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Dear CALL-IS colleagues,
What does CALL mean nowadays? What was once called
computer-assisted language learning has grown far beyond computers and
welcomed all the technology that came after that. Should it have another
name? Should it be TALL? After all, we talk now about
technology-assisted language learning. Or would it be MALL, for
multimedia-assisted? Whatever the name, the essence of the interest
section (IS) remains.
Now that technology is ubiquitous, what is the need for a
CALL-IS? I would say CALL-IS members are what make CALL-IS
necessary—they are the first ones to try new technology and to think of
novel ways it can be used in teaching. They help make technology
invisible, so that ESL/EFL teachers and learners can focus on what
matters.
Though you may argue there are other reasons for CALL-IS to
exist, their roots would all end up in CALL-IS members. Their
willingness to share knowledge and technology in the Electronic Village
and Technology Showcase events at the TESOL convention is what makes
CALL-IS relevant. And that is why it is important that, when TESOL
introduces strands for the 2019 TESOL convention, CALL-IS members be
prepared to take up this new concept.
TESOL
created an Interest Section Task Force in 2015 that would make
recommendations to strengthen these member communities. One of the
recommendations is the creation of Communities of Practice (COPs), formed by professional learning networks (PLNs) and Interest
Sections (ISs), which would substitute for Interest Sections and Forums, making them more dynamic and less bureaucratic,
convention-related member communities. (Read this blog
post by then TESOL President Dudley Reynolds for more
information.)
CALL-IS has always welcomed changes and advances. And nothing
changes faster than technology nowadays. The new format for COPs is the
change CALL-IS faces now. That is why it is important now to know what
CALL stands for and how it will continue to make a difference in and to
the TESOL community. That is why CALL-IS members need to be prepared for
the changes.
It will be great to hear from CALL-IS members and friends in
response to the first question in this letter: What does CALL mean
nowadays?
Best regards,
Claudio Fleury
Claudio Fleury is an EFL teacher at Casa Thomas Jefferson, Brasília, Brazil. | 
