Download Full PDF

Martin Mullen

University of the West of Scotland, Scotland

 

Abstract

As digital technologies continue to evolve and improve, and the range of language learning resources available continues to expand, it becomes more important that language teachers possess both the digital literacy to effectively incorporate these technologies into their teaching practices to facilitate language learning within and beyond the classroom. However, evidence suggests that teacher training programmes do not uniformly provide satisfactory levels of training on Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), resulting in teachers lacking the digital literacy, and consequently, the inclination, to make CALL a meaningful part of their classroom activities, and research is needed on how to remedy this issue. The main aim of this study was to design, implement, and evaluate a CALL intervention among a cohort of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) students. This involved a questionnaire to determine initial CALL knowledge and practices, and then a 4-week intervention, which was evaluated through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews. Analysis revealed that while integration of CALL is limited through lack of knowledge and training, students increasingly see CALL literacy as a central professional responsibility, and they reported that the intervention had improved both their knowledge of CALL and their ability to find and evaluate resources. These findings indicate that short-term CALL literacy interventions can be effective in equipping language teachers with the resources to support their own learners in employing CALL both inside and outside the classroom.

 

Keywords

Computer-assisted language learning, digital intervention, TESOL education, learning beyond the classroom, Digital Literacy