CALL Beliefs in Context: a Study of US High School Foreign Language Learners

Abstract

Recent calls from applied linguistics and from CALL have emphasized the importance of situating the understanding and use of digital tools for language learning within layered contexts. An important component of these layered contexts is societal discourses of technology, which are multiple and far from neutral. In response to these calls, this study examines how students at one San Francisco Bay Area high school understand technology in foreign language learning and how these beliefs relate to regional discourses of technology. The study assumed an ecological theoretical frame and deployed a multi-pronged research design: a survey study (n = 283), a case study (n = 3), and a discourse analysis of a regional newspaper corpus (n = 372). Findings indicate that students held largely utilitarian beliefs about CALL that both aligned with and diverged from regional discourses. Instances of alignment suggest the potential influence of larger societal discourses on student beliefs about CALL while instances of divergence underscore the need to address the larger role of technology in society when considering CALL beliefs and practices.