An examination of the role of the principle players in second language learning--teachers, students, and instructional material developers--offers insight into the field of language pedagogy during a period of rapid technological change. All are living in a technologically changing environment but are all affected in different ways. Materials writers are challenged most directly, because they must keep up with the technology or lose credibility, and at the same time they must focus on the effectiveness and current acceptability of the materials they create. The teacher's role, already undergoing major shifts as instruction has come to be viewed as the directing of others' learning, will continue to change as new teachers' behaviors reflect their own training and professional socialization. The teacher as authority figure is disappearing, but all teachers must remain conversant with the communication channels through which language flows. The learner's role is becoming infused with greater activism and responsibility, involving more awareness of learning methods and strategies, traditional and nontraditional. A brief bibliography is included. (MSE)