Editor’s Foreword

Abstract

AsiaCALL2013, the 12th International Conference of AsiaCALL was hosted by Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand. Again, it was a very successful conference and AsiaCALL, the Asia Association of Computer Assisted Language Learning, is grateful to the host university for organising this event. Special thanks go to Conference Patron, Dean, Associate Professor Dr. Kuntida Tuwamsuk, and Conference Organiser and President, Assistant Professor Phiphawin Srikrai and her team of colleagues and students at Khon Kaen University.
Each year, AsiaCALL members meet in different countries. The conference brings together early and established scholars and teachers who exchange constructive research on the uses of technology to enhance the learning of languages. The scholars come from all over Asia and beyond, including Australia, Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, the USA and Europe. The 2013 conference involved presenters from approximately 20 countries.
The publications included in these Proceedings capture a range of perspectives linking innovation and CALL/ TELL. They also reflect the issues which organisations, scholars and language teachers face in their professional contexts, policy environments and budgetary constraints. The discussions and research presented in these Proceedings show researchers testing tools for knowledge management in their specific contexts of practice, experimenting with their novelty and assessing their impact on the students and on their own teaching practices.
Among the tools described by the researchers were mind maps; webquests in English for Specific Purposes; website building applications used to teach a variety of relevant skills; simple and yet extremely innovative strategies for working with video and sound in order to improve comprehension, listening and pronunciation of ESL students.