REVIEW OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN CALL Teacher Education in CALL

The use of technology has become increasingly important in language teaching and learning. The successful use of technology, however, requires that language teachers have the necessary technical competence and pedagogical knowledge. The volume Teacher Education in CALL, edited by Philip Hubbard and Mike Levy, appears at a critical time when the issue of how to prepare current and future language teachers for effective use of technology in their profession is a serious and growing concern. As the editors point out in the introduction to the volume, “both pre-service and in-service language teachers will find themselves at a disadvantage if they are not adequately proficient in computer-assisted language learning” (p. ix). Although the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has produced a set of guidelines to increase technological competence among teachers (ISTE, 2000), CALL teacher education presents a number of unique challenges and opportunities that have not yet been fully explored. For example, several chapters in the volume report that many teachers do not have access to solid professional development or lack institutional support, and that it is often unclear whether CALL training will lead to subsequent changes in teaching practice. It is also unclear what types of teacher education work best in which situations, and how teachers perceive and respond to different professional development opportunities that involve learning about and using technology.