A Survey of Unanswered Questions in Computer Assisted Language Learning

A Survey of Unanswered Questions in Computer Assisted Language Learning

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This site presents the results of a CALL research survey conducted in July and August, 2002. The survey was sent to 120 CALL professionals from around the world asking them to articulate a research question they would like to see answered. I received 64 responses initially (a 53% return rate), and these formed the data for the accompanying report.

The report may be accessed with the menu above. Background gives a description of the rationale for the study. Respondents presents the survey, information on how the respondents were selected, and some demographics on those who returned the survey. Discussion includes highlights of the results and a brief discussion of their significance. A more detailed paper is planned for external publication.

The submissions by contributors may be viewed by using the menu on the left. The proposed research questions are divided into four major categories: design-centered issues, effectiveness issues, learner-centered issues, and research-centered issues. Each of these has several subcategories. For ease of browsing, I have included a short descriptor for each submission. Note that most of the questions include an email address in case you wish to contact the contributor directly..

This is meant to be a dynamic site, and I welcome input in the following categories. The submissions are not posted automatically but are subject to my review--I will attempt to keep the site updated on a weekly basis. Please note that I will not post comments or questions that are inappropriate, irrelevant, or appear to be of a commercial nature.

Submit Question: You may submit your own research question to be included on the site. All submitted questions must conform to the original guidelines except that contact information is required rather than optional.

General Comments: You may also submit comments relevant to CALL research. I particularly welcome references or links to CALL research sites, reviews of research results, and discussions of research methodology.

Comments on individual submissions: Each proposed question on this site has its own comment area which includes a form for submitting public comments regarding that submission (private comments may be sent directly to the contributor). Especially welcome are references to published research relevant to the question, addition of sub-questions, and suggestions for methodology.

I hope you find this site useful.

Phil Hubbard
Linguistics Department
Stanford University
September 20, 2002