ABSTRACT

The use of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in the second and foreign language classroom has grown during the last few decades, with findings demonstrating the effectiveness of computer-mediated communication on learners’ second and foreign language learning development, including the effectiveness of educational technology in developing communicative and linguistic competence (Sauro, 2011), as well as the impact on improving learner motivation, confidence, and autonomy (Compton, 2002; Fotos & Browne, 2004; Schwienhorst, 2008). It has been argued that technology can facilitate the development of a second language (L2), as it can serve to enhance the saliency of L2 features, provide opportunities for both comprehensible input and modified output, and draw learners’ attention to their errors (e.g., Chapelle, 2005), with a range of studies providing evidence supporting facilitating effects for computer-mediated language learning software and programs in a range of educational contexts and for a variety of linguistic skills (e.g., Felix, 2005; Golonka et al., 2014; Lai & Li, 2011; Liu, Moore, Graham, & Lee, 2002; Zhao, 2003). Overall, research indicates positive benefits for the use of technology for L2 language learning outcomes (e.g. Torlaković & Deugo, 2004; Lin et al., 2013; Ziegler, 2015), with findings demonstrating that learners using technology outperformed those who solely received classroom instruction in a range of skills (Grgurović, Chapelle, & Shelley, 2013; Zhao, 2003).