CALL Teacher Training—Considerations for Low-Resource Environments: Overview of CALL Teacher Training
Abstract
The pandemic in 2020 has profoundly impacted millions of people all around the world. We have experienced intense disruption in our daily lives. We have lost loved ones, jobs, motivation, and precious time that could have been used more productively. The pandemic did not distinguish between borders, race, or gender. It affected everyone but not equally, unveiling socioeconomic differences within and across countries in access to robust health care, tolerable working environments, and other basic needs. Inevitably, the pandemic has also disrupted the normal course of the way we teach and learn, especially in English for Foreign Languages (EFL) contexts. Administrators and teachers needed to suddenly reconfigure their in-person classes for online teaching while students had to adjust to this new way of language learning. As Godwin-Jones (2020) envisaged, this widespread switch to distance learning seems likely to be the new normal rather than a one-time occurrence.
Considering Hubbard and Levy’s (2006) concern that “both language teachers in training and practicing teachers will find themselves at a disadvantage if they are not adequately proficient in computer-assisted language learning,” it is now even more crucial for language teachers to develop skills, knowledge, and understanding of technology use in language teaching. As Oskoz and Smith (2020) pointed out, this new era in language teaching and learning provides a unique opportunity to investigate the affordances of technology and harmonize these affordances with learner, teacher, and curricular objectives. Thus, taking a fresh look at teacher training for computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in order to see how these affordances can be better implemented, especially in low-resource contexts, seems like a perfect place to start.
In this article, we first discuss some critical issues in CALL teacher education. Then we introduce an online CALL teacher education (CTE) course by explaining how these issues have been implemented in designing the course. We conclude by providing practical guidelines on how to design online professional development courses in the language teaching field.
Download Media
PDF (Price: £23.00 )
DOI: 10.1558/cj.20159
References
Baek, S. I., & Kim, Y. M. (2015). Longitudinal analysis of online community dynamics. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 115(4), 661–677. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-09-2014-0266
Beach, K. (2003). Consequential transitions: A developmental view of knowledge propagation through social organizations. In T. Tuomi-Gröhn & Y. Engeström (Eds.), Between school and work: New perspectives on transfer and boundary-crossing (pp. 39–62). Bingley: Earli.
Borthwick, K., & Gallagher-Brett, A. (2014). “Inspiration, ideas, encouragement”: Teacher development and improved use of technology in language teaching through open educational practice. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 27(2), 163–183. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2013.818560
Chao, C.-C. (2015). Rethinking transfer: Learning from CALL teacher education as consequential transition. Language Learning & Technology, 19(1), 102–118. http://dx.doi.org/10125/44404
D’Antoni, S. (2009). Open educational resources: Reviewing initiatives and issues. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 24(1), 3-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680510802625443
Dubreil, S., & Lord, G. (2020). Make it so: Leveraging Maker culture in CALL. CALICO Journal, 38(1). https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.42531
Egbert, J., Paulus, T. M., & Nakamichi, Y. (2002). The impact of CALL instruction on classroom computer use: A foundation for rethinking technology in teacher education. Language Learning & Technology, 6(3), 108–126. http://dx.doi.org/10125/25179
Godwin-Jones, R. (2015). Contributing, creating, curating: Digital literacies for language learners. Language Learning & Technology, 19(3), 8–20. http://dx.doi.org/10125/44427
Godwin-Jones, R. (2016). Looking back and ahead: 20 years of technologies for language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 20(2), 5–12. http://dx.doi.org/10125/44457
Godwin-Jones, R. (2020). Building the porous classroom: An expanded model for blended language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 24(3), 1–18. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/44731
Hegelheimer, V., Reppert, K., Broberg, M., Daisy, B., Grgurovic, M., Middlebrooks, K., & Liu, S. (2004). Preparing the new generation of CALL researchers and practitioners: What nine months in an MA program can (or cannot) do. ReCALL, 16, 432–447. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344004001223
Hewlett Foundation (2008). Open educational resources (OER): Making high quality educational content and tools freely available on the web. https://hewlett.org/strategy/open-education
Hilton, J., Wiley, D., Stein, J., & Johnson, A. (2010). The four “R”s of openness and ALMS analysis: Frameworks for open educational resources. Open Learning, 25(1), 37–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680510903482132
Hlas, A. C., Conroy, K., & Hildebrandt, S. A. (2017). Student teachers and CALL. CALICO Journal, 34(3), 336–354. https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.26968
Hong, K. H. (2010). CALL teacher education as an impetus for L2 teachers in integrating technology. ReCALL, 22(1), 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095834400999019X
Hubbard, P. (2008). CALL and the future of language teacher education. CALICO Journal, 25(2), 175–188. https://www.jstor.org/stable/calicojournal.25.2.175
Hubbard, P., & Levy, M. (2006). Teacher education in CALL. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.14
Jin, H., Karatay, Y., Bordbarjavidi, B., Yang, J., Kochem, T., Muhammad, A., & Hegelheimer, V. (submitted). Exploring global online course participants’ interactions: Value of high-level engagement. ReCall (manuscript submitted for publication).
Kessler, G. (2006). Assessing CALL teacher training. In P. Hubbard & M. Levy (Eds.), Teacher education in CALL (pp. 23–42). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.14.05kes
Kessler, G. (2007). Formal and informal CALL preparation and teacher attitude toward technology. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 20(2), 173–188. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588220701331394
Kessler, G. (2018). Technology and the future of language teaching. Foreign Language Annals, 51, 205–218. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12318
Kessler, G., & Hubbard, P. (2017). Language teacher education and technology. In C. Chapelle & S. Sauro (Eds.), The handbook of technology and second language teaching and learning. Hoboken: Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02237-6_19
Kochem, T., Muhammad, A. A., Karatay, Y., Jin, H., & Hegelheimer, V. (2020). Considerations for future technology development based on EFL teachers’ integration of technology. In M. Kruk & M. Peterson (Eds.), New technological applications for foreign and second language learning and teaching (pp. 239–260). Hershey: IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-2591-3.ch012
Kursun, E., Cagiltay, K., & Can, G. (2014). An investigation of faculty perspectives on barriers, incentives, and benefits of the OER movement in Turkey. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 15(6), 14–32. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v15i6.1914
Lee, M. H., & Tsai, C. C. (2010). Exploring teachers’ perceived self efficacy and technological pedagogical content knowledge with respect to educational use of the World Wide Web. Instructional Science, 38(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-008-9075-4
Li, L. (2014). Understanding language teachers’ practice with educational technology: A case from China. System, 46, 105–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2014.07.016
Liu, M. H., & Kleinsasser, R. C. (2015). Exploring EFL teachers’ CALL knowledge and competencies: In-service program perspectives. Language Learning & Technology, 19(1), 119–138. http://dx.doi.org/10125/44405
Lomicka, L., & Lord, G. (2019). Reframing technology’s role in language teaching: A retrospective report. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 39, 8–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190519000011
Oskoz, A., & Smith, B. (2020). Unprecedented times. CALICO Journal, 37(2). https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.41524
Peters, M., & Frankhoff, M. (2014). New literacy practices and plagiarism: A study of strategies for digital scrapbooking. In J. P. Guikema & L. Williams (Eds.), Digital literacies in foreign and second language education (pp. 245–264). San Marcos: Calico.
Pirkkalainen H., Pawlowski, J., & Pappa, D. (2017). Educators’ open educational collaboration online: The dilemma of emotional ownership. Computers & Education, 106, 119–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.12.005
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 2: Do they really think differently? On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424843
Remesal, A., & Colomina, R. (2013). Social presence and online collaborative small group work: A socioconstructivist account. Computers & Education, 60, 357–367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.07.009
Richter, T., & McPherson, M. (2012). Open educational resources: Education for the world? Distance Education, 33(2), 201–219. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2012.692068
Satar, H. M., & Akcan, S. (2018). Pre-service EFL teachers’ online participation, interaction, and social presence. Language Learning & Technology, 22(1), 157–183. https://dx.doi.org/10125/44586
Sert, O., & Asik, A. (2018). A corpus linguistic investigation into online peer feedback practices in CALL teacher education. Applied Linguistics Review, 11(1), 55–78. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2017-0054
Shin, S.-K. (2015). Teaching critical, ethical, and safe use of ICT in pre-service teacher education. Language Learning & Technology, 19(1), 181–197. http://dx.doi.org/10125/44408
Son, J.-B. (2006). Using online discussion groups in a CALL teacher training course. RELC Journal, 37(1), 123–135. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688206063478
TESOL (2008). Technology standards framework document. Alexandria: TESOL.
Thakrar, J., Zinn, D., & Wolfenden, F. (2009). Harnessing open educational resources to the challenges of teacher education in sub-Saharan Africa. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(4), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v10i4.705
Zhao, H., Sullivan, K. P. H., & Mellenius, I. (2014). Participation, interaction, and social presence: An exploratory study of collaboration in online peer review groups. British Journal of Educational Technology, 45(5), 807–819. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12094
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
