Investment and returns in CALL development

Abstract

The ideas expressed in this paper are part of a stocktaking exercise at the end of a fertile decade of CALL software development prior to embarking on a fresh venture in the field. They relate to a practical facet of the development process that can all too easily be obscured by a passion for the production of effective instructional materials, by a fascination with the capabilities and dimensions of a new medium, and by the plain hard slogging involved in the conception, design, content generation, trialling and project management. They also represent a challenge to teachers and academics, the author very much included, to be and to remain aware of productivity as a factor in planning and development of their projects, and their assessment of others.