Virtual supremacy and electronic imperialism: the hegemonies of e-learning and computer assisted language learning (CALL)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Many people consider the Internet to be refreshingly democratic; everybody appears to have a ‘voice,’ and there is much sharing of ‘open’ content. The use of the internet for the learning/teaching of languages often seems particularly apt: People from different countries practice a language as they interact online, at the same time deepening their understanding of other cultures and ways of life (Stockwell [2018]. ‘Teaching Culture in Foreign Language Classes.’ Foreign Language Education Research 22: 11–23.). This is an intriguing scenario; however, it doesn’t always play out in real life, since in truth technology is neither neutral nor unequivocally democratic, and people are often exposed to various forms of virtual supremacy and electronic imperialism. This study attempts to elucidate the lived experiences of Iranian academia with regard to the hegemonies of e-learning, by examining how these hegemonies are operating in the Iranian English Language Teaching (ELT) community under the guise of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). Various ELT stakeholders were interviewed, and recurring themes identified under the six categories of linguistic, technological, economic, educational, sociocultural, and sociopolitical hegemonies of e-learning. It is hoped that this and similar studies will help develop the awareness that is a prerequisite to achieving equity and social justice in digital education.