Category: CALL

#CFP Learner Autonomy and Web 2.0 @CALICOnsortium


Provisional Book Title: Learner Autonomy and Web 2.0

Call for Abstracts

The 2017 CALICO Monograph, published by Equinox, aims to explore how the notion of learner autonomy is being reshaped within Web 2.0 environments. In early definitions, dating from the 1980s,learner autonomy was largely conceived of in terms of individuals working in ‘self-access’ mode, selecting the learning resources and methods they saw as effective, in pursuit of personal goals, perhaps with the aid of a learning adviser (Holec 1981). Other theorists of learner autonomy – such as Dam (1995), Little (2012) or Trebbi (1989) – viewed the concept as having a social dimension, rather than being purely individualistic. This second view of learner autonomy is more and more relevant given the advent of social media, where students have unprecedented opportunities for collaborative learning (Lamy & Zourou 2013). Consequently, social theories of learning (e.g. sociocultural theory, communities of practice, connectivism) have increasingly informed research into learner autonomy in foreign language learning (see Murray 2014). Of equal importance is the opportunity afforded by Web 2.0 of using multiple modes for making meaning, in learning to communicate online. This has enabled some to suggest a possible recasting of learner autonomy in the digital world as ‘the informed use of a range of interacting resources in context’ (Palfreyman, 2006; Fuchs, Hauck and Müller-Hartmann, 2012). Others may feel that being digitally literate alone does not constitute learner autonomy in the online world. The question is: ‘What does?’

In this monograph, we welcome chapters grounded in sound theoretical frameworks and/or analyzing empirical data which investigate how learner autonomy intertwines with the social and/or the modal affordances of Web 2.0 environments. The questions raised for educational users of Web 2.0 environments about the relationship between CALL and learner autonomy include, but are not restricted to:

• Do online learners require or acquire learner autonomy in practising CMC?

• What affordances of CALL environments, and more particularly Web 2.0 environments, could help develop the different facets of learner autonomy?

• How do (a) digital literacy and (b) L2 proficiency relate to learner autonomy in online environments?

• What space exists for individuals to exercise learner autonomy in Web 2.0? How does individual autonomy relate to group autonomy in Web 2.0?

• How can online learning tasks be designed to foster both individual and group autonomy?

• How can individual learning gain be monitored and assessed in Web 2.0?

• With such questions at stake, what is the expected role of language centers?

• Which (new, or existing) forms of counselling may foster students’ learning-to-learn skills within Web 2.0 environments?

Interested authors should send a chapter abstract (200-300 words, plus references) and an author biography (100 words) to calico2017monograph@gmail.com before Monday July 15, 2015.

Timeline

Deadline for submission of abstracts 15 July 2015

Notification of contributors 31 August 2015

First draft of papers to be submitted 1st Dec 2015

Second draft of papers to be submitted 15 Apr 2016

Special Issue to be published April 2017

 

Editors

Tim Lewis, Open University

Annick Rivens Mompean, Lille3 University

Marco Cappellini, Lille3 University

The EUROCALL Review 23,1 available online

Through the EUROCALL list

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Volume 23, Number 1, of The EUROCALL Review is available online from

http://www.eurocall-languages.org/publications/review

featuring:

Papers stemming from the INTENT conference on ‘Telecollaboration in University Foreign Language Education’ held at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, University of León, Spain, on 14 February 2014.

  • Promoting critical thinking in online intercultural communication. Marie-Thérèse Batardière.
  • Why in the world would I want to talk to someone else about my culture? Chesla Ann Bohinski and Yumei Leventhal.
  • A blended learning scenario to enhance learners’ oral production skills. Hee-Kyung Kim.
  • Combining Skype with Blogging: A chance to stop reinforcement of stereotypes in intercultural exchanges? L. Lynette Kirschner.
  • English learning in an intercultural perspective: Russia and Norway. Anne-Mette Bjøru.
  • Pan-American teletandem language exchange project. Aurora Castillo-Scott.

Regular paper

  • An e-portfolio to enhance sustainable vocabulary learning in English. Hiroya Tanaka, Akio Ohnishi, Suzanne M. Yonesaka and Yukie Ueno.

 

Recommended website

  • ABA English. Reviewed by Rafael Seiz Ortiz.

Please remember that contributions are always welcome and that articles published in The EUROCALL Review are peer-reviewed by an International Editorial Board. The online journal is also listed in the ERIC journal database. If you are working on a project that you would like us to know about, or if you know of a website or software that you find specially interesting and would like to share with other colleagues, please do not hesitate to write to me about it.

A taxonomy of learner searches in DDL

 

Learners’ search patterns during corpus-based focus-on-form activities: A study on hands-on concordancing

Authors: Pérez-Paredes, Pascual; Sánchez-Tornel, María; Calero, Jose M. Alcaraz
Source: International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, Volume 17, Number 4, 2012, pp. 482-515(34)
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Abstract:
Our research explores the search behaviour of EFL learners (n=24) by tracking their interaction with corpus-based materials during focus-on-form activities (Observe, Search the corpus, Rewriting). One set of learners made no use of web services other than the BNC during the central Search the corpus activity while the other set resorted to other web services and/or consultation guidelines. The performance of the second group was higher, the learners’ formulation of corpus queries on the BNC was unsophisticated and the students tended to use the BNC search interface to a great extent in the same way as they used Google or similar services. Our findings suggest that careful consideration should be given to the cognitive aspects concerning the initiation of corpus searches, the role of computer search interfaces, as well as the implementation of corpus-based language learning. Our study offers a taxonomy of learner searches that may be of interest in future research.

Language MOOCs. Providing Learning, Transcending Boundaries freely accessible online

Through the CALICO List
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Martín-Monje, Elena and Elena Bárcena (Eds.). 2014. Language MOOCs. Providing Learning, Transcending Boundaries. Berlin: De Gruyter Open.

This pioneering book presents an initial analysis of the theoretical and methodological issues underlying Language MOOCs and presents empirical evidence of their potential for the development of language communicative competences. It provides a mosaic-like view of LMOOC research, not only with respect to the geographical and institutional origin of its authors, but also to the heterogeneous nature of their respective academic backgrounds, and suggests directions for future development.

EUROCALL2015 Deadline for submissions of proposals 15th February #corpuscall

The 22nd EUROCALL conference will be held at the University of Padova in Italy from 26th to 29th August 2015.

The program will include individual papers, symposia, workshops, presentations on EU-funded projects, and posters.

EUROCALL conferences are hosted under the auspices of the EUROCALL Association. They bring together educators, researchers, PhD students, administrators, designers of software and language learning systems, policy makers and other professionals involved in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) around the globe.

Conference Theme
The theme of this year’s conference is Critical CALL, fostering the notion that we now want to step back and critically appraise the field of CALL, to unpack and examine some of the assumptions that may have become ingrained in our practice, and also to reflect on the state of CALL and language pedagogy. There is also a need to take a critical stance and question what it is we are doing and whose interests we might be serving, since technology is not neutral, and nor is education. Inspired by those who advocate critical approaches to second language teaching, learning and assessment, especially when mediated by technology, we are particularly interested in contributions that look at the interdependence between language learning, power relationships and social change.

Papers on the following themes would be particularly welcome:
·         Lessons learnt in CALL
·         The constraints of CALL (institutional, financial, technological, social)
·         Hegemonies in CALL
·         Corpora and foreign language teaching and course design
·         Learner corpora
·         CALL for CLIL and Language Medium Instruction
·         Interdisciplinarity and Internationalization through CALL
·         Telecollaboration and CMC
·         CALL and less commonly taught languages
·         CALL, inclusion and social justice
·         Digital and critical literacies
·         Open educational resources
·         MOOCs for language learning
·         Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL)
·         Gaming and virtual worlds
·         Learning analytics and CALL design
·         Online testing and assessment
·         Teacher education and professional development
·         Evaluating CALL research

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Keynote speakers at EUROCALL2015 will be:
-Sìan Bayne (University of Edinburgh)  on critical approaches to ICT
-Lynn Mario Menezes de Souza (Universidade de Sao Paulo)
-Robert O’Dowd (Universidad de León, Spain)

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Proposals for Papers, Symposia, European Projects, Workshops and Posters must be submitted online via the EUROCALL submission system which is now open.  The submission system will close on 15th February 2015.

Abstracts may be submitted in English or Italian.

Authors of accepted presentations are requested to submit a short paper (1,500 words) for publication in the online conference proceedings, and may also submit an extended version for peer-reviewed publication in ReCALL or the EUROCALL Review. Details will follow shortly.

Important dates
Deadline for submissions of proposals: 15th February 2015

Notification of acceptance: 31st March 2015

Early-bird Registration ends: 31st May 2015

Deadline for submissions of short papers for proceedings: 30th June 2015