Abstract Summary
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.

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Authors:
Marta González-Lloret, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, United States

About the Presenter(s)
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.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Friday Schedule

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