Week 3: CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learnin

Computer Assisted Language Learning and Teaching

What is CALL? Definitions of CALL:

·         Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) was the expression agreed upon at the 1983 TESOL convention in a meeting of all interested participants. This term is widely used to refer to the area of technology and second language teaching and learning despite the fact that revisions for the term are suggested regularly (Chapelle, 2001, p. 3).

·          Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) may be defined as the search for and study of applications of the computer in language teaching and learning (Levy, 1997, p.1).

·         Given the breadth of what may go on in computer-assisted language learning (CALL), a definition of CALL that accommodates its changing nature is any process in which a learner uses a computer and, as a result, improves his or her language (Beatty, 2003, p. 7).

·         CALL has come to encompass issues of materials design, technologies, pedagogical theories and modes of instruction. Materials for CALL can include those which are purpose-made for language learning and those which adapt existing computer-based materials, video and other materials (Beatty, 2003, pp. 7-8).

What Computers Can and Can’t “Do” (based on Meskill, 2002, p. 122)

Computers CAN	Computer CAN’T
Judge predetermined right-or-wrong answers, e.g., multiple choice and fill-in-the-blanks	Judge unexpected input
Provide immediate, yet fixed, feedback, suggestions, and encouragement	Provide individualized feedback beyond a predetermined list of messages
Provide authentic information throughmultimedia - texts, images, sounds,videos, and animations	Engage learner in rich negotiation of meaning characteristic of face-to-face interaction
Motivate task persistence •Record learner’s writing, speech, and learning progress	Motivate depth and quality of engagement characteristic of human interaction

(http://www2.nkfust.edu.tw/~emchen/CALL/unit1.htm)

WHY WOULD WE NEED TO USE CALL IN OUR EFL CLASSROOMS?

As technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous, it is expected from the teachers to integrate it into the language classes.

This means not only bringing technology into the classroom, but offering learners technology–enhanced options outside the class time.

HOW IS IT CONNECTED TO CONSTRUCTIVISM?

The design of CALL materials generally takes into consideration principles of language pedagogy and methodology, which may be derived from different second language learning theories (e.g. behaviourist, cognitive, constructivist). Constructivist-based instruction often includes providing the learner with skills or support (e.g. modelling, coaching, scaffolding) and encouraging the learner to actively construct his or her own personal learning experience. The teacher’s role is to aid the learner in this construction rather than simply providing that information to her or him (Bowers et al., 2010).

HOW TO START USING CONSTRUCTIVIST CALL IN OUR CLASSROOMS?

Blended learning is learning that combines face-to-face (f2f) teaching with online elements (Hockly 2011). The amount of f2f instruction versus online instruction can vary widely, and will depend on factors which include one’s teaching context, the needs and expectations of the learners, the resources that are available and the content and design of the course. In the case of most of us, young teachers, we are only starting experimenting with blended learning. The best way is to start small, preferably with one class and offering as little as 10 percent of the work online – possibly simply as an extra task. Once we and our learners gain confidence with the tools and online work, we can build more online components into the course. According to a teacher trainer Hockly (2011), we should start from looking at the syllabus of the course we are going to teach – we need to be aware of which elements to offer online and which to offer in the f2f classroom.

(http://constructivisminelt.wikispaces.com/Constructivism+and+CALL)

COMPUTER-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING

HISTORY OF CALL DEVELOPMENT

This section gives a brief history of CALL development. The review aims at showing, chronologically, the development of CALL over the last 30 years by linking to important technological developments, theories of learning and language teaching approaches. Some key examples of CALL programs and projects developed in this period are also shown.

Warschauer (1996) divides CALL into phases of development as follows: Behavioristic CALL, Communicative CALL, Integrative CALL (Multimedia CD-ROM), and Integrative CALL (Internet). The beginning of a new phase does not necessary mean the end of programs and methods of the previous phase, rather the old is included within the new (Warschauer, 1996).

Advantages of CALL

Learner’s Factors

• CALL can adapt to the learners' abilities and preferences.

• CALL can adapt to the learners’ cognitive and learning styles.
• CALL can adapt to the learner’s self-paced learning. CALL can be used for remedial work for slow learners and to accelerate learning for fast learners.
• CALL offers individualized and private learning.
• CALL, with branching capability, provides choices and paths for learning, allowing learners to work independently.
• CALL allows learners to control their own learning process and progress.

Motivation and Attitudes

• CALL provides strong motivation for learning. Students will often do on a computer what they are reluctant to do in a textbook or paper-pencil.
• Some CALL features such as graphics, sounds, animation, video, audio are interesting and motivating for many learners.
• CALL can improve learners’ attitudes towards learning English.

• CALL (internet) provides authentic communication that motivates students to use language outside language classroom.

Feedback and Progress Record

• CALL can provide immediate responsiveness and feedback.
• CALL provides accurate records of the learner’s performance and progress.

Teacher’s Roles and the Relationship with the Learner

• CALL can change the relationship between teacher and student.
• The teacher becomes a facilitator rather than a person who controls the learning environment.

• CALL is predictable and non-judgemental.

Mastery Learning

• CALL provides opportunities for mastery-learning language skills.
• CALL can lower the amount of time required to master some materials.

(http://web.warwick.ac.uk/CELTE/tr/ovCALL/booklet1.htm)

A brief history of CALL

CALL's origins can be traced back to the 1960s. Up until the late 1970s CALL projects were confined mainly to universities, where computer programs were developed on large mainframe computers. The PLATO project, initiated at the University of Illinois in 1960, is an important landmark in the early development of CALL (Marty 1981). In the late 1970s, the arrival of the personal computer (PC) brought computing within the range of a wider audience, resulting in a boom in the development of CALL programs and a flurry of publications. Early CALL favoured an approach that drew heavily on practices associated with programmed instruction. This was reflected in the term Computer Assisted Language Instruction (CALI), which originated in the USA and was in common use until the early 1980s, when CALL became the dominant term. There was initially a lack of imagination and skill on the part of programmers, a situation that was rectified to a considerable extent by the publication of an influential seminal work by Higgins & Johns (1984), which contained numerous examples of alternative approaches to CALL. Throughout the 1980s CALL widened its scope, embracing the communicative approach and a range of new technologies. CALL has now established itself as an important area of research in higher education: see the joint 

(https://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/61)