is no simple task, and doing so without clear objectives can hinder second-language (L2) learning. Paradoxically, however, a case no longer needs to be made for technology’s importance to language learning (Chapelle, Reference Chapelle2003). This edited volume on computer-assisted language learning (CALL) research addresses this quandary, incorporating numerous technology-enhanced SLA studies, which explore different Web-based tools for L2 classroom instruction and research. In five sections, each exploring a different CALL issue, 14 chapters examine issues relevant to SLA teachers and researchers. Part 1, “New Literacies,” comprises three studies on the 21st-century aptitudes that presuppose a consummate use of digital communications for language learning. Part 2, “Chat,” constitutes three chapters on the virtues of electronic chatrooms for teaching L2 discourse strategies. With an evident focus on listening comprehension, Part 3, “Podcasts,” encompasses two chapters on integrating podcasting into a foreign language curriculum. Part 4, “Blogs,” includes three appraisals of the multidimensionality and sociopragmatic features of blogs and blogging. Finally, Part 5, “Discussion Forums,” incorporates three chapters: two that focus on the social dimensions, structure, and discourse of electronic forums for the L2 classroom and a third chapter that provides a model of the discussion forum as part of an integrated performance assessment. The editors recognize the volume’s predominance of research with English, Spanish, and French and maintain that, regardless of language used, the results can be extended to other languages.
The common theme that unites the volume is its focus on developing new literacies, including computer-mediated communication (CMC) and podcasting for L2 learning and teaching. Specific attention is paid to synchronous and asynchronous CMC that involves text and voice-based chat, blogs, and online discussion forums. Studies draw on diverse approaches, which include sociocultural pragmatics, interactionist approaches, and discourse analysis. A range of methodologies (e.g., interviews, focus groups, elicitation of oral and written data, corpus analysis) covers a broad scope of pedagogical issues, such as how to facilitate student noticing of linguistic variation, online tools for task-based teaching, focus-on-form, material authenticity, sociocultural awareness, and emerging technologies. From the tech savvy to the less inclined, many can appreciate ideas on the effective integration of technology into the L2 classroom.
High points include Lotherington, Neville-Verardi, and Sinitskaya’s presentation of the literacy-illiteracy dichotomy preeminent in standardized testing as a backdrop for the importance of digital literacies like gaming, blogging, wikis, video logging, and Facebook. Abrahams deals with the use of online translation tools to elicit students’ noticing of grammatical and syntax errors, highlighting potential benefits and drawbacks and offering innovative uses of translation tasks for improving student awareness of grammatical and lexical features. Lee’s chapter on negotiation strategies and feedback between native and nonnative speakers of Spanish used in synchronous CMC environments finds evidence of positive benefits from negotiating meaning with native speakers in real time, including a deeper appreciation of authentic language for real-world contexts. Whitworth proposes the potential utility of discussion forums for teaching and learning languages as socioculturally situated communities of practice and argues for their effectiveness for fostering communities of practice to address the pragmatic and linguistic functions of language among active and peripheral participants. Williams furnishes a chapter on the navigation and interpretation of hypertext in French and a chapter on the linguistic and social dimensions of French-language discussion forums.
A common concern that appears throughout this volume is how to make French L2 learners aware of linguistic variation in French second-person tu-vous pronoun use (e.g., Williams, van Compernolle, & Pierozak; Douglass, Blattner, & Williams), which may be of limited application for teachers of English and other languages that do not make distinctions between informal and formal pronouns of address. It would have been useful if sample classroom tasks had included an English translation to be used by teachers of other languages. As Neguerela-Azarola points out, some activities posited in this volume need further development to be directly applicable within the L2 classroom. Screen shots are also lacking, sometimes impeding a complete appreciation of classroom task interface.
This book will be useful to SLA teachers and researchers due to the broad range of technology employed in the L2 classroom. A clear focus on promoting sociocultural competence, intercultural understanding, and learner autonomy gives credence to the positive impact that the contributors to this volume intend to foster.
