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WorldCALL2023 – CALL in Critical Times

November 09-13, 2023 | Held in Chiang Mai, Thailand (and online)

Welcome to The 6th WorldCALL Conference (WorldCALL2023), held in partnership with The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), and in association with the Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO), Confédération Européenne des Centres de Langues de l'Enseignement Supérieur (CercleS), the European Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning (EUROCALL), the International Association for Language Learning Technology (IALLT), the Korea Association of Multimedia-Assisted Language Learning (KAMALL), and the Japan Association for Language Education and Technology (JLET).

WorldCALL is the worldwide professional association for teachers and educators interested in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). WorldCALL aims to enhance computer-assisted language teaching and learning in the global community by bringing together educators from around the world. As an international association, WorldCALL provides a worldwide platform for the promulgation of innovative research, development and practice in education and training; enhances the opportunities for knowledge and skills transfer to nations currently underserved in the area of CALL; and serves as a forum for exchanging information and forging professional relationships among educators, researchers and industry leaders from around the world. WorldCALL has held an international conference every five years since its first conference in Australia in 1998. Since then, conferences have been held in Canada in 2003, Japan in 2008, Scotland in 2013, and Chile in 2018.

We look forward to seeing you in Chiang Mai, Thailand and online!

Professor Ana Gimeno
Chair, of the WorldCALL 2023 Conference Steering Committee

Key Information

*Submit early to take advantage of the discounted registration rates. Learn more about our registration options.

Keynote Speakers

  • Artificial Intelligence and English Language Teaching – Challenges and Opportunities
    Artificial Intelligence and English Language Teaching – Challenges and Opportunities
    Mr Nik Peachey
  • How CALL Can Help Save Language Learning in Critical Times
    How CALL Can Help Save Language Learning in Critical Times
    Professor Marta González-Lloret
  • Critical Times for CALL: a Retprospective
    Critical Times for CALL: a Retprospective
    Professor Andrew Lian
  • Why Theory Matters: Conceptualizing CALL
    Why Theory Matters: Conceptualizing CALL
    Professor Regine Hampel

Accepted Presentations

WorldCALL2023 has accepted presentations from 39 countries and territories: Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam!

View Accepted Presentations

Call for Papers

The theme of the conference, "CALL in Critical Times" includes the following subthemes:

  • - The use of mobile technologies, such as tablets, iPads, smartphones etc., to provide flexibility and access to language learning opportunities.
  • - Development and design of applications that cross geographical, physical, psychological and financial boundaries.
  • - The use of social networking technologies by language teachers and learners to share expertise, knowledge and information both nationally and internationally.
  • - Growing innovation through collaboration across international institutions
  • - Growing diverse online communities of language learners/teachers.
  • - Working collaboratively to adapt and disseminate innovation favouring use by practitioners separated by geographical location or culture.
  • - Developing theoretical frameworks, models, principles, and guidelines for the development of CALL innovation with a view to the longer term.
  • - Identifying priorities of particular languages, groups and/or regions, with a view to increasing collaboration and growth.
  • - Evolving national and international government priorities that impact upon the overall use of CALL.

The Abstract Submission Deadline was Friday, August 11, 2023

Artificial Intelligence and English Language Teaching – Challenges and Opportunities
Mr Nik Peachey

Abstract

With recent developments in the training of large language models and machine learning, artificial intelligence tools have been able to take a huge leap forward. It's likely that the impact of these developments will have significant implications across the both the academic world and the world of work. These tools offer huge opportunities for the development of languages and education more generally, but in order to ensure we use them wisely we need to have a firm understanding of how they will impact the lives of our students both now and in their future careers.

In this session I will share some of the opportunities and challenges that AI brings to our classroom and explore some of the ways it can be used to have a positive impact on both the ways we develop and educate teachers as well as how we develop our students.

Biography

Nik Peachey is an accomplished educator, author, and learning technology consultant renowned for his expertise in integrating technology into education. With over 30 years of experience in the field, Nik has become a prominent figure in the realm of digital learning and teacher professional development.

Having taught in various educational settings across the globe, Nik possesses a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by teachers and learners in the digital age. His passion for exploring innovative approaches to enhance teaching and learning has driven him to share his knowledge through numerous publications, workshops, and presentations.

His books include:
ChatGPT for the Language Classroom
Team Building Activities for the Remote Classroom
Digital Tools for Teachers
Thinking Critically through Digital Media
Digital Video - A Manual for Language Teachers
Hacking Creativity
Conversation & Listening - A series of lesson for the digital classroom

How CALL Can Help Save Language Learning in Critical Times
Professor Marta González-Lloret

Abstract

We are living in critical times for CALL and for language learning in general. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary “critical” means “at a turning point or a specially important juncture”. In many learning institutions we find ourselves at such a critical turning point, and if we want to survive, we need to change the way language is taught. We need to be perceived as “critical” in the sense of indispensable, crucial, vital, and decisive for human education. I believe technology and current language teaching methodologies can help us accomplish that. This talk critically looks at the state of language learning around the world to identify some of the issues as to why our institutions, our colleagues, and the industry think learning other languages is irrelevant or a waste of time. I will then present some ideas of how the field of CALL can help change that perspective by not only educating our students as digital citizens, but also by implementing methodologies and pedagogical choices that will help our students learn language that is relevant, useful, and sociopragmatically appropriate while developing their critical digital skills for a multilingual globalized world.

Biography

Marta González-Lloret is a Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa where she has taught for over 30 years. Her main areas of research are at the intersections of technology, task-based language teaching and technology, and L2 pragmatics. She is also interested in conversation analysis for L2 interaction, teacher training and assessment, especially performance-based assessment. Dr González-Lloret has shared her knowledge and practices with audiences in multiple countries and has published her research in venues such as CALICO Journal, LL&T, Foreign Language Annals, Language Teaching Research, ARAL, etc. Among her recent publications is The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Technology (2022) edited with Nicole Ziegler. She serves on the board of several CALL publications and has recently been President of CALICO Association. She is co-editor of the John Benjamins Task-based Language Teaching book series and editor of the NFLRC book series Pragmatics & Language Learning.

Critical Times for CALL: a Retprospective
Professor Andrew Lian

Abstract

English language-learning in most Asian countries is stagnating despite large investments by governments. This is reflected in the results of major standardized proficiency tests such as the EF English Proficiency Index. There are other disturbing signs too. Other languages everywhere may be similarly affected. Responsibility for this situation must rest, at least in part, on the teaching and learning systems currently in place. Developing CALL support should help improve the situation. However, this is not a straightforward process. There is a confluence of social, technological, and pedagogical factors that is likely to hinder this process and we seem to be at a turning point in the history of language education and CALL: it is truly a critical time for both. With this in mind, the presentation will briefly re-examine the state of the language learning enterprise and its connection to the research field of CALL past, present and future. It will review some promising research directions and make suggestions for a more robust, adaptable, sustainable and successful future. Short demonstrations will accompany the presentation as appropriate.
And no, there is no typo in the presentation title. The word is in fact "Retprospective".

Biography

Professor Dr Andrew Lian, Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand; Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Vietnam; Professor Emeritus, University of Canberra, Australia. He specializes in developing frameworks for learning foreign/second languages and has had a special and ongoing interest in the uses of modern technology to enhance language learning since the late 1970s. He is one of the pioneers of modern Technology-Enhanced Language-Learning in Australia. He has been Professor and Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Western Illinois University, USA, Professor of Humanities and Director of the Center for the Study of Languages at Rice University, USA, and Professor and Head of the School of Languages and International Education at the University of Canberra in Australia. He has held further Professorial leadership positions in James Cook University and Bond University, Australia. His current research interests include neuroscience, perception and cerebral lateralization as they relate to language learning as well as self-adjusting and self-organizing (language/culture-)learning systems based on rhizomatic principles (including the generation of personalized learning environments). These approaches necessarily rely on modern technology, including multimodal systems and personalized feedback mechanisms. More details can be found at https://andrewlian.com/new and https://andrewlian.com. He is the current President of AsiaCALL (the Asia Association of Computer-Assisted Language Learning) and he may be reached at: andrew.lian@andrewlian.com.

Why Theory Matters: Conceptualizing CALL
Professor Regine Hampel

Abstract

This keynote presentation will focus on why researchers and teachers would want to use theory in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) rather than just focusing on what works in practice. Theories are influenced by our cultural values and belief systems and they help us to make sense of the world. The theoretical choices made by the researcher or teacher impact on the approach that s/he takes, as well as on the tools and techniques used in a particular study for data collection and analysis. This presentation will provide an overview of key theories that are used in CALL research today, focusing in particular on ecological theories which have proved useful for trying to understand the impact of the digital media on language learning and teaching.

Biography

Regine Hampel is Full Professor of Open and Distance Language Learning at the Open University, UK, and Deputy Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies. Alongside teaching German, she works closely with the Associate Dean, leading a large group of researchers in the areas of education; childhood, youth and sports; languages and applied linguistics; and health, wellbeing and social care. She oversaw the faculty’s successful submission to REF 2021, the UK’s system for assessing the quality of higher education research. Regine’s own research explores the impact of using technologies for language learning and teaching, contributing to a theoretical and pedagogical framing of online learning which goes beyond narrow cognitive approaches and takes account of sociocultural theories of learning as well as the multimodal nature of the new media. She is particularly interested in the affordances of the digital media and the potential they offer for interaction and communication. This has resulted in articles, book chapters, conference presentations, keynotes, special journal issues and several books, including a monograph entitled Disruptive Technologies and the Language Classroom: A Complex Systems Theory Approach (2019). She is currently editing The Bloomsbury Handbook of Language Learning and Technology (with Ursula Stickler).