Korea tesol journal, Vol. 12, No

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Korea TESOL Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1
Technology Enhanced Language Learning: Connecting Theory and Practice
261
Technology Enhanced Language Learning: 
Connecting Theory and Practice
Aisha Walker and Goodith White.
Oxford University Press, 2013. 
Pages: 208. (ISBN: 978-0194423687 Paperback) 
Reviewed by David B. Kent
Since the turn of the century, the learning landscape has come in 
ever-increasing ways to be reshaped by technology. For English language 
learners this has ultimately seen changes emerge in relation to the 
language skills viewed as necessary and important to them and in the 
means of how those skills are to be acquired (Goh, 2015). As a result, 
how teachers, particularly those in the English as a foreign language 
context (Warschauer, 2000), are expected to instruct has also come to 
change. Keeping this in mind, many teachers today are consistently and 
continually incorporating technology into their classrooms. However, as 
new technologies emerge, and are then appropriated, their use needs to 
come from a base of acceptable and well-established methods and 
practices that are grounded in learning theory. It is here where the book 
Technology Enhanced Language Learning: Connecting Theory and 
Practice
(Walker & White, 2013) stands out.
The book is designed for teachers working with all age groups. Its 
twelve chapters cover a comprehensive range of practical content that 
can be taken on board and implemented. As such, the book serves as a 
guide to effective technology integration over that of a research 
reference, with links and resources mentioned in the book available from 
an associated website. Each chapter has a similar layout, but each 
addresses a different area of language and learning, and what this means 
for teachers and students. For the most part, this layout involves three 
sections: (a) situating the area of language in relation to technology, (b) 
exploring how technology can further aid students in learning, and (c) 
how theory integrates with practice. Importantly, this third section 

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David B. Kent
presents a series of example tasks utilizing various tools and apps, and 
the means to adapt these to suit unique educational contexts. This 
meshes well with the aims of the book, allowing for implementation 
techniques to be developed from a pedagogical base and in a manner 
befitting of the technological prowess of the practitioner. However, this 
kind of chapter structure has advantages and disadvantages. It allows 
teachers of specific skillsets to dip into the text and focus on content that 
can enhance their instruction, but it may not allow a teacher to readily 
see how to use technology across a range of language skills or learner 
age groups. This is particularly poignant as novice teachers, or those 
totally unfamiliar or uncomfortable using technology for language 
learning, might be the first to turn to such a book.
The first two chapters of the book outline the theoretical aspects 
behind how technology has traditionally come to integrate with language 
learning in terms of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and 
covers the groundwork and rationale behind technology-enhanced 
language learning (TELL). This sees a discussion revolving around 
Taylor’s (1980) “tutor, tutee, tool” model in chapter 1, which is premised 
on the notion that technology serves different roles at different times 
throughout the learning process, with students fluidly adopting these 
roles as they learn. For example, the authors see the “tutor” role as 
including the use of technology to provide learners with the likes of 
customized exercises or drills to complete; the “tutee” role is one where 
students might construct their own learning by creating activities for 
each other through the use of authoring software; and the “tool” role is 
one where students could employ applications like editing software to 
complete tasks like video creation. While chapter 2 establishes the 
importance behind language construction and digital communication, it 
also comes to highlight Prensky’s (2001) “digital native versus digital 
immigrant” argument. Crucially, the authors recognize that it is not 
always the case that those among a younger generation are naturally 
technologically savvy. Also emerging is the notion that students should 
not become reliant on technology when learning or producing language, 
but come to actively engage with language in the classroom from a 
context where technology is used to assist students as required, and 
perhaps in a way that Bax (2011) might see as seamlessly integrated or 
“normalized.”
Chapters 3 through 5 deal specifically with language skills: listening 
and speaking, reading, and writing. Each of these chapters outlines the 

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Korea TESOL Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1
Technology Enhanced Language Learning: Connecting Theory and Practice
263
skills that are seen as important for the improvement of language 
proficiency and matches these to technology-enhanced language learning 
activities. One strength of the book is that these activities use free online 
resources and are therefore easily accessible. The content would also suit 
teachers of varied technological abilities, from those who are comfortable 
using digital practices on a daily basis through to those who are just 
getting started. Examples include creating materials with Audacity and 
using lyrics and music from YouTube (for listening); utilizing 
speech-to-text, employing Vokis, and practicing language skills in virtual 
spaces (for improving speaking); using digital fiction and interactive 
online fiction, as well as graphic organizers (for improving reading 
skills); and employing maps and plans along with tweets, wikis, and 
blogs (when focusing on writing skill development).
Chapter 6 moves on to multimodality and learning, taking into 
account new literacies, particularly visual literacy, and the awareness of 
critical analysis when constructing and viewing such material. There is, 
of course, a need for ensuring that today’s students can successfully 
interpret and analyze visuals, and in terms of a meaning-making process, 
are able to socially and culturally (de)construct products that result from 
the technologizing of communication. Royce (2007) would argue that 
this chapter is one of the more important, as multiliteracies have to date 
had little concentration in second and foreign language contexts. 
Chapters 7 and 8 focus on two distinct age ranges: university-level 
learners and young learners. Chapter 7 looks at study skills and English 
for academic purposes (EAP), and centers on the use of digital tools 
geared for the typical university-aged student. The chapter covers both 
traditional contexts of study as well as virtual learning environments and 
a range of technology-led means of presenting and assessing learner 
content. Chapter 8 looks at young learners and the need to ensure 
continued engagement of these learners. Examples like coding and digital 
storytelling are provided. Another important element found in this 
chapter is the need to protect users, especially children, from 
cyberbullying.
Chapter 9 presents a means of assessing learners with technology, 
from computer-adaptive tests (CATs) to more traditional methods such as 
multiple-choice questions and cloze exercises. Importantly, concepts such 
as reliability and validity are discussed, as is washback, and what these 
mean when conducting digital assessment. Unfortunately, in-depth means 
of conducting such assessments with a variety of learners are only hinted 

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David B. Kent
at and could have been explored more fully.
The final chapters of the book, 10 through 12, look at the teachers’ 
role in relation to incorporating technology into the classroom, the need 
for continual professional development, and the future of TELL. In this 
regard, a means of developing skills to work with technology is 
provided, which in turn aims to promote technological competency and 
the means for teachers to see themselves becoming increasingly 
proficient in TELL pedagogical procedures over time.
Ultimately, in terms of technology-enhanced language learning and 
at its core, the book offers insight into a wide range of content and the 
potential means to exploit it for benefit in the language learning 
classroom. Significantly, by introducing material in this manner instead 
of ready-made lesson plans, the book allows readers to gain an 
understanding of how similar content, found in app stores or on the 
Internet, could be successfully applied to their teaching. Overall, the 
book can prove useful to teachers of varied technological skill levels, 
allowing them, without doubt, to take away something meaningful for 
both them and their students.
T
HE 
R
EVIEWER
David Kent
is currently employed by the Graduate School of TESOL-MALL, 
Woosong University. His doctoral specializations are computer-assisted 
language learning (CALL) and teaching English as a foreign language 
(TEFL). He has been working and living in Korea since 1995.
R
EFERENCES
Bax, S. (2011). Normalisation revisited: The effective use of technology in 
language education. 
International Journal of Computer-Assisted 
Language Learning and Teaching, 1
(2), 1-15.
Goh, C. C. M. (2015, December). 
Professional development for teachers of 
21st century English language learners
. Paper presented at the 2015 
TESOL Regional Conference, Singapore.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants, Part 1. 
On the 
Horizon, 9
(5), 1-6. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/107481 
20110424816

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Korea TESOL Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1
Technology Enhanced Language Learning: Connecting Theory and Practice
265
Royce, T. Multimodal communicative competence in second language 
contexts. In T. Royce & W. Bowcher (Eds.), 
New directions in the 
analysis of multimodal discourse 
(pp. 361-403). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence 
Erlbaum.
Taylor, R. P. (1980). Introduction. In R. P. Taylor (Ed.), 
The computer in 
school: Tutor, tool, tutee
(pp. 1-10). New York, NY: Teachers College 
Press. Retrieved from http://www.citejournal.org/vol3/iss2/seminal/ 
article1.cfm
Walker, A., & White, G. (2013). 
Technology enhanced language learning: 
Connecting theory and practice
. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 
Warschauer, M. (2000). The changing global economy and the future of 
English teaching. 
TESOL Quarterly, 34
(3), 511-535.

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