The field CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning): definitions, aims and scope

Abstract

One of the only areas of study that has a specific field to study its relationship with technology is the language teaching area. This field is called Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). CALL is considered part of Second Language Acquisition studies (Blake, 2008; Chambers, 2010), i.e., it is a young branch of Applied Linguistics (Beatty, 2010; Chapelle, 2006). It is interdisciplinary in nature and it is influenced by and connected to many other fields and disciplines. Since it is a new field (Crystal, 2010), it is a sphere of language teaching which is somewhat fragmented and that moves simultaneously in different directions (Levy, 1997). The purpose of this article is to describe and specify the CALL field. First, it deals with the initial relationship between language teaching and technology describing the main perspectives under which technology is seen in the area. Following that, the acronym CALL and the opinions and controversies related to the use of this nomenclature are explained. Finally, definitions of what the field CALL is and what it embraces are provided. Researchers and work on CALL in Brazil are scarce (Reis, 2010). Therefore, it is clear the need to fill in this gap. It is essential that Brazilian language teaching professionals become aware of the existence of the field, its aims and scope.Key words: language teaching, technology, CALL.