CALL and the Future of Language Teacher Education

Abstract

Interest in technology in language teacher education has grown recently as evidenced by the success of CALICO's Teacher Education SIG and the publication of two edited volumes on the topic in the past 2 years. Here, I explore the current state of technology and teacher education and suggest that the future paths of language teacher education and CALL are linked. I begin with a review of data showing that technology education for language teachers is lacking in the majority of existing training programs but that the institutional demand for technology savvy teachers is increasing. I then speculate on the barriers that are limiting the supply. Next, I briefly discuss two concepts that bear on the future of educational technology, Prensky's "digital nativism" and Bax's "normalization." The remainder is devoted to identifying and discussing issues, approaches, and processes that are emerging in CALL language teacher education, drawing primarily from the two previously mentioned edited volumes. The approaches and processes in particular represent promising directions for future CALL course development. I conclude by noting the importance of having a sufficient number of CALL professionals available to develop novel applications and train the next generation of language teachers.