Teacher Education in CALL
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Chapter 10.
Learning in Context: Situating Language Teacher Learning in CALL
Joy Egbert, Washington State University, USA
Abstract
Traditionally most language teacher education programs have worked on
the premise that teachers can learn during teacher preparation coursework what
they need to in order to teach well, with limited opportunities for practice
along the way, and then apply it in classrooms upon completion of their programs
of study. Preparation in computer-assisted language learning (CALL), which is
often a part of these programs, also occurs within the fairly isolated confines
of the teacher education program. However, many teachers from these programs
find themselves unprepared for the realities of language teaching and unprepared
to challenge and transform institutional dynamics with technology. This chapter
discusses two situated learning contexts—a Web-based CALL course and a case that
deals with issues of CALL—to demonstrate the potential of situated learning for
providing effective language teacher development in technology use.
References available online
Egbert, J., Paulus, T., and Nakamichi, Y. 2002. “The impact of CALL instruction on language classroom technology use: A foundation for rethinking CALL teacher education?” Language Learning and Technology 6 (3): 108-126. Available at http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num3/egbert/default.html.
Feiman-Nemser, S. and Remillard, J. 1995. “Perspectives on learning to teach”. In The Teacher Educator's Handbook: Building a Knowledge Base for the Preparation of Teachers, F. B. Murray (ed), 63-91. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Also available at http://ncrtl.msu.edu/http/ipapers/html/ip953.htm.
Harvard Business Cases Online. Available at http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/cases/cases_home.jhtml.
National Center for Research on Teacher Learning (NCRTL). 1994. Learning to Walk the Reform Talk: A Framework for Professional Development of Teachers. East Lansing: Michigan State University. Available on line: http://ncrtl.msu.edu/http/walk.pdf.
Updated September 12, 2006