[Edling] 3rd CfP: CALICO Journal Special Issue on Critical CALL and social inclusivity

Sun Jul 2 22:06:53 UTC 2017

*With apologies for cross-postings*

Topic/Title:             Moving forward with critical CALL to promote
social inclusivity

Guest editors:         Jesse Gleason, Southern Connecticut State University

                                Ruslan Suvorov, University of Hawaiʻi at
Mānoa

CfP: https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/CALICO/announcement/view/218

Over the past 20 years, there have been marked changes in the ways that
technology has been used for language learning and teaching. As a result of
emerging technologies and their pedagogical applications in the field of
applied linguistics, studies in computer-assisted language learning (CALL)
have grown exponentially in number and scope. As movement toward
integrative CALL, where technological implantation “in every classroom, on
every desk, in every bag” (Bax, 2003, p. 21) varies by context, more
attention must be paid to a critical analysis of the role played by
integrative CALL in (re)producing issues of power, ideology, and
injustice. Critical
CALL presents an opportunity for “engagement with issues of power and
inequality and an understanding of how our classrooms and conversations are
related to broader social, cultural and political relations” (Helm, 2015,
p. 4). Although these critical approaches are not new to the field of
applied linguistics (Bernstein, 1975; Fairclough, 1989; van Dijk, 1993),
growing attention to how CALL plays a role in “the (re)production and
challenge of dominance” (van Dijk, 1993, p. 249) is sorely needed.

This special issue will explore the interplay between technology-mediated
language learning and issues of social injustice, power, and inequality. As
Guo and Beckett (2007) argue, “the increasing dominance of the English
language is contributing to neocolonialism by empowering the already
powerful and leaving the disadvantaged further behind” (p. 117). Integral
questions from the perspective of critical CALL include: How does
technology play a role in this dynamic? How do neoliberal principles such
as an individualistic competition model and CALL intertwine? (How) can we
leverage technology to promote “social inclusion” (Warschauer, 2003, p. 8)?
Gruba and Hinkelman’s (2012) three-tiered approach to the design and
evaluation of blended learning experiences provides a springboard for
expanding the study of critical CALL. Where most critical CALL research to
date has been concerned with micro-level issues (e.g., how a particular
technology used in a particular classroom helped students learn the target
language), there is relatively little discussion of meso-level issues and
macro-level issues. By focusing on these two areas, the special issue issue
seeks to uncover which structures, strategies, or modes of
technology-mediated language instruction serve to “enact, sustain,
legitimate, condone or ignore social inequality and injustice” (van Dijk,
1993, p. 252). Ultimately, it asks a similar question to that posed by
Motha (2014, p. xxiii): How do we participate in CALL “in a way that is
responsible, ethical, and conscious of the consequences of our practice”?

In light of the affordances that technology provides, including potential
access to “open” and “free” tools for language learning (e.g., MOOCs),
critical CALL must draw attention to how such resources can work to
ameliorate or in some cases perhaps exacerbate problems of discrimination,
marginalization, and inequality (Andrejevic, 2007; Menezes de Souza, 2015).
A clear description and evaluation of critical CALL at the meso- and
macro-levels will add to previous research at the micro-level (Helm,
Bradley, Guarda & Thouësny, 2015), providing a roadmap for critical CALL
grounded in the promotion of equality, access, and social justice. The
editors invite studies that utilize a critical CALL perspective to topics
and questions such as:

   -

   Technology, new/multi-literacies, and social inclusivity
   -

   CALL in the era of globalization and the networked society
   -

   Access to technology in developed vs. developing countries
   -

   Social media and CALL
   -

   Diffusion of CALL in restricted contexts/communities (e.g., Internet
   restrictions/censorship in China)

   -

   What solutions can CALL provide to potentially negative impacts of
   neoliberal policies on world language education, such as redistribution
   of fiscal resources and disinvestment in public schooling, the positioning
   of students as consumers rather than critical learners, and further
   marginalization and exclusion of disadvantaged groups from quality
   education?
   -

   What is the interplay between normalisation in CALL and social,
   political, economic issues? How can critical CALL expose and address these
   issues?
   -

   How do technology-mediated pedagogical practices align or misalign with
   more recent efforts toward promoting a socially-oriented,
   culturally-embedded view of language and learning? What are the affordances
   and constraints of institutional policies or existing national standards
   for CALL?
   -

   What can we as CALL theorists and practitioners do to close the digital
   divide and promote social inclusion? What changes in our praxis do we need
   to make in order to better tackle social, political, and economic issues?
   What technological, human, economic, and social resources are essential for
   this mission?
   -

   How are decisions about technology and language learning at the
   classroom (micro) influenced by and in turn, how do they influence
   departmental (meso), institutional, and broader social, political, and
   economic (macro) levels? How do such decisions play a role in the
   (re)production of power and control?

Moving forward with critical CALL to promote social inclusivity will cultivate
a discussion of and take a critical stance on the role of technology in
broader meso- and macro-level language learning contexts in order to
problematize and propose solutions to issues of inequality,
marginalization, and social injustice. By bringing together a collection of
articles in the above areas, it will move forward with critical CALL in
order to seek solutions to fundamental social, political, and economic
problems. Abstracts between 200-300 words can be submitted as email
attachment (word or pdf format only please) to gleasonj8 at southernct.edu and
rsuvorov at hawaii.edu by *July 15, 2017*. Please note that abstract
acceptance does not guarantee publication of the submitted manuscript. All
manuscripts will be subject to a double blind peer review process.

Production timeline:

First Call for Papers: May 1, 2017

Second Call for Papers: June 1, 2017

Deadline for submission of abstracts: July 15, 2017 (by email to the guest
editors)

Authors are notified of acceptance: July 31, 2017

Authors submit full manuscripts for review: Dec 1, 2017 (normal author
submission through CJ’s OJS)

Authors receive first-round reviews: February 28, 2018

Revised manuscripts due: April 30, 2018

Editorial decision by the guest editors: June 30, 2018

Special Issue to be published: January 2019
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