Introduction: L2 Learning/teaching and Technology: A ‘CALL’ for a change?

The aforementioned distinctions, either on the roles of the computer or the phases in which caLL has been characterized, are not to be seen in absolute terms, since caLL does not only involve which software is used, but also how the software is put to use by teachers and students. [...]the computer is a medium into which different methods, approaches, and pedagogical philosophies can be integrated (garret, 1991, as cited in Warschauer, 1996). although changes in education should not be solely understood on the basis of the use of new technological resources, technology has been the driving force behind the changes (Mill, 2010). [...]the speed and ephemeral nature in the use of technological resources and changes of these resources might impose a challenge to research, which asks for systematicity, generalization, validity and reliability - key research concepts which signal the strength and robustness of a field, especially when a substantial body of the research on the same topic, under the very same theoretical foundations are carried out. [...]due to its pervasiveness, research on the interface of learning and technology can be conducted under a variety of themes and from different theoretical assumptions, which makes the field appealing and burgeoning. By way of this discourse genre, the reader is provided with the opportunity to get to know from the lenses of these researchers, who come from very distinctive research contexts, that is, the international and the Brazilian one, respectively, their motivation to do research in this field and how they perceive the relationship between SLa and technology; their views on the potential role of research on the interface between SLa and technology in informing theory building and language pedagogy, and the challenges that this research enterprise might impose to researchers and practitioners; and, finally, some unresolved issues that still merit further scrutiny in this field. Besides the research articles and the interview session, this issue brings two book reviews on recent publications on the intersection between SLa and technology from two different but complementary stances.