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ERIC Number: EJ809368
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-May
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0742-7778
EISSN: N/A
The Reinvention of Different Kinds of Wheels...
Garrett, Nina
CALICO Journal, v25 n3 p385-386 May 2008
In this article, the author poses what might seem to be a heretical question: Has CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning) already begun to lose its identity as a field of inquiry or of practice? And if the answer is a puzzled "maybe," what is CALICO's role to be in, say, the next 25 years? She notes that because most of the tools that support both computer-mediated communication and access to authentic materials are almost universally available in higher education--to both students and to teachers--it no longer takes special CALL training to incorporate them into language programs. Many language teachers who use computers on a regular basis don't describe their work as CALL or think of themselves as CALLers--or, perhaps, even think of CALICO as an organization they would want or need to belong to. So, in a way, multiple sets of wheels are being reinvented, such as applying for grants to create new software for courses that duplicates materials already created elsewhere, or the unwitting reinvention of SLA and pedagogical research conducted in ignorance of earlier studies because those were based on some outmoded technology. The author suggests that if CALL has a future as a discipline, CALICO members must recognize that we have to develop a research track record for the field that will at least document, if not prevent, all these kinds of reinvention.
Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium. 214 Centennial Hall, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666. Tel: 512-245-1417; Fax: 512-245-9089; e-mail: info@calico.org: Web site: http://calico.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A