Conclusion
This paper has shown that the development of a critical understanding of the
underpinning pedagogies in CALL is both, a key competence and a challenge for those
educators undertaking CALL practices nowadays. Thus, assuring the means to make it
happen, as well as counting on sufficient infrastructure depends heavily on the
educational institution and corresponding stakeholders’ policies and goals, before such
culture is infused to teachers. Accordingly, for instructors to implement changes in the
CALL classroom, it is necessary to develop understanding followed by corresponding
actions aimed at lifelong professional development, where conscientious interventions
based on a sound rationale behind the use of technology to support language-learning
processes are planned and clearly delineated (Cuesta, 2014). Knowing about the
different roles teachers play will facilitate the establishment of a integrative culture of
CALL, while ensuring that the digital divide be bridged addressing the linguistic and
cultural realities of the “intertwingled” world (Sawhill, 2008), both from the teachers’ and
learners’ sides. Such integrative perspective could enable i
nstructors to understand how
systems of thought and change influence the ways educators and learners receive and
produce information, and if Ertmer´s and Ottenbreit-
Leftwich’s (2012) perspective is
adopted, three main dimensions, specifically teacher knowledge change, teacher beliefs
change, and teacher culture change, could lead educators to better handle effective
teaching in CALL scenarios.
Yet it remains imperative to constantly evaluate and share possible gains derived from
the above system with the CALL community, as new professional development programs
and research-based plans are nurtured. The creation of a CALL community worldwide
should be a major goal of academic conferences and scholarly publication communities. If
this is done and sequentially monitored, we would be soon witnessing clear targets and
outcomes to help teachers understand and sustain efficient instructional and learning
practices, as we would broaden the scope of CALL, as a still-developing field.
Regarding the challenges encountered when designing, conducting and reporting our
research, we found that teachers moderately revealed their thoughts regarding CALL,
given that overly self-assessment was not a common practice they have exercised.
However, for us, this is undoubtedly seen as an opportunity, as we believe they are in
need of a systematic approach that helps them unveil their needs, outcomes and
interests to enrich their language practices alongside. We argue that further research will
be necessary to investigate these issues and to examine how teachers are less limited to
speak of their difficulties and paradigm transitions.
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2014 CALL Conference
LINGUAPOLIS
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