Volume 21 Number 1 
Yong Zhao
CALICO Journal, 21 (1), p-p -2. © 2003 CALICO Journal
Recent Developments in Technology and
Language Learning: A Literature Review
and Meta-analysis*
Yong Zhao
Michigan State University
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to assess the potential of technology for improving lan-
guage education. A review of the effectiveness of past and current practices in the
application of information and communication technology(ICT) in language education
and the availability as well as capacities of current ICTs was conducted. The review
found that existing literature on the effectiveness of technology uses in language
education is very limited in four aspects: a) The number of systematic, well-designed
empirical evaluative studies of the effects of technology uses in language learning
is very small, b) the settings of instruction where the studies were conducted were
limited to higher education and adult learners, c) the languages studied were limited
to common foreign languages and English as a foreign or second language, and d) the
experiments were often short-term and about one or two aspects of language learning
(e.g., vocabulary or grammar). However the limited number of available studies shows
a pattern of positive effects. They found technology-supported language learning is
at least as effective as human teachers, if not more so.
KEYWORDS
Effectiveness of Technology in Language Education, Limitations of Research Studies,
Literature Review, Meta-analysis
INTRODUCTION
This review study is intended to address three related issues in technology and
language education. First, policy makers and the general public are interested in
learning about the effectiveness of using technology in language education be-
cause they need that information to help decide future investment decisions regard-
ing technology (President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology
(Panel on Educational Technology), 199). Second, researchers and developers
*This study was supported by a contract from the United States Department of Education as part
of its E-language initiative. An earlier version of this paper was submitted to the US Department of
Education as a concept paper. The author wishes to thank Dr. Alan Ginsburg, Dr. Susan Sclafani, and
Adrianna de Kanter for their support and insights. Views expressed in this paper do not necessarily
reflect those of the US Department of Education.

 CALICO Journal
Recent Developments: A Literature Review and Meta-analysis
are interested in knowing what has been done and what we already know about
using technology to enhance language learning. Such knowledge will hopefully
guide their further explorations and development. Third, language educators want
to know what works and what does not so that they can make informed decisions
in selecting the appropriate technology to use in their teaching.
Answering these questions is not easy for a number of reasons. First, technology
is an ill-defined concept that encompasses a wide range of tools, artifacts, and
practices, from multimedia computers to the Internet, from videotapes to online
chatrooms, from web pages to interactive audio conferencing. These technologies
vary a great deal in their capacity, interface, and accessibility. It is thus misleading
to think the effects of videotapes are the same as those of the online chatrooms
just because they are all called “technology.” Second, the effects of any technol-
ogy on learning outcomes lie in its uses. A specific technology may hold great
educational potential, but, until it is used properly, it may not have any positive
impact at all on learning. Thus, assessing the effectiveness of a technology is in
reality assessing the effectiveness of its uses rather than the technology itself.
Since most information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be used in a
variety of ways, some more effective than others, it is inappropriate to overgen-
eralize the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of one way of using the technology to
the technology itself. Third, to further complicate things, the effectiveness of an
educational approach is highly mediated by many other variables—the learner,
the task, the instructional setting, and of course the assessment tool. Thus, even
the same use of a particular technology in different instructional settings may
result in different learning outcomes.
Clearly it is unreasonable to expect any single study to tell us to what degree
technology is effective in improving language learning. However, a comprehen-
sive review of many studies can get us closer to an answer (e.g., Cavanaugh,
2001; Chapelle, 199; Lou, Abrami, & d’Apollonia, 2001; Salaberry, 2001).
With the help of a research method called meta-analysis (Glass, 19; Hedges &
Olkin, 195; Lyons, 1995a), we can assess the effectiveness of technology uses
in language education by analyzing findings of numerous empirical studies. A
carefully conducted review can also help us develop a map of past and current
work in the field of technology and language education. The map should reveal
what we know, what we have done, what works, and what does not. The study
in this paper offers such a review.
Focusing on the issues of effectiveness, this review attempts to achieve three
goals: (a) assessing the overall effectiveness of uses of technology in language
education through meta-analysis, (b) exploring patterns of recent efforts in using
technology to improve language learning, and (c) identifying effective ways to
use technology in language education.