--- 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/