Resourceful approaches in CALL for L2 Icelandic

Description

Presentation was part of Symposium for Resourceful approaches in CALL for less-commonly taught languages (LCTLs): Case studies on Icelandic, Irish, and Nawat.
There is no one definition of Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs). It can include some of the most commonly spoken languages in the world e.g. Mandarin and Arabic as well as less commonly spoken languages including indigenous and endangered languages from all parts of the world. LCTL learners can include ab initio learners, false beginners (who may have some familiarity with the language due to their environment) and heritage learners (see Ward, 2018 for more information).
Regardless of the number of speakers or the learner’s background, LCTL learners often face similar challenges. They may have limited access to resources, particularly digital resources. In some instances, there may be no CALL resources available or they are limited or may not incorporate recent developments in CALL. It may seem strange that this should be the case, where many learners across the world have access to modern technology. It should be noted that the challenges that CALL researchers face for more commonly taught languages, are magnified for LCTLs.
However, over the years, LCTL CALL researchers have been resourceful and shown that despite the limited resources available to them, they have managed to develop interesting CALL resources for their learners. This may be by adapting existing resources for another language or simply bringing in previously non-existent technology into the classroom. Sometimes it involves adopting a co-creation approach with learners and the community of speakers. Despite the obstacles, these examples can provide useful templates for other languages and give inspiration and hope to other LCTL CALL researchers to encourage them to use similar approaches with their LCTL communities.
This symposium provides a range of examples from different parts of the world, using different technologies to bring CALL into the language learning process for different LCLTs. Speakers will share their experiences of using co-creation of social media posts with primary school children and the development of lessons for their parents for Irish. The development of digital game-based language learning resources might seem out of range for LCTL, but it can be done and there will be an example of a game engine that can be used for multiple languages. The game engine is based on the concept of reconnecting to the spirit of the language that is particularly suitable for indigenous languages. There will also be an example of the impact of a relatively basic CALL resource for an endangered language (Nawat) twenty years on, which demonstrates the power that even simple CALL resources can have on an endangered language community.

Period	16 Aug 2023
Event title	EUROCALL 2023: CALL for All Languages 15-18 August 2023, University of Iceland, Reykjavik
Event type	Conference
Location	Reykjavík, IcelandShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International