Brave new digital classroom: technology and foreign language learning

Abstract

Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Lan- guage Learning by Robert J. Blake. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2008, vii-189 pp. Reviewed by Hye Ri Stephanie Kim University of California, Los Angeles Technology in the 21st century is not an option, but is a vital part of students’ lives. In the efforts to keep up with and take advantage of technological advance- ment, many schools integrate technology into their curriculum. However, one some- times comes across teaching practices that are technology-driven on one end of the extreme while on the other are teaching practices embodied by teachers’ resistance to use technology. Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning by Robert J. Blake aims to address all prevalent issues of instructional technology use and provides an overview of the most successful technologies used in language classrooms. In short, this small but highly resourceful book is the first of its kind to offer a comprehensive summary of technologies developed to assist language learning, with an emphasis on foreign language classrooms. It would serve as an excellent resource for language curriculum developers or instructors considering incorporating technologies into their program or teaching, as well as for graduate students who wish to get an overview on this topic. In the Preface and Chapter 1, Blake clearly sets the goal of the book and the theoretical basis from which his view on the incorporation of technology originates. The book is not intended to provide instructions on how to use technological tools. Instead, it offers an overview and evaluation of research and successfully used tools, thereby helping the readers to gain a broader understanding of them and encouraging the readers to conduct further research. The asset of the book lies in the fact that incorporation of technology is motivated based on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theories, in particular the Interactionist Model, which states that social interaction is necessary for and facilitates L2 learning. It is an undeniable fact that living in a country where the target language is spoken provides students with abundant opportunities for input and social interaction. However, this is not a possible option for all learners. By presenting this gap between the ideal and the reality, the book guides the readers to the big question: Can technology then provide more opportunities for social interaction in classrooms? The book mainly focuses on answering this question. In addition, Blake emphasizes that the deci- sion to incorporate technology should be driven by principles of second language acquisition and should only be used in the service of language teaching and learning. By presenting such viewpoints in the beginning, Blake first sets up a rationale for and then justifies the use of technology in language classrooms. Issues in Applied Linguistics © 2009, Regents of the University of California ISSN 1050-4273 Vol. 17 No. 1, 67-69