ICT4LT
Module 1.1ICT4LT
Module 1.1The main aim of this module is to introduce you to new technologies and to present the arguments for using them in the language classroom. The module includes a discussion on the effectiveness of new technologies as learning and teaching aids.
This Web page is designed to be read from the printed page. Use File / Print in your browser to produce a printed copy. After you have digested the contents of the printed copy, come back to the onscreen version to follow up the hyperlinks.
Graham Davies, Thames Valley University, UK.
Sue Hewer, Free-lance Educational Consultant, UK.
In the context of the ICT4LT website, the term new technologies includes Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) for language teaching and learning in which the computer plays a central role, embracing a variety of different software applications, e.g.
See the comprehensive list of the main ways in which the teacher and learner of foreign languages might use ICT in Section 4.2 (below), headed ICT as a teaching and learning medium.
Terminology
There is a bewildering array of acronyms, abbreviations and new coinages associated with new technologies, with which you will need to become familiar. The most widely understood abbreviation is ICT (Information and Communications Technology). ICT is the term that is currently favoured by most businesses and educational institutions worldwide to describe new technologies. The "C" reflects the important role that computers now play in communications, e.g. by email, the Web, by satellite and mobile phone (cellphone). We always insist on the "s" at the end of "communications", which is a term that predates computer technology and was originally associated with morse code, radio, etc and often abbreviated to comms. You will also find references to IT (Information Technology), which is an older term and is still widely used in some circles. Many more abbreviations and definitions can be found in the Glossary. We welcome suggested additions to the Glossary: Feedback.
E-learning (= electronic learning) has become a buzzword in recent years. To some people, e-learning describes any application of ICT in learning and teaching, from producing a word-processed handout to a full-blown course on the Web - and this catch-all definition is the one which is favoured by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in the UK. The whole of the ICT4LT website is, therefore, in this sense all about e-learning in the context of teaching and learning foreign languages.
Other people perceive e-learning in a more limited way, i.e. online learning in the sense of distance learning on the Internet. Because of a lack of agreement on what e-learning is all about, it probably makes sense to use the term online learning when talking about distance learning on the Internet and to use CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) as a catch-all term for the use of computers in language learning and teaching. See the Glossary entry on e-learning, which will link you to other relevant terms.
Mark Pegrum's wiki on E-language is a useful source of information: http://e-language.wikispaces.com
See especially Mark Pegrum's wiki on Myths of E-learning: http://e-language.wikispaces.com/myths
Here are some of the benefits of ICT that have been identified by teachers:
What other benefits of ICT can you think of? Let us know: Feedback.
It has also been argued that technology of any sort gets in the way of language learning. People have learned languages successfully for hundreds of years without resorting to any kind of technology. During the 1960s language laboratories were introduced into educational institutions in the UK. The language lab boomed in the late 1960s and 1970s, and then went rapidly out of fashion. The demise of the language lab is often pointed to as an example of the failure of technology. It was not, however, the failure of technology. The failure of the language lab was due largely to human failures - a lack of investment in training teachers how to use it and a lack of imagination: see Ely (1984). Training is crucial - the main reason why we have designed the ICT4LT materials. Technology alone is not a panacea - although it is often perceived that way by administrators. If insufficient effort is put into training teachers to use technology - and to use it imaginatively - then it is probably better to dispense with technology altogether: see Davies (1997).
Learning to use a computer is rather like learning to drive a car. Some people can learn to drive in ten hours while others need 40 hours. Once you have learned to drive, however, you can get from point A to point B quicker than you did before - subject to traffic conditions. The same principle applies to learning to use a computer. The time taken to learn how to use it varies considerably from person to person, but once the necessary skills have been acquired you can do many things quicker than you did before. You still need to use your imagination, however. The main problem with introducing computers into language teaching was identified by Jones (1986) in an article that should be essential reading for all language teachers considering using new technologies. The title of Jones's article says it all: "It's not so much the program: more what you do with it: the importance of methodology in CALL".
With adequate training the teacher will find that ICT offers a new range of teaching and learning opportunities. The ICT4LT website does not aim to teach you how to use a computer. It is assumed that you already have a basic knowledge of Windows, word-processing, using a browser and email - i.e. that you have already passed your basic "computer driving test" or have even gained a qualification such as:
The main target group of the ICT4LT project is language teachers already in service, although parts of the syllabus are suitable for teachers undergoing initial training and for teachers following short intensive courses. The ICT4LT website materials have been developed by practising language teachers who have many years of experience in using a wide range of technological aids in language teaching. Our approach is pedagogy driven and the emphasis is on language teaching methodologies that can be implemented successfully with the aid of new technologies.
A document containing a set of ICT "can do" lists can be found here in Word DOC format: ICT_Can_Do_Lists. This document is still undergoing development and will be added to on a regular basis. It is designed for:
Feedback is welcomed.
This is a question that has been raised on a regular basis ever since the introduction of the language lab in the 1960s and, from the early 1980s, the introduction of personal computers into schools. In November 1998, the following message appeared in the Linguanet Forum electronic discussion list:
At a meeting comprising some significant figures in the field of education and training which I attended last week, it was suggested that there was little on-going or completed systematic research which could evidence the benefits of ICT in the delivery of Modern Foreign Languages.
http://www.mailtalk.ac.uk/lists/linguanet-forum.html
This provocative statement prompted two swift replies, one by David Wilson, a teacher in secondary education, and one by Graham Davies, Academic Coordinator of the ICT4LT Project. Both expressed surprise at the lack of awareness of the "significant figures". Relevant extracts from their replies are quoted here:
Wilson: Researching CALL effectiveness is admittedly a very difficult endeavour. In the past, projects which chose to deliver MFL teaching wholly via ICT have often flopped because students understandably craved human contact. The scientifically approved but ethically flawed control-group / experimental-group approach to educational ICT research frequently fails because the subjects in the control group resent being denied access to technology, while the subjects in the experimental group revel briefly in the novelty value of technology - the Hawthorne Effect. Properly integrated with off-computer teaching, CALL appears to be a very effective tool, but then it is extremely difficult to tease out whether pupils progress because of good teaching or good CALL or an equal measure of both. If we accept the premise that educational research findings, especially in the field of ICT, may be contradictory, do these "figures in the field of education and training" conclude that we should banish computers altogether, even when they are "just" used in foreign language word-processing and communications technologies? If so, what about MFL learners with special educational needs? What about school pupils' general educational entitlement to ICT skill development across the curriculum?
Davies: ICT has been making a contribution to modern language learning and teaching since the early 1960s and quite significantly so since the early 1980s: v. the flurry of publications in the early 1980s: Davies and Higgins (1982; 1985), Kenning and Kenning (1984), Higgins and Johns (1984), Last (1984), Ahmad et al. (1985). The list of relevant publications continues right up until the present day, the most comprehensive recent work being Levy (1997), which contains a wealth of information on the effectiveness of CALL in Modern Foreign Languages in its historical context and in the present. See also the Web page created by Ridwan Sedgwick, which contains an annotated bibliography on the effectiveness of CALL. Finally, many papers presented at CALICO, EUROCALL and IALLT conferences have addressed the issue of the effectiveness of CALL since the early 1980s: v. especially Nina Garrett's paper, presented at EUROCALL 97 (ReCALL 10, 1). See also an interesting paper by Caroline Grace, CALICO Journal 15, 1-3, reporting on her extensive research study which appears to confirm that students learn vocabulary better and retain it longer if they have access to translations when working with multimedia packages. [See also Grace (1998a), Myles (1998)]
The Linguanet Forum is a very lively discussion list, in which issues regarding the effectiveness of ICT in language learning and teaching are often discussed. See Section 12, Module 1.5, headed Discussion lists, blogs, wikis, social networking.
Concrete evidence on the effectiveness of CALL is difficult to obtain. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence about the positive effects of CALL. Teachers often report on their students being "enthusiastic", "engaged" and even "excited" in classes in which CALL is used, but there have been few controlled research studies.
As a starting point, have a look at Sedgwick (1999) Annotated bibliography of the effectiveness of CALL. This document is available at the ICT4LT website: Sedgwick.
Have a look at the report on the mini-research project conducted by Heather Rendall: Section 5, Module 1.4, headed Teaching in the computer network room. Heather writes:
Within the first year it was clear that CALL was having a positive effect. In those areas where a grammar point was totally lacking in English - such as gender and adjective agreement - students’ performances could be seen to move rapidly from total confusion to a system for resolving each task faultlessly.
See also the article by Heather Rendall, entitled "Life without the computer", in which she describes the drop in standards, especially awareness of genders in French and written accuracy, that she observed as a result of one class having to forego its regular CALL sessions in the computer lab: Rendall (1988).
Evidence of the effectiveness of CALL can also be seen in two of the case studies described in Module 3.1, Managing a multimedia language centre:
A report on a research study conducted by BECTA, ImpaCT2 (2002), produced significant but not wholly conclusive data. The ImpaCT2 study showed that schools using ICT in the classroom got better results than those that did not and that there was a significant correlation between the use of ICT in Modern Foreign Languages and good GCSE examination results.
Uschi Felix provides a comprehensive survery of research into CALL in her article entitled "The unreasonable effectiveness of CALL: what have we learned in two decades of research?". In her conclusion she writes:
We are beginning to see enough data in CALL that suggest positive effects on spelling, reading and writing. There is also a substantial body of data that indicates that student perceptions of CALL are on the whole positive, provided technologies are stable and well supported. On the negative side there are still concerns about technical difficulties interfering with the learning process; older students not feeling comfortable with computers; younger students not possessing the necessary metaskills for coping effectively in these challenging environments; training needs in computer literacy for both students and teachers; problems with group dynamics; and time constraints. (Felix 2008: 156)
See also:
See also Section 3, Module 1.4, for a discussion of the pros and cons of using interactive whiteboards in whole-class teaching.
While it may be true to say that research in CALL
has often not been properly recognised by bodies that award research funding,
there is certainly no lack of research acivities in this area. Professional
associations such as EUROCALL, CALICO
and IALLT have addressed this question and produced a Joint
Policy Statement concerning research, development and practice
in CALL. The full text of the Joint Policy Statement can be found at:
http://www.eurocall-languages.org/research/research_policy.html.
Papers presented at the conferences of these three associations often focus
on research into the effectiveness of CALL. See also Davies
(2001).
In the end, however, the effectiveness of ICT hinges on the individual teacher. Angela McFarlane, Professor of Education and Director of Learning Technology, Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol, sums it up:
What we do know, whether from personal experience as teacher or learner, or as the result of 20 years of research into the question, is that ICT has an impact on learning, for some learners, under some conditions, and that it cannot replace a teacher. We know that a key factor in impact at school level is and remains the teacher, whose role in managing and integrating the ICT-based experiences learners have with the rest of the curriculum and culture is vital and probably always will be. (Times Educational Supplement, ICT in Education Online, 26 April 2002, p. 17.)
As language teachers we are well used to dealing with a range of media: printed materials, audio materials, still images and and video materials. We know without too much reflection what the characteristics of each of these media are and what they can do best in terms of supporting language teaching and learning. For example, we know that video provides both aural and visual input and as such can give the learner visual clues to the meaning of what is being said. Video can also be used to add a cultural perspective. We know that printed materials can be much easier for a beginner to deal with than spoken text because they "stand still".
ICT, however, brings with it new characteristics and new opportunities which are not always obvious. The following sections of this module contain a brief summary of various characteristics of the components of ICT which, as language teachers, we need to be aware of. The most important point to grasp initially is that ICT is a medium incorporating electronic versions of the various media with which we are already familiar and enabling us to combine them as appropriate. So, not only is ICT a new concept in that it is multi-faceted, but the media facets of which it consists are not exact replicas of those that we are used to dealing with.
The early computers were simply number crunchers. It then became possible to "crunch" words as well, albeit in a fairly rudimentary fashion. With ever increasing power, the number cruncher has become a multimedia tool and communications centre enabling any modern computer owner to:
ICT in the context of the Modern Foreign Languages classroom can manifest itself in many different ways as a tool for assisting the development of the four key skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. These are the main ways in which the teacher and learner of foreign languages might use ICT:
See also Section 3, Module 1.4, headed CALL typology and CALL software evaluation, which describes a range of different manifestations of Computer Assisted Language Learning.
What other uses of ICT can you think of? Let us know: Feedback.
The most important characteristic of any application such as a word-processor, database, spreadsheet or Web authoring package is that the text produced within it is always provisional until the writer declares it to be final. Written or typed text on paper is fixed. Changes involve rewriting in one form or another. That is bad enough for a teacher producing a worksheet, and much worse for a student. Flexible text enables and encourages the writer to draft, review and revise their text. This characteristic is an important factor in the development of writing skills in second language learning: see Module 1.3, Using word-processing and presentation software in the Modern Foreign Languages classroom. It is also an important factor in the production of differentiated paper-based or electronic worksheets where, for example, every student is to work on the same text, but some will demonstrate understanding by multiple-choice questions, others will compose open answers in their mother tongue and others still will compose answers in the target language. Even when the teacher has declared the worksheets "finalised" by printing them out and issuing them to students, they still remain provisional in that they continue to exist in electronic format and can be edited in response to student performance and feedback.
Images and audio and video recordings share the characteristic of flexibility. Like written text, they too can be created and edited at will with the aid of appropriate authoring programs. See Module 2.5, Introduction CALL authoring programs.
Unlike paper-based documents, multimedia documents can include not only text and images, but also audio and video clips and animations. This facility provides a rich environment within which to create activities for students, particularly for the modern languages teacher for whom the spoken word is at least as important as the written. It is not difficult, for example, to attach an audio clip to a word-processed file so that the student can reconstruct a summary of an audio text by cutting and pasting chunks of text in response to the audio clip which they access from within the word-processed document. For further information on incorporating pictures and audio and video files into Word and PowerPoint documents see Section 8, Module 1.3, headed Enhancing Word and PowerPoint documents with pictures and sound.
Documents produced on a computer can be distributed via a school network or, more widely, via the Internet. What is more, they can usually be edited by the recipients. In a computer lab, for example, students at each workstation can open a document file produced by the teacher. They can edit it, according to the task in hand, and save their version using a different file name - or they can work on a document collaboratively and save it as a jointly produced document. Similarly, images and audio and video files can be distributed via a local network or anywhere in the world.
Students participating in a school partnership scheme may wish to find out information from their partner school in a structured way by sending them a questionnaire by email, which students from the partner school can complete individually and then email back the completed copies - all within a day if that is what is required. Section 14, Module 1.5, headed Computer Mediated Communication (CMC).
What are the likely effects on a learner of being able to word-process rather than hand-write a message in the target language to a pen pal? Feedback.
Communication is at the heart of language teaching and learning. Contact with speakers of the target language has always been encouraged, but has not always been easy to achieve, particularly in recent years when letter writing has not been a favourite activity of young people. Because email is a less formal medium than paper-based letters, students are much more likely to want to correspond with link classes than before. They know that they can edit their messages in response to comments from their teacher and they know that the message will arrive in a matter of hours rather than days. From the teacher's point of view, because it is possible to send email to many recipients almost as easily as to send it to one, they can send a mailshot out to a number of schools, particularly in the case of a survey where information from different countries or regions is desirable. You can read more about online communication in Module 1.5, Introduction to the Internet. See esepcially Section 14, Module 1.5, headed Computer Mediated Communication (CMC).
Just as it is possible to put a letter in with a parcel, so it is possible to attach files to email messages. These files can be text, images, or audio and video clips. So, a student can send a short message of welcome to a new correspondent and also attach a photo and sound clip. It should be pointed out that images and sound files can be very large and take a long time to transmit or receive if the user connects to the Internet via a dial-up modem. Most schools, however, and many home users now have much faster broadband access to the Internet, so transmitting and receiving large files by email is no longer a problem. See the Glossary for a definition of broadband.
So far we have considered the inter-school use of email and attachments under the heading of online media. However, our communications centre can also bring us multimedia information via the World Wide Web from every part of the world, information in the target language which we can download for later use, edit, and/or recycle in our own documents or in authoring packages. You can find out more about this use of Web-based materials in Module 1.5, Introduction to the Internet.
As you can see in Module 1.5, links can be made between pages within a single website and between different sites with ease, using HTML (HyperText Markup Language). If you are the kind of person who starts off looking up a single word in a dictionary and ends up spending half an hour following up all kinds of links, you will know something of what it feels like to surf the Web. Although Web pages may look very like their paper-based counterparts, they are usually quite different because of the hyperlinks that they contain, and the ability to navigate backwards and forwards between pages and sites at will with the click of a button, achieving a similar result as you would by consulting a number of different books at the same time, but in a more efficient way.
The Web is also a publications medium open to everyone and anyone. Worldwide publication of documents is no longer solely in the hands of established publishers. This brings with it problems in terms of accuracy of language and authenticity of content. On the other hand, it does provide opportunities for teachers to publish their teaching materials and for students to publish their own work, which can either be available for the entire readership of the Web or, via a password, for a pre-determined audience who will understand the provenance of the work and provide appropriate feedback. See:
Software is the collective term for computer programs (also known as applications) and contrasted with hardware, which describes the computer itself and the other bits and pieces attached to it: see Module 1.2, Introduction to computer hardware and software, and the Glossary for further details. Different kinds of software have different characteristics, as described in further detail below.
All software can provide the user with various levels of interactivity. The interactivity might only involve the user in making choices from a menu which determine the route that they take through the software. Higher levels of interactivity might influence what happens next in a much more detailed way. For example, by selecting a certain response the student might be able to change the course of a dialogue: see Section 5.10, Module 3.2, headed Branching dialogues. The fact that the contents of the software are not displayed in their entirety the first time that a student uses it encourages the student to go back to it several times to discover what else there is to do. This multi-route approach to software design is unlike the "single-route" linear approach found in more traditional media, especially in books. It is of particular interest to the language teacher and learner in that it offers the opportunity to revisit vocabulary and structures in new contexts, which is likely to lead to deep learning. Further discussion of this topic can be found in Section 1.1, Module 1.4, headed Interactivity, and throughout Module 3.2, CALL software design and implementation. See also Sims (1996) on interactivity.
One of the most important aspects of interactivity is that of feedback. In an evaluation of a number of software packages produced by the TELL Consortium, University of Hull, the most important feature of the various packages that was highlighted by students was the ability of the software to provide immediate feedback in direct response to the students' input. One of the packages evaluated, GramEx, focused on French and German grammar:
[The students] agreed that GramEx was an efficient learning tool. They felt that it helped them to return to basics as far as grammar was concerned. They referred in particular to the fact that it was a more efficient use of time than working with a text book, not least because of the speed of correction and readily available explanations. [...] Students liked the choice of different "problems", and being able to work in their own time, at their own pace. They appreciated the ease of use and the instant feedback. They also liked the quiz-like feel to the software. (Hewer 1998:14)
Students indicated that if they did grammar exercises for a tutor, they often had to wait up to a week to get their work back, by which time they had moved on and tended to take more notice of their mark than their corrections. When they did similar exercises on the computer they received immediate feedback, either by the way of clues to help them towards the correct answer or, after a certain number of attempts, the correct answer with the possibility of seeking an explanation. They found this extremely helpful and felt that the software contributed greatly to their improved performance in the grammar areas selected. The fact that they could do similar exercises from a grammar book containing a key to the answers in the back of the book did not have the same effect on their learning because they were only able to correct answers that they had actually completed, rather than being able to work towards the correct answer as a result of the feedback received.
Tutors' and students' comments on another package produced by the TELL Consortium, Encounters, were also positive. One of the aims of Encounters was to improve students' speaking skills by engaging them in different role-play activities. Students could record and play back their own voices, hearing them slotted into a range of different dialogues:
The tutor has noted improved performance in role plays based on the dialogues in Encounters, not only when assessment follows practice with the software in the same class period, but also a week later when the assessment takes place at the beginning of the class. (Hewer 1998:9)
The most frequently cited aspect was the role play in terms of being able to listen to a native speaker, to role play with them, to record your own input, and to compare it with the native speaker's. The tutor remarked that students expressed great pleasure at hearing themselves in a dialogue with a native speaker and that they seem to gain in confidence as a result of the experience. One respondant noted the value of the instant feedback in the exercise sections. (Hewer 1998:10)
Feedback is an important concept in the application of new technologies to language learning and features in a number of the ICT4LT modules. See especially Section 8, Module 2.5, headed How to factor feedback into your authoring, on the distinction between intrinsic feedback and extrinsic feedback.
Unfortunately, there is now a discernible trend, especially in Web-based materials, to provide very little feedback, apart from a "right" or "wrong" response or a tick or a cross next to the chosen answer. Many modern CALL packages appear to place more emphasis on presentation rather than meaningful interactivity. Far too many packages are characterised by a "point-and-click-let's-move-on-quick" approach.
See also Laurillard (1993) and Bangs (2003).
The power that enables you to produce multimedia documents, to communicate with people all over the world, and to receive multimedia documents from websites worldwide, has also enabled software developers to incorporate a number of features which distinguish computer-based language learning activities from those based on more traditional media. See Module 2.2, Introduction to multimedia CALL.
A wide choice of multimedia software is available to the software designer just as it is to any computer user. The job of the software designer is to identify which of the media at their disposal is most appropriate for their purpose. When you evaluate software you should use this as one of your criteria: see our CALL Software Evaluation Form and Website / Web Page Evaluation Form. Click here: Evaluation Forms.
For example, if a software package is intended to focus on reading skills but insists on providing a spoken version of every text, it might be that the inclusion of sound is either surplus to requirements or even positively detrimental if the spoken version contributes a great deal to exposing the meaning of the printed word. The fact that the various media are integrated makes software a very different learning environment from one in which, for example, the student starts with a printed worksheet and then has to play an audio- or videocasssette in order to complete the task. There is always a danger that newcomers to ICT may be bowled over by the multi-faceted facilities it offers and try to include everything but the kitchen sink. Software design needs careful thought: see Module 3.2, CALL software design and implementation.
Ahmad K., Corbett G., Rogers M. & Sussex R. (1985) Computers, language learning and language teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bangs P. (2003) "Engaging the learner - how to author for best feedback". In Felix U. (ed.) Language learning online: towards best practice, Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Beatty K. (2003) Teaching and researching computer assisted language learning, Applied Linguistics in Action Series, Harlow: Pearson Education.
BECTA (2002)
ImpaCT2: The impact of
Information and Communication Technologies on pupil learning and attainment,
Coventry, BECTA: http://www.becta.org.uk/page_documents/research/ImpaCT2_strand1_report.pdf
BECTA (2004) What the research says about using ICT in Modern Foreign Languages, Coventry: BECTA: http://www.becta.org.uk/page_documents/research/wtrs_mfl.pdf
BECTA (2007) The Impact of ICT in schools: a landscape review: http://tinyurl.com/2cdfka
CALICO: The leading North American professional association for CALL: http://www.calico.org
Chinnery G. (2006) "Going to the MALL: Mobile Assisted Language Learning", Language Learning & Technology 10, 1: 9-16. Available at: http://llt.msu.edu/vol10num1/emerging/default.html
Davies G. (1997) "Lessons
from the past, lessons for the future: 20 years of CALL". In Korsvold A.-K.
and Rüschoff B. (eds.) New technologies in language learning, Strasbourg:
Council of Europe. Also on the Web at:
http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/coegdd1.htm
Davies G. (2001) "New technologies and language learning: a suitable subject for research?" In Chambers A. & Davies G. (eds.) New technologies and language learning: a European perspective, Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Davies G. & Higgins J. (1982) Computers, language and language learning, London: CILT.
Davies G. & Higgins J. (1985) Using computers in language learning: a teacher's guide, London: CILT.
Ely P. (1984) Bring the lab back to life, Oxford: Pergamon.
EUROCALL: The leading European professional assocation for CALL: http://www.eurocall-languages.org. EUROCALL's CALL Bibliography can be found at http://www.eurocall-languages.org/resources/bibliography/. This is a comprehensive list of CALL publications, including bibliographies on the Web.
Felix U. (2005) "What do meta-analyses tell us about CALL effectiveness?" ReCALL 17, 2: 269-288.
Felix U. (2008) "The unreasonable effectiveness of CALL: what have we learned in two decades of research?" ReCALL 20, 2: 141-161.
Fitzpatrick A. & Davies G. (eds.) (2003) The Impact of Information and Communications Technologies on the teaching of foreign languages and on the role of teachers of foreign languages, EC Directorate General of Education and Culture. The contribution by Graham Davies, relating specifically to the UK, is available in HTML format at http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/docs/ICC_Grahams_Report_Final.htm
Garrett N. (1998) "Where do research and practice meet? Developing a discipline", ReCALL 10, 1: 7-12. Available at: http://www.eurocall-languages.org/recall/pdf/rvol10no1.pdf
Grace C. (1998a) "Retention of word meanings inferred from context and sentence-level translations: implications for the design of beginning level CALL software", Modern Language Journal 82, 4: 533-544.
Grace C. (1998b) "Personality type, tolerance of ambiguity, and vocabulary retention in CALL", CALICO Journal 15, 1-3: 19-45.
Hewer S. (1998) Summative evaluation report: optimising the use of TELL products - an evaluative investigation into TELL products in use: Hull: The TELL Consortium, University of Hull. This document is available as a downloadable Word file from: http://www.hull.ac.uk/cti/tell/eval.htm
Higgins J. & Johns T. (1984) Computers in language learning, London: Collins.
IALLT: International Association for Language Learning Technology: http://www.iallt.org
Jones C. (1986) "It's not so much the program: more what you do with it: the importance of methodology in CALL", System 14, 2: 171-178.
Jones C. & Fortescue S. (1987) Using computers in the language classroom, Harlow: Longman.
Kenning M.J. & Kenning M.M. (1984) An introduction to computer assisted language teaching, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Last R.W. (1984) Language teaching and the microcomputer, Oxford: Blackwell.
Laurillard D. (1993) Program design principles, Hull: The TELL Consortium, University of Hull. This document is incorporated as Annex 1: Program design principles into Laurillard (1996).
Laurillard D. (1996) Formative evaluation report: the TELL Consortium, Hull: The TELL Consortium, University of Hull. This document is available as a downloadable Word file from: http://www.hull.ac.uk/cti/tell/eval.htm
Levy M. (1997) CALL: context and conceptualisation, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Myles S. (1998) "The language learner and the software designer: a marriage of true minds or ne'er the twain shall meet?", ReCALL 10, 1: 38-45. Available at: http://www.eurocall-languages.org/recall/pdf/rvol10no1.pdf
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (2007): The use of ICT for teaching and learning languages: http://www.qca.org.uk/17307.html
Rendall H. (1988) "Life without the Computer", CALLBOARD No. 10, NCCALL Ealing College of HE, London. This article has been reproduced with the author's permission in Word DOC format and is now available at the ICT4LT website. Click here: Rendall (1988).
Sedgwick R. (1999) Annotated bibliography of the effectiveness of CALL. This bibliography first appeared at the website of the Centre for Language Teaching and Research site, University of Queensland, Australia, but it has now disappeared. We have taken the liberty to copy Ridwan Sedgwick's bibliography to the ICT4LT site and update some of the links as it is an extremely useful source of information. Click here: Sedgwick.htm
Sims R. (1996) "Interactivity: a forgotten art?" In Instructional Technology Research Online. See Research Repository at: http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwitr
Wolff D. (1997) "Computers and new technologies: Will they change language learning and teaching?" In Kohn J., Rüschoff B. & Wolff D. (eds), New horizons in CALL: proceedings of EUROCALL 96. Szombathely, Hungary: Dániel Berzsenyi College.
WorldCALL: A worldwide professional association that embraces a number of national and international associations for CALL and aims to address the needs of countries that are currently underserved in the use of ICT in learning foreign languages: http://www.worldcall.org. The First World Conference on CALL was held at the University of Melbourne, Australia, July 1998, and The Second World Conference on CALL took place in Banff, Canada, in May 2003. The Third WorldCALL Conference will take place in 2008 in Japan.
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Document last updated 1 July 2008. This page is maintained by Graham Davies.
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Davies G. & Hewer S. (2008) Introduction to new technologies and how they
can contribute to language learning and teaching. Module 1.1 in Davies G. (ed.)
Information and Communications Technology for Language Teachers (ICT4LT),
Slough, Thames Valley University [Online]. Available from: http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod1-1.htm
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