Japanese University Students' CALL Attitudes, Aspirations and Motivations

Abstract

CALL is now an accepted and important part of Japanese university language curricula. It is often perceived however, that students lack the necessary competencies to deal with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) (Castellano et al., 2011) and this can make the everyday use of CALL activities seem a challenge for educators (Lockley, 2011b). These students are part of the “digital native” (Prensky, 2001) generation, and should be used to technology framing their world, so does this apparent mismatch really exist and if so why? The study reported in this article presents quantitative and qualitative survey data (N=105) which shows that students, despite often being initially hesitant with unfamiliar equipment, have an overwhelmingly positive attitude to the use of ICT in class, are willing to overcome difficulties and understand the pedagogical benefits of CALL. It discusses the findings from a practical point of view with the further incorporation of CALL into Japanese universities in mind.