Study: M. A. Sem. 4
Subject: 16 - English Language Teaching -2
Topic: CALL Technologies
Department of English MKBU.
Guide: Dr. Hinaba Zala
Assignment by Prinjal Shiyal
Introduction:
CALL means Computer Assisted Language Learning and it is very useful approach. Computer-assisted language Learning is an approach to teaching and learning in which the computer and computer-based resources such as the Internet are used to present, reinforce and assess material to be learners. It usually includes a substantial interactive element. It also includes the search for and the investigation of applications in language teaching and learning. Except for self-study software, Computer Assisted Language Learning is meant to supplement face-to-face language instruction, not replace it. And it is very appropriate and useful for various skills and activities. Computer Assisted Language Learning has also been known by several other terms such as technology enhanced language learning, computer-assisted language instruction and computer-aided language learning but the field is the same. Software used in a Computer Assisted Language Learning environment can be designed specifically for foreign oa second language learning or adapted for this purpose. Most language textbook publishers offer educational software of some sort, whether it is meant to support a paper textbook or to stand alone for self-study and some other activities also.
Most programs designed for language learning are tutorials. These generally are drill programs that consist of a brief introduction plus a series of questions to which the learner responds and then the computer gives some kind of feedback. With these kinds of programs, the material to be learned may already be programmed in by the publisher, which is more common, or may allow the instructor to program in the material to be learned. Programs not designed specifically for language learning can be adapted for this purpose. Generally, these are task-based activities where the stated goal is something other than language learning; however, using the target language is essential for getting the task done. For example, with Facemaker, students create different faces by using words in the language to command the computer. Role-playing games, where the user creates and controls a character in a fantasy realm, can be used in this manner as well.
Internet-based
The World Wide Web was launched in 1992 reaching the general public by 1993, opening up new possibilities in Computer Assisted Language Learning.Internet activities vary considerably, from online versions of software (where the learner interacts with a networked computer), to computer-mediated communication, to applications that combine these two elements.
In present time, web sites that cater to foreign-language learners, especially those learning English, are so numerous and varied that it can be very difficult to determine where to begin. Computer-mediated communication has been around in one form or another since the 1960’s but only became widely available to the general public since the early 199’s. CMC comes in two forms: asynchronous and synchronous. With these, learners can communicate in the target language with other real speakers cheaply, 24 hours a day. Learners can communicate one-on-one or one to many as well as share audio and video files. Because of all this, CMC has had the most impact on language teaching.
CALL’s origins and development trace back to the 1960’s and since has consisted of a symbiotic relationship between the development of technology and pedagogy. Its development can be divided into three phases: behavioristic CALL, communicative CALL and integrative /explorative CALL.
The computer would analyze errors and give feedback. More sophisticated programs would react to students’ mistakes by branching to help screens and remedial activities. While such programs and their underlying pedagogy still exist today, to a large part behavioristic approaches to language learning have been rejected and the increasing sophistication of computer technology has lead CALL to other possibilities.
Communicative CALL is based on the communicative approach that became prominent in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. In the communicative approach, the focus is on using the language rather than analysis of the language, teaching grammar implicitly. It also allowed for originality and flexibility in student output of language. [6] It also correlates with the arrival of the PC, making computing much widely available resulting in a boom in the development of software for language learning. The first CALL software in this phase still provided skill practice but not in a drill format, for example, paced reading, text reconstruction and language games but computer remained the tutor. In this phase, however, computers provided context for students to use the language, such as asking for directions to a place. It also allowed for programs not designed for language learning, such as Sim City, Sleuth and Where in the World in Carmen Sandiego? to be used for language learning. However, criticisms of this approach include using the computer in an ad hoc and disconnected manner for more marginal rather than the central aims of language teaching. It will usually taught skills such as reading and listening in a compartmentalized way, even if not in a drill fashion. [6]
Integrative/ exploratative CALL, starting from the 1990’s, tries to address these criticisms by integrating the teaching of language skills into tasks or projects to provide direction and coherence. It also coincides with the development of multimedia technology (providing text, graphics, sound and animation) as well as computer-mediated communication. CALL in this period saw a definitive shift of use of computer for drill and tutorial purposes to a medium for extending education beyond the classroom and reorganizing instruction. [
In multimedia programs, listening is combined with seeing, just like in the real world. Students also control the pace and the path of the interaction. Interaction is in the foreground but many CALL programs also provide links to explanations simultaneously. An example of this is Dustin’s simulation of a foreign student’s arrival to the U.S. [6] Programs like this led also to what is called explorative CALL. More recent research in CALL has favored a learner-centered explorative approach, where students are encouraged to try different possible solutions to a problem, for example the use of concordance programs in the language classroom. This approach is also described as data-driven learning.
Computers have become so widespread in schools and homes and their uses have expanded so dramatically that the majority of language teachers now think about the implications. Technology brings about changes in the teaching methodologies of foreign language unless they are used simply to automate fill-in-the-gap exercises.The use of the computer in and of itself does not constitute a teaching method, but rather the computer forces pedagogy to think in new ways to exploit the computers benefits and work around its limitations. To exploit computers’ potential we need language teaching specialists who can promote a complementary relationship between computer technology and appropriate pedagogic programs.
A number of pedagogical approaches have developed in the computer age, including the communicative and integrative/experimentative approaches outlined above in the History of CALL. Others include constructivism, whole language theory and sociocultural theory although they are not exclusively theories of language learning. With constructivism, students are active participants in a task in which they “construct” new knowledge based on experience in order to incorporate new ideas into their already-established schema of knowledge. Whole language theory postulates that language learning (either native or second language) moves from the whole to the part; rather than building sub-skills like grammar to lead toward higher abilities like reading comprehension, whole language insists the opposite is the way we really learn to use language. Students learn grammar and other sub-skills by making intelligent guesses bases on the input they have experienced. It also promotes that the four skills are reading, writing, listening and speaking and all are interrelated. Sociocultural theory states that learning is a process of becoming part of a desired community and learning that communities rules of behavior.
What most of these approaches have in common is taking the central focus away from the teacher as conveyer of knowledge to giving students learning experiences that are as realistic as possible where they play a central role. Also, these approaches tend to emphasize fluency over accuracy to allow students to take risks in using more student-centered activities and to cooperate, rather than compete. The computer provides opportunity for students to be less dependent on a teacher and have more freedom to experiment on their own with natural language is natural or semi-natural settings.
Students, too, need to adjust their expectations of their participation in the class in order to use CALL effectively. Rather than passively absorbing information, learners must negotiate meaning and assimilate new information through interaction and collaboration with someone other than the teacher, be that person a classmate or someone outside of the classroom entirely. Learners must also learn to interpret new information and experiences on their own terms. However, because the use of technology redistributes teachers’ and classmates’ attentions, less-able students can become more active participants in the class because class interaction is not limited to that directed by the teacher.Moreover more shy students can feel free in their own students'-centered environment. This will raise their self-esteem and their knowledge will be improving.If students are performing collaborative project they will do their best to perform it within set time limits.
Use of CALL for the four skills
A number of studies have been done concerning how the use of CALL affects the development of language learners’ four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). Most report significant gains in reading and listening and most CALL programs are geared toward these receptive skills because of the current state of computer technology. However, most reading and listening software is based on drills. [5] Gains in writing skills have not been as impressive as computers cannot assess this well.
Resources:
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