REVIEW ARTICLETESOL Quarterly welcomes evaluative reviews of publications relevant to TESOLprofessionals.

Edited by MARGARET HAWKINSUniversity of Wisconsin

Language, Literacy, and Technology

Call Dimensions: Options and Issues in Computer-AssistedLanguage Learning.Mike Levy and Glenn Stockwell. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum,2006. Pp. xviii + 292.

Laptops and Literacy: Learning in the Wireless Classroom.Mark Warschauer. New York, NY: Teachers College Press, 2006.Pp. xi + 179.

� Today, more and more educators are introducing new technologiesinto their classrooms with the hope of transforming their practices andstudent learning. This widespread infusion of technology in schools callsfor teacher guidance in practical, pedagogically grounded ways to makeoptimal use of technological tools in classrooms (Meskill, 2002). The twobooks reviewed here offer valuable insights about the history, currentstate, and broad applications of technology-assisted learning. Althoughthese books differ in focus, in combination they deliver essential infor-mation needed to make effective use of new technologies to meet theeducational needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners.

Levy and Stockwell’s CALL Dimensions is a commendable and timelycontribution to what is becoming an increasingly popular and perplex-ing field: the field of computer-assisted language learning (CALL). (Inthis book, CALL is used generically to refer to network-based languagelearning, technology-enhanced language learning, and information andcommunication technologies for language learning.) Levy and Stockwellare apparently committed to identifying the breadth and diversity ofCALL to provide a comprehensive guide and resource to those who wishto develop detailed knowledge of the field. This book has three obvioususes. First, it can serve as a course text for language teacher preparation.

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Second, it will be useful as a reference for software designers who createWeb sites, programs, and online materials for language learners. Andthird, CALL researchers who conduct classroom-based action researchor large-scale research projects will find this book to be highly relevant.

CALL Dimensions is divided into 10 chapters. The authors have basedthe chapter order on a detailed analysis of a CALL corpus constructed in1999 from published CALL literature. Chapter 1 starts with an introduc-tory discussion about CALL in general and ends with an overview of thestructure and approach of the book. Chapter 2 focuses on issues relatedto design in CALL and suggests a number of pedagogical and technicalguidelines for effective creation of CALL materials. Chapter 3 considersprocesses of evaluation in CALL and provides frameworks for assessingthe value and effectiveness of CALL materials. Chapter 4 addresses thestrengths and weaknesses of different forms of computer-mediated com-munication and discusses their applicability to specific aspects of lan-guage teaching and learning. Chapter 5 is devoted to theories of secondlanguage learning that inform CALL practices and provides direction fordesigners, language teachers, and researchers to follow when makingdecisions about CALL. Chapter 6 focuses on approaches to research inCALL and explores themes and issues that researchers should considerin their work. Chapter 7 addresses practice in CALL and provides a briefoverview of various types of activities that can be used in teaching dif-ferent language skills and areas. Chapter 8 discusses current advances intechnology and provides cautionary notes for teachers and designers onstate-of-the-art technologies in CALL. Chapter 9 explores the key ele-ments in integration of CALL and provides guidance for best practices.And Chapter 10 introduces the terms emergent and established CALL andreports on parameters that surround the field as a whole.

The authors’ core position is that successful integration of CALL is notan isolated endeavor. Theoretical, pedagogical, technical, environmen-tal, social, institutional, and sometimes personal factors influence CALLimplementation and contribute to various interpretations in particularsettings. This complex and multifaceted nature of CALL constitutes theoverall theme of the book.

CALL Dimensions has many strengths that make it an essential andvaluable addition to the existing literature. All chapters are well orga-nized, with clear, straightforward introductions that specify what will bediscussed, and the topics are addressed in simple, lucid prose. The ideasput forward are all data driven, and the explanations provided are sys-tematic rather than anecdotal. In each chapter, detailed references allowfor follow-up and further reading about highlighted theoretical posi-tions. A further pleasing feature is that, unlike many publications onCALL, this book does not limit its focus only to the English language, butcovers a range of languages.

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One cautionary note: Readers looking for pedagogical insights intotheir daily CALL practices may be disappointed because this book is leanon practical tips. It could perhaps be significantly more useful for lan-guage practitioners if the authors had achieved a good balance betweenbeing theoretical and being practical. This shortcoming is understand-able because CALL is a broad field and covering all aspects pertaining topractice in one chapter is not an easy task. Although to some extentchapter 7 provides examples from the literature that show how CALL isused in teaching language skills, the book needs detailed accounts ofclassroom practices that provide language teachers with best practices inCALL. Yet, all in all, given its insightful perspective, CALL Dimensionswould be an excellent text or resource for an MA TESOL or teachereducation class.

For those readers who wish to further their teaching repertoire andgain insights into effective classroom use of computers, Warschauer’sLaptops and Literacy will be of interest. This book is a commendablecontribution to current literature on literacy, learning, and technology.As Warschauer states in the preface, this book aims to address the fol-lowing question: “How do students’ literacy practices in school change,or not change, when every student throughout the school day has amobile personal computer wirelessly connected to the Internet?” (p. ix).The type of work described in this book is timely, given the debates aboutone-to-one laptop initiatives across the United States. With its optimisticrhetoric, it is an invaluable and authoritative text that has the potentialto calm these debates.

Laptops and Literacy is the result of a study conducted by a researchteam in ten K–12 public schools in California and Maine. Each schoolrepresents students from diverse cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomicbackgrounds. Based on a combination of data collection methods, suchas observations, interviews, surveys, and document review, this book ex-amines the influence of one-to-one laptop computers on students’ aca-demic as well as digital literacy development. It presents informative,well-written, and well-researched chapters and offers useful insights intowhat is an educational challenge of enormous importance to policy mak-ers, administrators, teachers, and parents. This book will be of value toany educator with an interest in using computer-based technology intheir practices. Although not targeted specifically to English languageteachers, this book’s use of rich examples from English as a secondlanguage (ESL) classrooms will be of great interest to a range of TESOLprofessionals.

The book is divided into eight chapters. Chapter 1 starts with a shortvignette that sets the scene for the discussion that follows. The definitionof literacies and the literacy challenges of the 21st century are the majorthemes of this chapter. Chapter 2 looks at the history and current state

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of technology use in education and introduces the research study thatforms the foundation of this book. The book comes alive in chapters 3–7,where the author provides accounts of classroom practices that involveeffective and sometimes ineffective uses of laptops in literacy education.Each chapter begins with a powerful quote that is immediately followedby critical analysis of computer-based learning activities used in the K–12classrooms under study. Specifically, chapters 3 and 4 discuss the role oflaptops in learning to read and write. Chapter 5 looks at informationliteracy and discusses the processes and techniques used by K–12 class-room teachers to hone students’ research skills. Chapter 6 discusses theinfluence of multimedia in students’ knowledge representation and con-struction. Chapter 7 describes students’ experiences with one-to-one lap-tops and explores the opportunities laptops afford for students to im-prove the habits of mind they need for 21st-century success. And chapter8 concludes with an evaluation of one-to-one laptop programs in light ofthe data that emerged from the research project on which this book isbased.

It is no secret that rich uses of technology do not, in and of them-selves, transform classrooms or provide promising solutions for institu-tional or instructional problems that result in poor learning. Based onhis observations, Warschauer concludes that “while a one-to-one laptopprogram can make a good school better, it will not fundamentally altera school with problems” (p. 133). One crucial finding of Warschauer’sresearch is that it is “the teacher’s overall approach rather than the useof technology” (p. 142) that determines the extent to which laptopscontribute to the development of students’ literacy skills. Like Levy andStockwell, Warschauer also explicitly states that the success of technologyintegration depends on “social context, including the norms and valuesof the school and community, students’ individual abilities and beliefs,and teachers’ approaches” (p. 132). Overall, Warschauer’s researchmakes a powerful case for the central roles played by teacher, student,and institutional variables in fostering students’ literacy developmentwith one-to-one laptops across the curriculum.

One interesting feature is the book’s approach: It shows rather thantells. Throughout, Warschauer provides a rich description of the studycontext, presents powerful quotes from the interviews, and most impor-tant, draws a vivid picture of classroom happenings that detail the typesof teaching and learning that take place in one-to-one laptop classrooms.The book and its underlying argument are extremely well structured,presenting comprehensive, well-balanced treatment of the topics. Un-doubtedly, this book has the potential to help create a future in whichlaptop initiatives are welcomed without hesitancy across the UnitedStates or elsewhere to meet the needs of 21st-century students.

One critical observation: Warschauer’s book notes that laptop use in

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wireless classrooms does not correlate with higher test scores, but itpromotes the development of skills that are necessary for survival in the21st century. The book would have a much more powerful effect on thecurrent debates about laptops in education if Warschauer had provideddetailed examples of successful use of laptops that promote studentsuccess on standardized tests. Such examples would prove that doubtfulattitudes towards laptop initiatives are wrongheaded.

In sum, both books reviewed here are highly recommendable to dif-ferent audiences for different reasons. CALL Dimensions helps languageteachers and CALL designers and researchers understand CALL from atheoretical and critical perspective; Laptops and Literacy provides realclassroom examples of technology use across the curriculum (includingESL) to help readers gain new insights about laptop use in education.Both books are valuable additions to the existing literature on language,literacy, and technology and provide excellent resources of interest andimportance not only for TESOL professionals but also for all educatorsacross the curriculum.

REFERENCE

Meskill, C. (2002). Teaching and learning in real time: Media, technologies and languageacquisition. Houston, TX: Athelstan.

SEDEF UZUNERThe State University of New York at AlbanyAlbany, New York, United States

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