Language Education / Education and Technology

"An indispensable introduction to the field of computer-assisted language learning that is both theoretically sound and highly practical, written in an accessible style palatable to advanced undergraduate and graduate students alike. Blake and Guillén persuasively guide language instructors on how to incorporate existing and evolving new technologies into the L2 classroom in a principled and impactful way."
-Bryan Smith, associate professor of applied linguistics, Department of English, Arizona State University

Brave New Digital Classroom reveals how technology can be used effectively to teach and learn a second language (L2). Robert J. Blake and Gabriel Guillén touch on the key concepts and challenges of teaching languages with technology, including which digital tools work for L2 learning, how games can be used, and what digital literacy and identity mean in the classroom.

This new edition reframes the conversation to account for technology's deep integration into our lives. With the goal that students become bilingual and bicultural, the authors demonstrate how digital tools can nudge students to notice what they do not know, help them make connections to people, and enhance and encourage both play and storytelling. With core terminology in a comprehensive glossary, a short list for further reading, and discussion questions at the end of each chapter, the book can be easily adapted for classroom use or self-study. Videos of short interviews with computer-assisted language learning scholars to enhance each chapter's discussions are available at press.georgetown.edu.

Robert J. Blake is a distinguished professor of Spanish linguistics and director of the Davis Language Center at the University of California, Davis. He has developed online Spanish courses and, with Eve Zyzik, coauthored El español y la lingüística aplicada.

Gabriel Guillén is an assistant professor of Spanish at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and an active practitioner in the field of language learning and technology. His research focuses on local and online intercultural exchanges and the use of language-learning social networks in the context of hybrid language education.

Robert J. Blake and Gabriel Guillén

Robert Blake, now with Gabriel Guillén, updates his successful book (1st ed. 2008, 2nd ed. 2013) on how to teach foreign languages using technology. Brave New Digital Classroom touches on all of the key concepts and challenges of teaching with technology, focusing on issues specific to FLL or L2 learning and CALL. Originally referred to as computer-assisted language learning, CALL has come to encompass any kind of learning that uses digital tools for language learning.

This edition reframes the conversation to account for how technology has been integrated into our lives. Blake and Guillén address the ways technology can help with L2, how to choose the right digital tools, how to use those tools effectively, and how technology can impact literacy and identity. The book is primed for use in graduate courses: terminology is in bold and a comprehensive glossary is included; each chapter finishes with a short list of references for further reading on the topic and discussion questions. The authors provide short interview videos (free via GUP website) to enhance discussions on each chapter's topic.

Foreword, Steven L. Thorne

Introduction: From Talking to Telling Tales in a Multilingual Digital World

1. Can Technology Help with L2 Learning?

2. What Is the Right Technological Fit for L2 Learning?

3. How Does the Digital World Shape Our Social Interactions?

4. Which Digital Tools Work for L2 Learning?

5. Games for Language Learning

6. Digital Literacy and L2 Identity

Epilogue: Brave New Digital L2 Classroom, Revisited

Glossary

References

Index

About the Authors