English Language Learning and Technology: Lectures on applied linguistics in the age of information and communication technology(7 Language Learning & Language Teaching)

This book explores implications for applied linguistics of recent developments in technologies used in second language teaching and assessment, language analysis, and language use. Focusing primarily on English language learning, the book identifies significant areas of interplay between technology and applied linguistics, and it explores current perspectives on perennial questions such as how theory and research on second language acquisition can help to inform technology-based language learning practices, how the multifaceted learning accomplished through technology can be evaluated, and how theoretical perspectives can offer insight on data obtained from research on interaction with and through technology. The book illustrates how the interplay between technology and applied linguistics can amplify and expand applied linguists’ understanding of fundamental issues in the field. Through discussion of computer-assisted approaches for investigating second language learning tasks and assessment, it illustrates how technology can be used as a tool for applied linguistics research.

Table of Contents:
1. Preface; 2. 1. The changing world of English language teaching; 3. 2. The potential of technology for language learning; 4. 3. Evaluating language learning; 5. 4. Investigating learners' use of technology; 6. 5. Advancing applied linguistics: L2 learning tasks; 7. 6. Advancing applied linguistics: Assessment; 8. 7. The imperative for applied linguistics and technology; 9. References; 10. Name index; 11. Subject index

Review :
English Language Learning and Technology opens up the resources of information technology to the expanding world of applied linguistics. Carol Chapelle's original concepts and practical concerns will resonate with scholars, researchers, and practitioners across this diverse field. Readers who might have resisted the incorporation of technology into their professional lives will change their minds while reading this book. They will readily find ways in which technology can inform, empower, and advance their work. English Language Learning and Technology reaffirms Carol Chapelle's position as the leading scholar and researcher on second language research and technology. As the text reveals, her perspectives and insights are shaping and redefining the field op applied linguistics. Carol Chapelle's book, drawing on selected lectures over the past several years, provides a welcome contribution to the field of language learning and teaching with a central focus on the impact and influence of technology on the English language. Chapelle's synthesis of insights carefully balances practical realities and perspectives drawn from personal experience with salient theoretical underpinnings. These insights provide a useful platform for charting out future directions in the field. The result is a scholarly offering that is skillfully presented in a lucid style and is a timely reminder to consider the multiple perspectives on technological changes affecting language teaching and research. At the heart of all the studies, research and examples is the recurring theme of how technology and applied linguistics are inextricably linked, and the need to see the two not as disparate fields but as a unified whole, one complementing the other. The text is invaluable as a literature review, research guide, and source of discussion. Carol Chapelle's latest contribution to computer-assisted language learning (CALL) continues her tradition of solid scholarship in the discipline. It focuses on what should be a core concern for virtually all CALL researchers, developers, and practitioners: the often complex relationship between technology and second language acquisition. An internationally recognized leader in the field, Chapelle sheds considerable light on issues of central importance to the profession and leads us in the right direction. Her work continues to inspire. English Language Learning and Technology should be required reading for graduate-level CALL courses that strive to highlight theoretical grounding to CALL research rather than focus exclusively on issues of practice. Indeed, Chapelle makes a strong case for how the use of technology in applied linguistics research affords the possibility for new theoretical insights. Most significantly, this book elucidates the potential for technology to be used to broaden task and assessment theory in ways not attainable through traditional methods. It also calls into question the tendency in applied linguistics for technology to be relegated to issues of practice and efficiency. In highlighting the ability for technology to push the bounds of relevant theory, Chapelle calls upon researchers to critically examine and utilize the intersection of technology and applied linguistics in ways that match our language technology reality. A first reaction to this book is that it is exactly what ELT teachers engaged in using technology in their teaching have been waiting for. It addresses head-on questions that have niggled ever since the new medium entered the ELT classroom. This is a scholarly yet accessible book that will appear to many as an oasis of sound, substantive theory in the impenetrable tangle of information in this area. This book asks and responds to questions that need addressing at this stage in our technological evolution, and it constitutes a rich and reliable source of reference for practitioners and researchers alike. English Language Learning and Technology, written by one of the most respected scholars in the field of computer-assisted language learning (CALL), provides a timely, insightful, and readable examination of many questions dealing with the relationship between technology and applied linguistics. Second language students and teachers who are interested in technology must read this intriguing presentation of how CALL can be situated in today's field of applied linguistics. Leaving behind CALL-classroom comparisons, the reader is led into a realm where English learners' processes are engaged through software and task design. From such a position, the author clearly explains and illustrates how CALL offers insights to applied linguists from multiple research traditions. Carol Chapelle has charted a new course for development and evaluation of computer-assisted language learning.