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May 2000, Week 3

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Subject:
From:
LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 18 May 2000 10:09:37 EDT
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multipart/mixed
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--- Forwarded Message from Nina Garrett <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 15:50:24 -0400
>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum               <[log in to unmask]>
>From: Nina Garrett <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #5661 CALL and promotion decisions: Research in CALL
>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>

In my own personal experience and in talking to administrators at many
institutions over the years, work in CALL has almost always been classified as
teaching and/or service.  I've argued without success for the ways in which
CALL research is unique and has to be recognized.  However, a group of CALLers
met in Germany a year ago under the aegis of EuroCALL, CALICO, and IALL to
draft a document on the subject; Bob Fischer and I were participants.  Some of
you may have seen Bob's announcement of it on the CALICO list on May 1.  The
document will soon be discussed by CALICO and IALL members in hopes that
"adoption" or "ratification" by the leading professional organizations in the
field will make it a useful text in precisely these discussions.  I'm
attaching
it as a Word document and also pasting it in below for your convenience. 
Please keep in mind that it *hasn't* yet been officially adopted, so it
shouldn't be claimed as anyone's official policy, but it might provide you
with
some useful language even in the interim.   I'd be delighted to compile any
responses to it and report them back to LLTI.  

        Best,
                Nina

At 02:38 PM 5/17/2000 -0400, you wrote:
>--- Forwarded Message from "Scott G. Williams" <[log in to unmask]> ---
>
>>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 12:45:52 -0500
>>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information
Forum               <[log in to unmask]>
>>From: "Scott G. Williams" <[log in to unmask]>
>>Subject: CALL and promotion decisions
>
>------------------
>Hi,
>
>I am planning to go to bat soon for our faculty with the administration
>about recognition of their involvement in the production of CALL material.
>That is, I want it to be a clearly recognizable item in tenure and
>promotion decisions. Merely subsuming it under "Service" or "Teaching"
>often tends to devalue it in those circumstances, and it does not really
>acknowledge the unique way in which it combines those categories with a
>type of "Research" and "Publishing," albeit not in any traditional sense.
>
>What is the policy at your universities? Has anyone been involved in
>advocating distinct recognition of such activities? How did you sell it?
>
>Suggestions?
>
>thanks,
>
>Scott
>
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>Scott G. Williams, Ph.D.
>Director
>Language Acquisition Center
>Dept. of Foreign Languages
>Univ. of Texas at Arlington
>Box 19557
>Arlington, Texas 76019-0557
>
>Tel: Office (817) 272-5650 / LAC (817) 272-5148
>Fax: (817) 272-5408
>
>email: [log in to unmask]
>
>LAC: (http://langlab.uta.edu/lac.htm)
>Foreign Languages:( http://langlab.uta.edu)
>My page: (http://langlab.uta.edu/scottweb/webpage.html)
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>

Research in Computer Assisted Language Learning

Introduction

Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is a relatively new and rapidly
evolving academic field that explores the role of information and
communication
technologies in language learning and teaching.  It includes a wide range of
activities and initiatives in materials development, pedagogical practice, and
research.  CALL as a field began when the limitations of the computer narrowly
limited the pedagogy that could be implemented with it, and, consequently,
some
people still believe that CALL refers only to drills and mechanical
exercises. 
Today, however, CALL provides highly interactive and communicative support for
listening, speaking, reading, and writing, including extensive use of the
Internet.  Materials development, pedagogy, and research have developed in
intellectual sophistication to the point where the status of CALL as an
academic field of study requiring special consideration must be seriously
considered.  CALL is no longer either a straightforward pedagogical
application
of a new medium, nor simply a practical extrapolation of theoretical work in
some other discipline.

CALL is sometimes regarded simply as a subsection of Computer-Assisted
Learning
(CAL), but because CALL deals specifically with language learning it is both
inherently multidisciplinary and academically substantive.  It can be said to
belong to the field of Applied Language Studies and, within that, is most
closely related to Second Language Acquisition (SLA), which is itself a
rapidly
evolving discipline.  CALL and SLA are related to sociolinguistics,
pragmatics,
discourse analysis, and psycholinguistics.  In addition, CALL is related to
work in education, computer science, natural language processing, cognitive
science and psychology, linguistics, cultural studies, and media/communication
studies.  It is influenced by and,
in turn, influences theory and research in all these related fields.  


The aim of this document

This document has been drafted by a group of 20 CALL theorists, researchers,
developers, and practitioners from Europe and the USA in order (a) to
establish
a clearer understanding for departments, institutions,
professional associations, and decision-making bodies of the range of
activities represented in the field and (b) to provide an organized and
consistent perspective on the rubrics under which these activities should
be evaluated.  Assessment and academic recognition of work in CALL presents
difficulties not only because of the rapid evolution of the field but also
because of the emergence of new theoretical and methodological paradigms.

CALL work can be categorized as research, development, and practice.  Research
may be separate from development in that a researcher may explore the effects
of using technology-based tools or materials developed by others (e.g.,
formative evaluations) or may focus entirely on theory development.  In CALL,
the progression often begins with pedagogical practice or learner needs
driving
the development of technology-based materials, techniques, or environments. 
This development effort may then later lead to research, which in turn may or
may not be used to generate theoretical implications.  Nonetheless, in
establishing criteria for evaluating CALL work for purposes of academic
recognition and reward, it is
important that the distinctions between these activities be clearly
articulated.


Academic standards in CALL

In CALL the term development may refer to the creation of pedagogical
materials
(including design, programming, and incorporation of actual lesson content) or
the development of tools and applications into which others can insert
language
content.  In academic contexts where the development of pedagogical materials
is typically not rewarded, CALL development is often portrayed as research
especially when it is based on previous research and/or includes formative
research, research projects in which the materials are tried out on learners
and feedback is sought as part of the developmental process.  Conversely,
however, some research projects exploring the feasibility or validity of
technology use in language learning are  labeled as development when funding
agencies explicitly proscribe research because they want to support the
creation of immediately applicable pedagogical materials.  Appropriate
evaluation of
CALL development work depends crucially on the recognition that not only
technical expertise and pedagogical expertise are required--both of a high
order--but that in addition this work is a kind of professional activity that
is without precedent in the field of language education; it is not simply more
time-consuming than creating exercises or reading materials.  Evaluation of
such work must be done by those who can distinguish the levels of expertise
required.

When research is mentioned in connection with CALL, the assumption is usually
that the term refers to studies of the efficacy of technology use in a
language
learning task that would otherwise be undertaken without it.  Data collection
and analysis in CALL research may be qualitative or quantitative, experimental
or ethnographic, and is published in CALL journals and those of related
fields,
which naturally include  very respected Web-based journals.  Crucially, of
course, CALL research also includes developmental and prototypal computing. 
CALL research is moving into new areas, drawing on theories from related
fields
and creating its own theoretical and methodological paradigms. It is indeed a
sign of maturity that CALL has standardized its terminology, identified its
points of reference, and now includes a significant number of sub-branches of
activity.  The design expertise required is of an entirely different kind than
that involved in the development of conventional pedagogical materials.

An example of CALL research that is recognized as academically valid is the
use
of data collected while students are using technology-based materials to
confirm or disprove hypotheses generated by SLA theory, whether
sociolinguistic
or psycholinguistic.  This kind of CALL research can contribute to the
development of CALL theory itself, that is, to the understanding of how
technology use actually changes the process of
language learning, and is thus a crucial part of the paradigm shift needed to
establish CALL as a discipline  in its own right.  In fact, the process
orientation of much current SLA theory and research depends crucially on CALL
research.

The evaluation of pedagogical practice, materials development, and research in
CALL can be based on assessment mechanisms as objective as those used in other
fields, but it requires an understanding of the particular challenges of CALL
that is not yet widespread in language departments and academic
institutions.  Interdisciplinarity and paradigm shifts always make evaluation
problematic.  This document attempts to set out some of the crucial
considerations.


Nina Garrett
Director of Language Study
Yale University
P.O. Box 208349
New Haven, CT 06520-8349

Tel.  (203) 432-8196
Fax. (203) 432-4485
[log in to unmask] 
http://www.yale.edu/cls/



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