Investigating the use of interactive whiteboard technology in the English language classroom through the lens of a critical theory of technology

Abstract

Several authors have pointed out that CALL research does not have the academic status that it should have because it does not take place within a well-developed theoretical framework. For this reason, there have been several proposals which seek to anchor CALL research within various existing theoretical frameworks—for instance, instructed second language acquisition and sociocultural theory. This article aims at contributing to the theoretical and methodological development of CALL research by throwing light on the potential benefits of using a particular conceptual framework—that of a critical theory of technology, which stresses the necessity of contextualizing technology and understanding its social embeddeness when investigating its integration in any context. The data discussed here are drawn from a qualitative study, carried out as part of a Ph.D. research programme, which aimed at exploiting the potential of Promethean interactive whiteboard technology for the teaching of English as a foreign language. The findings indicate that the final picture of technology use in the context investigated was seen as the result of the interaction of several elements, such as: the inherent characteristics of the technology, teacher's pedagogical beliefs, students' own understandings of the potentials of the technology and the negotiations between students and the teacher regarding how the technology should be pedagogically exploited.