2011 Articles

Technology Assistance in Second Language Acquisition: Potentials and Limitations

Akbar, Farah Sultana; Chen, Cheng-Ling

Technology has revolutionized not only our daily lives but also the way education is practiced around the world. The impact of technology has been far and wide both in physical and social sciences, as well as in arts and humanities. This immense influence has been observed in second language (L2) teaching, acquisition, and research. In L2 instruction, for example, technological tools are used by: (1) practitioners for pedagogical advances; (2) learners for classroom and self-learning; (3) researchers for exploring the effects of technology on language teaching and learning (Bhatia & Ritchie, 2009). Although the use of technology to assist L2 acquisition has been under investigation for the past few decades, there is still much to be explored. Apparently, more research on the role(s) of technology in L2 teaching, learning, and research is needed to gain a better and more nuanced understanding.