Siddharth G. Desai
Roll no. - 07
SEM - IV
Paper no.E-C-402
Year – 2012
Topic: “CALL- Computer Assisted Language Learning”
Submitted to Dr. Dilip Barad
Department of English,
Bhavnagar University.
Call is defined as “any process in which a learner uses a computer and, as a result, improves his or language”. So while using computer, a learner enhances his knowledge of language. A learner participates in some activities which are made as a softwares program in computer so that a learner can develop his skills and increase his language ability while doing those activities. Although the definition that we saw ahead that might seem unworkably large, it at least encompasses broad spectrum of current practice in the teaching and learning of language at the computer. An awareness of this spectrum allows learners, teachers, and researchers to recognize appropriate materials and methodologies and adapt others to various teaching and learning styles. It helps teachers, learners, researchers to know about different techniques through which learning and teaching can be propelled.
CALL covers a broad range of activities, as we saw earlier, which makes it very difficult to describe, as a single idea or simple research agenda. CALL has come to include issues of materials design, technologies, pedagogical theories and modes of instruction. Materials for CALL can include those which are purpose-made for language learning that means it should some aims and specification in the subject and those which adapt existing computer-based materials, video and other materials. Audio-visual materials can increase the interest of learners in learning language. Materials should be provided in a way that learners can improve his language with the help of CALL.
It is very important to examine CALL practice in context of what has been tried and found wanting in the general area of language learning at the computer. Because of the changing nature of computer, CALL is formless or shapeless disciplines, constantly evolving both in terms of pedagogy can technological advances in hardware and software. Change is also occurring with advances in computer literacy among both teachers and learners. In many ways, CALL is employed, both in and out of the classroom. It can be used as a reward for better learners and solution as a kind of help. For the weak learners CALL activities based on email and the World Wide Web to supplement student learning are used by the teacher. Delivery methods for CALL include computers at home or in the classroom, classroom sets of computer, language labs into which computer functions have been incorporated, online instruction through the WWW and distance and networked learning through the use of email.
It is likely that in future, computer-based language learning tools will become both pervasive and invisible; that is, they will be commonly included in other applications and computer interfaces will become almost completely intuitive, perhaps through computer software able to recognize and intelligently functions are already integrated into word processing and other software that corrects spelling and grammar.
The general computer emerged as a significant tool for language widespread use of software, local area networks (LANs) and the internet has put large opportunities for learners to develop their communicative abilities, both by individualizing practice and by tapping into a global community of other learners. A number of content courses, particularly in English grammar and computer science, all these were done by maniframing computer as the task maker. Students ‘mastered’ each individual topic-which consisted of presentation and ‘practice’ in the form of test in solitary confinement in a language laboratory.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century multimedia has become virtually synonymous with computer. It has become also an essential part of computer which has expanded the horizons of language learning. With these changes, issues in computer-assisted language learning have also evolved from an early emphasis can how to use the new technology to research on technologies effect on learning. Higgins and Johns framed a debate by putting two roles of the computer they were computer ‘as a master or computer as a slave’ to the learning was that ‘computer to be a replacement for teacher, or an obedient servant to the students?
With the development of the multimedia personal computer were the changes in our understanding of the teaching and learning of languages. It created a new atmosphere for teaching and learning language. Multimedia is a prominent factor in developing teaching and learning language based learning are all enhanced by the use of the computer.
Technology enhanced language learning was given a huge theoretical boost when Sydney Papert, creator of the computer Logo and applied the principles of Dewey and Piaget to the use of computer. ‘Constructivism’ involves the use of problem-solving during tasks and projects, rather than or in addition to direct instruction by the teachers.
In CALL this theory implies learning by using computer tools to explore stimulated worlds to build presentations and websites that reflect on personally engaging and significant topics and to undertake authentic communication with other learners around the world.
The constructive theory learning dovetails well with the recent recognition in language pedagogy of the need to encompass higher cognitive processes in the learning task. Chamot and O’Malley, who calls this the cognitive academic language learning approach, is probably the brief proponent of this view. The cognitive approach addresses the need for students to be aware of their own learning processes, and to organize and structure their learning themselves. The plethora of information available electronically makes these cognitive demands on language students, creating a suitably rich setting for the authentic tasks and projects that are seen to promote language acquisition. The chaotic information of the internet, with its largely native-speaker-oriented content resources, enhances the necessity for students to deeply schema and strategies for efficient learning. The technology thus becomes an ‘environment’ for learning, as well as both tutor and tool.
The computer is used as a researcher tool. Recent studies indicate a growing trend towards using the computer as primary research tool either to elicit data or to record data indirectly. For example, Liou reports on using computers to record interactive process. Wright is studying the effect that playing stimulations has on L2 DEVELOPMENT. Ehsani and Knodt explore various speech technologies that might assist in oral language research. Murphy-Judy includes articles on pronunciation and online writing. Hulstijn provides an excellent summary of computer-elicited data collection techniques and how computerized tools record learner production. With a medium that can record each Keystroke, compare huge next corpora and create audio and video files with easy-to-manage technology, researchers should find many new data resources to investigate language acquisition. Chapelle provides a useful overview of CALL and Second Language Acquisition.
Motivation has been a pervasive theme in CALL, and qualitative studies on attitudes towards computer use quickly emerged, sometimes focusing on “Computer Phobia”. However, most reports based on attitudinal surveys, student profile and self-reporting indicate that students and teachers, with few exceptions, are highly motivated when using computers.
Many empirical studies also contain qualitative elements. For example, Jacobsdottir and Hooper found that when computers ‘read’ a text aloud, learner’s listening skills and motivation improve. That’s how computer enhances the knowledge language proficiency of the learners. Soo links motivation and CALL learning styles: if a teaching style does not match students’ learning styles to some degree, instruction may be perceived as boring or incomprehensible, and students are less motivated. Motivation is an area that deserves close study. Cultural and ethnographic issues are aspects which may affect motivation.
Among the first and most significant applications for the teaching and learning of language at the computer were those used on the Programmed Logic/ Learning for Automated Teaching Operations system, developed in 1959 by University of Illinois working with a business partner, Control Data Corporation. PLATO combined some of the best CALL features being developed at other Universalities but differed from many other attempts to use computers to teach language in that PLATO’s computer and its programming language were custom-designed for the purpose of teaching language as well as a range of other Universities wide disciplines.
Much of PLATO’s first Language Learning work was done in teaching Russian using Grammar-Translation Approach. The focus was on the translation of Russian documents especially scientific documents. Curtin et al.’s work in ‘Russian language teaching and learning’ included grammar explanations, vocabulary drills and other drills and translation tests over a course of 16 lessons requiring 70 hours to complete. The system had so-called intelligent features still used today, suggests tests that were followed by direction to complete appropriate remedial work depending on the errors a learner had made. The system also included rudimentary spelling and grammar checkers.
Richards and Rogers noted that, “Grammar-Translation dominated European and Foreign Language Teaching from the 1840s to the 1940s and in modified form it continues to be wifely used in some parts of the world today.” In terms of Second Language Acquisition, the Grammar-Translation Approach probably appeared to work to a limited degree in early programs such as PLATO because the learner would have to adapt to the materials by creating personal learning strategies beyond those offered by the teacher or suggested by the learning materials.
