Reviewed by Colette van Kerckvoorde, Bard College at Simon’s Rock

Although new technology is increasingly incorporated into the general curriculum at all levels of education, many foreign-language teachers are still resisting this trend in their own classrooms. In this book, Robert Blake makes a plea for the use of computer technology in the foreign-language curriculum, stressing that it offers the potential not only to improve the students’ skills in the target language but also to augment their opportunities to receive comprehended input. If applied responsibly and properly integrated, technology will indeed be beneficial to student learning.

B intends this work for the neophyte as well as for the teacher who has already incorporated some technology in the classroom. He recognizes that language acquisition is a social, face-to-face process but also reminds us that it takes several years to become fluent in the target language, that most American students are not able to study abroad, and that advanced-level courses are not always readily available. Technology, he argues, can thus enrich the overall language-learning experience and be used in addition to classroom instruction. B further points out that most students enjoy using computers and generally respond well to the use of technology in the classroom.

The book is well structured. Ch. 1 serves as a general introduction and briefly discusses the importance of exposure to comprehended output in the language learning process. Here, B also addresses some common misgivings that teachers frequently cite about the use of technology in the foreign-language classroom and argues that technology only provides a set of tools that some consider methodologically neutral. Such tools, he claims, can make a valuable contribution to a language program, but only if their use has been carefully thought out and is not limited to drills and/or exercises with little negotiating of meaning. The following three chapters each deal respectively with the Web, with computer assisted language learning (CALL), and with computer-mediated communication. B takes time to explain each component and indicates how each technology can be successfully used to promote active and meaningful learning. As a rule, he suggests that teachers map out a learning pathway for the students and provide ample guidance. They should always construct sound pedagogy around the materials and remember that the negotiation of meaning is at the center of the implementation. In the last chapter, B addresses distance learning and focuses on some recent studies that were done on this topic. He further provides some guidelines that can be used to enhance the online language instruction experience.

This is an easy introduction to sound practices in application of computer technology in language instruction. The book is not meant as a how-to manual for specific languages but rather as an invitation to create a more student-centered environment in which the student can be an active participant in a learning process that consists of several components.