ABSTRACT
We have been thinking about the ideas in this chapter and book over the last several years because we have looked into the computer-assisted language learning (CALL) research and have seen something amiss. For example, although fine studies have been conducted on some topics, the research seems to be scattered across such a wide area that a specific picture of what CALL is and does has not emerged. Also, the excitement, rigor, and applicability found in other areas of education research seem to be missing in CALL. Discussing why that might be, we discovered the lack of a coherent understanding of CALL; a tendency to do specific kinds of research to the neglect of other questions, methods, and perspectives; and the logical but fallacious inclination to test technologies rather than theories. This book addresses all of these issues and provides ways to think about building a rich, cogent body of literature for the field. This chapter begins this process by defining terms we use in this text, describing the context of the work we do, and explaining the importance of understanding and using a variety of perspectives while conducting investigations into CALL.
