20 Years Of Eurocall Learning From The Past Looking To The Future

As a professional organisation, EUROCALL has been aiming to promote innovative research, development and practice in the area of computer assisted language learning (CALL) and technology enhanced language learning (TELL) in education and training. These conference proceedings establish an overview of EUROCALL as it celebrated its 20th anniversary.

The theme of the conference this year was Critical CALL, drawing inspiration from the work carried out in the broader field of Critical Applied Linguistics. The term ‘critical’ has many possible interpretations, and as Pennycook (2001) outlines, has many concerns. It was from these that we decided on the conference theme, in particular the notion that we should question the assumptions that lie at the basis of our praxis, ideas that have become ‘naturalized’ and are not called into question. Over 200 presentations were delivered in 68 different sessions, both in English and Italian, on topics related specifically to the theme and also more general CALL topics. 94 of these were submitted as extended papers and appear in this volume of proceedings.

Proceedings of the 2014 EUROCALL Conference, which was held from the 20th to the 23rd of August 2014 at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

The exponential growth and development of modern technologies in all sectors has made it increasingly difficult for students, teachers and teacher educators to know which technologies to employ and how best to take advantage of them. The Routledge Handbook of Language Learning and Technology brings together experts in a number of key areas of development and change, and opens the field of language learning by exploring the pedagogical importance of technological innovation. The handbook is structured around six themes: historical and conceptual contexts core issues interactive and collaborative technologies for language learning corpora and data driven learning gaming and language learning purpose designed language learning resources. Led by fundamental concepts, theories and frameworks from language learning and teaching research rather than by specific technologies, this handbook is the essential reference for all students, teachers and researchers of Language Learning and TESOL. Those working in the areas of Applied Linguistics, Education and Media Studies will also find this a valuable book.

Emerging technologies are becoming more prevalent in global classrooms. Traditional literacy pedagogies are shifting toward game-based pedagogy, addressing 21st century learners. Therefore, within this context there remains a need to study strategies to engage learners in meaning-making with some element of virtual design. Technology supports the universal design learning framework because it can increase the access to meaningful engagement in learning and reduce barriers. The Handbook of Research on Acquiring 21st Century Literacy Skills Through Game-Based Learning provides theoretical frameworks and empirical research findings in digital technology and multimodal ways of acquiring literacy skills in the 21st century. This book gains a better understanding of how technology can support leaner frameworks and highlights research on discovering new pedagogical boundaries by focusing on ways that the youth learn from digital sources such as video games. Covering topics such as elementary literacy learning, indigenous games, and student-worker training, this book is an essential resource for educators in K-12 and higher education, school administrators, academicians, pre-service teachers, game developers, researchers, and libraries.

Even though many pre-service and in-service teacher programs now address information and computer technology, computer- assisted language learning (CALL) teacher education is still reported as inadequate. Why is this? This book elaborates on some of the existing concerns and through deft analysis of longitudinal data begins to piece together a future road map for CALL teacher education. The book adopts a sociocultural approach, based on the principle that teaching (and learning how to teach) is a long term, complex developmental process that operates through participation in social practices that come with the territory. Euline Cutrim Schmid highlights the need for situated and localized learning, pre-service and in-service collaboration and collaborative peer-assisted learning. Above all of this, the book recommends and proves the efficacy of socially aware and professional reflective practice. This is an essential sociolinguistic take on the computer learning revolution.

Technology- mediated language learning has matured over the past few decades, with various tools and contexts now widely used in language education for all ages and levels. Many of today’s language learners have experienced technology as an ever- present feature both within and beyond the classroom, highlighting how the role of technology has expanded into many daily activities, and underscoring how research in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) can inform and support the use of established and emerging technologies. The role of technology in language learning has continued to grow, with the recent COVID- 19 global pandemic further demonstrating the potential contributions of technology for supporting and facilitating second language development. Answering this increasing interest, this Handbook provides students, teachers, and scholars with a comprehensive collection of chapters on foundational topics and key issues related to technology, SLA, and where relevant, pedagogical applications. Chapter 25 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Web-Based Learning, ICWL 2014, held in Tallinn, Estonia, in August 2014. The 18 revised full papers presented together with 9 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from about 78 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on computer supported collaborative learning, Web 2.0 and social learning environments; personal learning environments; game-based learning; learner modeling and learning analytics; personalized and adaptive learning; design, model and implementation of e-learning platforms and tools; and pedagogical issues, practice and experience sharing.