Looking for a Needle in a Haystack: CALL and Advanced Language Proficiency.

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Title: Looking for a Needle in a Haystack: CALL and Advanced Language Proficiency.
Authors: Burston, Jack1 jburston@cut.ac.cy, Arispe, Kelly2 kellyarispe@boisestate.edu
Source: CALICO Journal. 2018, Vol. 35 Issue 1, p77-102. 26p.
Subject Terms: *Language ability, *Second language acquisition, *Educational technology, *Foreign language education, *Computer assisted language instruction, Meta-analysis
Abstract: The goal of this meta-analysis is to evaluate how instructional technology has impacted advanced second language (AL2) development. Although numerous metaanalyses have been conducted within the CALL literature over the past two decades, they primarily focus upon learning outcomes and related effect sizes. None focus on advanced learning per se. Where AL2 is even mentioned, which is only rarely, little or no attention is paid to critical research parameters within the studies that are analyzed. Most notably, in summarizing learning outcomes, the linguistic competence of learners claimed to be at advanced level is simply taken at face value. So, too, no consideration is given to the difficulty level of tasks undertaken by students or their appropriateness to students' claimed proficiency. It is the intent of this general overview of the contribution of CALL to AL2 to address these issues through a comprehensive analysis of the publications in four prominent CALL journals (CALICO, CALL, Language Learning & Technology, and ReCALL) over some 30 years. In so doing, the Performance Descriptors (PD) and NCSSFL-Can-Do Statements (CDS) of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) are adopted as external criteria for establishing student competence level, task difficulty, and appropriateness. This study concludes that not only are CALL AL2 studies extremely limited in number and focus, but also that they suffer from serious design flaws that call into question a great portion of the claims made regarding the contribution of instructional technology to the furthering of advanced-level foreign language competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of CALICO Journal is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Looking for a Needle in a Haystack: CALL and Advanced Language Proficiency.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Burston%2C+Jack%22">Burston, Jack</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> jburston@cut.ac.cy</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Arispe%2C+Kelly%22">Arispe, Kelly</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><i> kellyarispe@boisestate.edu</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22CALICO+Journal%22">CALICO Journal</searchLink>. 2018, Vol. 35 Issue 1, p77-102. 26p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+ability%22">Language ability</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Second+language+acquisition%22">Second language acquisition</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+technology%22">Educational technology</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+language+education%22">Foreign language education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+assisted+language+instruction%22">Computer assisted language instruction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Meta-analysis%22">Meta-analysis</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: The goal of this meta-analysis is to evaluate how instructional technology has impacted advanced second language (AL2) development. Although numerous metaanalyses have been conducted within the CALL literature over the past two decades, they primarily focus upon learning outcomes and related effect sizes. None focus on advanced learning per se. Where AL2 is even mentioned, which is only rarely, little or no attention is paid to critical research parameters within the studies that are analyzed. Most notably, in summarizing learning outcomes, the linguistic competence of learners claimed to be at advanced level is simply taken at face value. So, too, no consideration is given to the difficulty level of tasks undertaken by students or their appropriateness to students' claimed proficiency. It is the intent of this general overview of the contribution of CALL to AL2 to address these issues through a comprehensive analysis of the publications in four prominent CALL journals (CALICO, CALL, Language Learning & Technology, and ReCALL) over some 30 years. In so doing, the Performance Descriptors (PD) and NCSSFL-Can-Do Statements (CDS) of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) are adopted as external criteria for establishing student competence level, task difficulty, and appropriateness. This study concludes that not only are CALL AL2 studies extremely limited in number and focus, but also that they suffer from serious design flaws that call into question a great portion of the claims made regarding the contribution of instructional technology to the furthering of advanced-level foreign language competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of CALICO Journal is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1558/cj.31594
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        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Language ability
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Second language acquisition
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational technology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Foreign language education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Computer assisted language instruction
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      – SubjectFull: Meta-analysis
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      – TitleFull: Looking for a Needle in a Haystack: CALL and Advanced Language Proficiency.
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              Text: 2018
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