A Discourse‐Based Approach to CALL Training and Professional Development

Abstract

AbstractPhase 1 of this study explores findings from a nationwide survey on computer‐assisted language learning (CALL) that was completed by 409 in‐service teachers of French, German, and Spanish. These results, in turn, informed specific themes that were explored in greater detail during focus group sessions with 22 in‐service K–12 foreign language teachers (Phase 2). The main theme that emerged from the survey and the focus groups was the perceived need (expressed by in‐service teachers) for future teachers to learn how to think about, analyze, and integrate new technologies into a foreign language curriculum without having to depend on tool‐specific training since prospective teachers will use a number of new technologies—many of which have not yet been developed—throughout their career. Consequently, Phase 3 of this study examines a new component of a foreign language pedagogy course in which 18 prospective teachers studied and applied a faceted classification scheme for analyzing and understanding computer‐mediated discourse as a tool‐independent approach to CALL training.