WHAT HAVE I LEARNED THIS WEEK? (WEEK 3)

Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

     Nowadays,   there  are   many  programs   that  aid  the   teaching  as  well  as   the   learning   of  a   target  language.  It  is  practically   impossible   to   think   that learning  a  language  is  not  influenced  by  the  availability  of   materials  such as   software  and   different  programs  aimed at   the   reinforcement  as  well  as the  perfection  of   an  acquired  language. Language institutes and universities around the world have developed such programs having the presence of computers in almost every field of expertise.  Language acquisition and language teaching   cannot be the exemption but the example. 

     However,  there is   to  know  that   a  software  however  advanced   it  may  be will never  replace  a  well-trained  language  professional.  It  can  always  be  of  assistance, as  long  as  it  meets  the  needs  and expectations of  the  learner.  There  is   to know  not  only what  students  want  to  learn  but  also  what  they need to  learn.  Software is to meet such aspects.  Throughout my  experience,  I  have  seen  different  institutions  to  make  the   terrible of  changing   their  syllabuses   to  meet  what  the  software   intends  to   teach  rather  than  using   the   suitable  part  of  such  software  to  serve   the  purposes  of  their  programs.

     The   recent  advances  in  educational  applications  of  computer  hardware  and software  have  provided  a  rapidly  growing  resource  for language  classrooms.  The   practical  applications  of  CALL  are   growing   at  such  a  rapid  pace  that  it  is  almost  impossible   for  a  classroom  teacher   to   keep  up   with  the   field ( Brown, 2001). Warschauer  and Haly  ( 1998: 59 offered  the  following  benefits  of  including   a  computer  component   in language   instruction:

1.      Multimodal  practice  with   feedback

2.      Individualization in  a  large  class

3.       Pair  and  small  group   work  on  projects, either   collaboratively   or  competitively  

4.      The  fun  factor

5.       Variety   in  the  resources  available  and learning  styles used

6.       Exploratory  learning  with  large amounts of language data

7.       Real-life skill building in computer use.    

The following will whet your appetite for CALL:

v  Collaborative  projects

v  Peer- editing of  compositions

v  E-mail

v  Web-page  design

v  Reinforcement  of  classroom  material

v  Games  and  simulations

v  Computer  adaptive  testing

v  Speech  processing (Brown, 2001) 

      The  university  at  which  I  work has  invested  quite  a lot  in  equipping  our  classrooms  with  cutting  edge   technology   to  be progressively  incorporated   in  the   teaching  of   the   several languages  we  teach  at  the  Institute. Therefore, this training cannot be in better   timing. I am so  looking  forward   to  using   as  much  material  as  available   in  the  teaching  of  my  classes. I  want  my  students   to  benefit  of  as much  as  I  learn.    

 

Best regards,

 Fernando Minda