This issue of ReCALL contains a variety of papers focusing on a number of important issues in our field, starting with a timely meta-analysis of effectiveness studies between 1970 and 2006 by Maja Grgurovic, Carol Chapelle and Mack Shelley. The meta-analysis results provide an empirically-based response to the questions of whether or not technology-supported pedagogies enhance language learning, and the process of conducting the meta-analysis pointed to areas in research methodology that would benefit from attention in future research. The next article, by Aubrey Neil Leveridge and Jie Chi Yang, looks at learners’ reliance on caption support in second language listening comprehension, and describes a Caption Reliance Test (CRT) which enables teachers to evaluate the degree to which learners rely on caption supports and thus make informed decisions regarding learners’ requirements and utilization of captions as a multimedia learning support. Levi McNeil's study explores the relationship between situated activity and CALL learning in teacher education, concluding that the relationship between situated learning and CALL is strong and positive, and identifying implications for further research into situated learning and CALL teacher education. In their study of students’ involvement in an EFL collaborative wiki project, Hsiao-chin Lee and Pei-ling Wang found that the nature of the learning tasks, students’ constant communication and appreciation of different opinions, the difficulties they encountered when communicating asynchronously, and their expectations of learning English affected to what extent they became involved in the online collaboration. Again focusing on listening, Monica Stella Cardenas-Claros and Paul Gruba propose a theoretical framework for the conceptualization and design of help options in computer-based second language listening. This framework establishes ways of making help options easy to use, encouraging learner control, framing guidance and stimulating learning. Another highly relevant paper discusses the issue of authenticity in CALL, considering authenticity as the result of a social negotiation process rather than an innate feature of a text, object, person, or activity. The paper points out problematic aspects of engaging in authenticity claims and argues that a reflexive stance might be useful in questioning the role of authenticity claims in CALL theory and practice. Finally, following on from our special issue on digital games for language learning, Dongwan Ryu investigates how non-native English speaking game players participate in language learning, both through game play and through the development of a beyond-game culture.
As ever, this issue draws on research from diverse geographical areas including Australia, Chile, Germany, Korea, Taiwan and the USA.
Thanks are due to all colleagues who reviewed papers in 2012 (in addition to those acknowledged in the Special Issue on Digital Games): David Barr, Alex Boulton, Catherine Caws, Angela Chambers, Thierry Chanier, Frederik Cornillie, Robert Debski, Françoise Demaizières, Robert Fischer, Nina Garrett, John Gillespie, Ana Gimeno, Michael Goethals, Nicolas Guichon, Regine Hampel, Mirjam Hauck, Dominique Hémard, Trude Heift, Phil Hubbard, Andrea Karpáti, Marie-Noëlle Lamy, Peter Liddell, David Little, François Mangenot, Vera Menezes, Detmar Meurers, Robert O'Dowd, Sue Otto, Kazumi Sakai, Mathias Schulze, Lesley Shield, Glen Stockwell, Peppi Taalas, Maija Tammelin, Steve Thorne, Cornelia Tschichold.
