Abstract
The emerging concept of ‘learning ecology’ and the multiple metaphors of language learning for blending technologies are the theme of this chapter. Most views of technologies focus on technology as a device, not a process. The problem with this approach is that it limits the learning process to the capabilities of the device itself. Instead, an ecological view of technology asks, ‘How do learners configure the tools and other dimensions of the process?’ Thus, Hinkelman defines a learning ecology as a web of socio-technical pedagogic technologies configured to achieve a learning task. ‘Ecology’ can also be a unifying metaphor for language learning. Recent interpretations of socio-cultural theory to language learning involve ecological-semiotic perspectives on L2 learning and open-ended approaches to language learning based on ecological metaphors.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Bax, S. (2003). CALL-past, present and future. System, 31, 13–28.
Berggren, A., Burgos, D., Fontana, J., Hinkelman, D., Hung, V., Hursh, A., & Tielemans, G. (2005). Practical and pedagogical issues for teacher adoption of IMS learning design standards in Moodle LMS. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2, 1–24. Retrieved from http://jime.open.ac.uk/2005/02
Block, D. (2003). The social turn in second language acquisition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Bloomfield, L. (1933). Language. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Breen, M., & Littlejohn, A. (Eds.). (2000). Classroom decision-making: Negotiation and process syllabuses in practice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Brown, H. D. (2007). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall Regents.
Bygate, M., Skehan, P., & Swain, M. (2001). Researching pedagogic tasks: Second language learning, teaching, and testing. London: Pearson Education.
Chapelle, C. A. (2001). Computer applications in second language acquisition: Foundations for teaching, testing, and research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Cook, V. (2016). Second language learning and language teaching (5th ed.). New York: Routledge.
Correa, M. (2015). Flipping the foreign language classroom and critical pedagogies. Higher Education for the Future, 2(2), 114–125.
Cutrim Schmid, E. (2006). Investigating the use of interactive whiteboard technology in the English language classroom through the lens of a critical theory of technology. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 19(1), 47–62.
Daniels, H. (2001). Vygotsky and pedagogy. London: Routledge Falmer.
Debski, R. (2006). Project-oriented language teaching with technology. Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research.
Doughty, C. (2012). Instructed SLA: Constraints, compensation, and enhancement. In C. Doughty & M. Long (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 256–310). Malden: Blackwell.
Egbert, J., & Hanson-Smith, E. (Eds.). (2007). CALL environments: Research, practice, and critical issues (2nd ed.). Alexandria: TESOL.
Egbert, J., Hanson-Smith, E., & Chao, C. (2007). Introduction: Foundations for teaching and learning. In J. Egbert & E. Hanson-Smith (Eds.), CALL environments: Research, practice, and critical issues (2nd ed., pp. 1–14). Alexandria: TESOL.
Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (1997). Second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (2000). Task-based research and language pedagogy. Language Teaching Research, 4(3), 193–220.
Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (2015). Understanding second language acquisition (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Feenberg, A. (1991). Critical theory of technology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Feenberg, A. (2002). Transforming technology: A critical theory revisited. New York: Oxford University Press.
Feenberg, A. (2008). Critical theory of technology: An overview. In G. Leckie & J. Buschman (Eds.), Information technology in librarianship: New critical approaches (pp. 31–46). Westport: Libraries Unlimited.
Fried-Booth, D. (2002). Project work (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Guerrettaz, A. M., & Johnston, B. (2013). Materials in the classroom ecology. The Modern Language Journal, 97(3), 779–795.
Hinkelman, D., & Gruba, P. (2012). Power within blended language learning programs in Japan. Language Learning & Technology, 16(2), 46–64. Retrieved May 7, 2015 from: http://llt.msu.edu/issues/june2012/hinkelmangruba.pdf
Holliday, A. (1999). Small cultures. Applied Linguistics, 20(2), 237–264.
Hornborg, A. (2001). The power of the machine: Global inequalities of economy, technology, and environment. Lanham: Altamira Press.
Hubbard, P., & Levy, M. (2016). Theory in computer-assisted language learning research and practice. In F. Farr & L. Murray (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language learning and technology (pp. 24–38). New York: Routledge.
Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction: Game-based methods and strategies for training and education. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Kern, R. (2014). Technology as pharmakon: The promise and perils of the Internet for foreign language education. Modern Language Journal, 98(1), 340–357.
Kern, R., & Warschauer, M. (2000). Introduction: Theory and practice of network-based language teaching. In M. Warschauer & R. Kern (Eds.), Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice (pp. 1–19). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kramsch, C. (Ed.). (2002a). Language acquisition and language socialization: Ecological perspectives. London: Continuum.
Kramsch, C. (2002b). Introduction: How can we tell the dancer from the dance? In C. Kramsch (Ed.), Language acquisition and language socialization: Ecological perspectives (pp. 1–30). London: Continuum.
Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford: Pergamon.
Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon.
Lafford, B. (2009). Toward an ecological CALL: Update to Garrett (1991). Modern Language Journal, 93, 673–696.
Lantolf, J. (Ed.). (2000). Sociocultural theory and second language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lantolf, J., & Thorne, S. (2006). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and principles in language teaching (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Cameron, L. (2008). Complex systems and applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Law, J. (2004). After method: Mess in social science research. London: Routledge.
Leather, J., & Van Dam, J. (Eds.). (2003). Ecology of language acquisition. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
van Lier, L. (2002). An ecological-semiotic perspective on language and linguistics. In C. Kramsch (Ed.), Language acquisition and language socialization: Ecological perspectives (pp. 140–164). London: Continuum.
van Lier, L. (2004). The ecology and semiotics of language learning: A sociocultural perspective. Boston: Kluwer Academic.
van Lier, L. (2007). Action-based teaching, autonomy and identity. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 46–65.
van Lier, L. (2010). The ecology of language learning: Practice to theory, theory to practice. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 3, 2–16.
van Lier, L. (2011). Language learning: An ecological–semiotic approach. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of second language teaching and learning (2nd ed., pp. 43–45). Mahwah: Erlbaum.
Lin, N. (2014). Assessing classroom participation and performance through gamification systems in foreign language classrooms. In M. Searson & M. Ochoa (Eds.), Proceedings of society for information technology & teacher education international conference 2014 (pp. 1772–1777). Chesapeake: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org.ezproxy.ub.gu.se/p/131031/
Long, M. H. (1991). Focus on form: A design feature in language teaching methodology. In K. de Bot, R. Ginsberg, & C. Kramsch (Eds.), Foreign language research in cross-cultural perspective (pp. 196–221). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Long, M. H. (2015). Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Morgan, B., & Martin, I. (2014). Towards a research agenda for classroom-as-ecosystem. Modern Language Journal, 98(2), 667–670.
Nunan, D. (2004). Task-based teaching. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Pennycook, A. (2010). Language as a local practice. Abingdon: Routledge.
Richards, J. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Seely Brown, J. (2000, March/April). Growing up digital: The web and a new learning ecology. Change, 2000, 10–20.
Sfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one. Educational Researcher, 27(2), 4–13.
Sfard, A. (2009). Metaphors in education. In H. Daniels, J. Porter, & H. Lauder (Eds.), Educational theories, cultures and learning: A critical perspective (pp. 39–49). London: Routledge.
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), 3–10.
Spada, N. (2015). SLA research and L2 pedagogy: Misapplications and questions of relevance. Language Teaching, 48(1), 69–81.
Tudor, I. (2003). Learning to live with complexity: Towards an ecological perspective on language teaching. System, 31, 1–12.
Warschauer, M. (1998). Researching technology in TESOL: Determinist, instrumental and critical approaches. TESOL Quarterly, 32(4), 757–761.
Willis, J. (1996). A framework for task-based learning. Harlow: Longman.
Willis, J. (2004). Perspectives on task-based instruction: Understanding our practices, acknowledging our differences. In B. Leaver & J. Willis (Eds.), Task-based instruction in foreign language education (pp. 3–46). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Willis, D., & Willis, J. (2007). Doing task-based teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hinkelman, D. (2018). Learning Metaphors and Ecologies. In: Blending Technologies in Second Language Classrooms. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53686-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53686-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53685-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53686-0
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)