A Survey of Unanswered Questions in CALL

This paper presents the results of a survey conducted during July and August of 2002 that asked respondents to identify a single important CALL research question they would like to have answered. The survey also included background questions such as years in CALL, languages, and primary and secondary CALL specializations. Targeted respondents included 120 CALL professionals from around the world. There were 64 usable responses to the survey representing 11 countries and 24 languages, which were classified into four major categories (design-centered issues, effectiveness issues, learner-centered issues, and research issues) and 24 subcategories. The results show continuing interest in established questions, such as the absolute and relative effectiveness of CALL software and tasks, the importance of learner variables, and the need for more descriptive studies. Some inconclusive but interesting trends in differences among those who identify themselves primarily as researchers versus practitioners versus developers are also discussed. The 64 submissions have been placed on a website for public access at www.stanford.edu/~efs/callsurvey, and visitors are invited to submit comments or questions of their own there.