CALL: A perspective Universidad del Turabo EDUC 554 Jorge F. Figueroa, PhD
History of CALL • Computers have been used in language teaching since the 1960’s • CALL history can be divided in three main stages –Behaviorist CALL –Communicative CALL –Integrative CALL
Behaviorist CALL • Conceived in the 1950’s • Implemented in the 1960’s and 1970’s • Sub- component of CAI • Repetitive language drills known as: –Drill-and-Practice or Drill-and Kill
Behaviorist CALL • It became very popular in the USA • The computer a mechanical tutor • Allowed students to work at individual pace • It gravitated CALL to the PC • It became part of the Silicon Valley revolution
Behaviorist CALL • PLATO…the tutorial of the time • Ran on special hardware • Included a central computer and terminals • Featured: – Extensive drills – Grammatical explanations – Translation tests
Behaviorist CALL • Tests were conducted at various intervals – Ahmad – Corbett – Rogers – Sussex
• Not user friendly, and boring
Communicative CALL • Emerged in the 1970’s and early 1980’s • Behaviorist approaches were been rejected • PC opened possibilities for individual work • Computer based activities should focus on using forms than on the forms themselves
Communicative CALL • Teach grammar explicitly rather than implicitly • No prefabricated language • Allow and encourage students to create and generate original utterances • Use target language predominantly or even exclusively
Communicative CALL • Followed cognitive theories • Learning is a process of discovery, expression, and development. • Popular software for this period included: –Text reconstruction programs –Stimulations
Communicative CALL • Text reconstruction programs: – Students work alone or in groups to rearrange words and texts to discover patters of language and meaning.
• Stimulations: – Stimulated discussion and discovery among students working in pairs or groups.
Integrative CALL • After the 1990’s communicative CALL came under attack by critics. • Computer Ad hoc and disconnected fashion • Contribution to marginal rather than central elements • Teachers move to a socio-cognitive view of communicative teaching • Emphasis on language use in authentic social contexts
Integrative CALL • To integrate learners in authentic environments: – Task based approaches – Project based approaches – Content based approaches
• This was the birth of integrative CALL
Integrative CALL • Integrates listening, speaking, reading, and writing. • Integrate technology more to the language learning process. • Students learn to use tech tools as an ongoing process for language learning and use • Rather than visit a lab on a once a week basis.
Integrative CALL • Multimedia networked computer is essential now • Provides possibilities and more opportunities for learning to read, write, and communicate via computer • This is a necessity in modern life
CALL Today • CALL paradigms flow from economic and social changes • There is a need to deal with huge amounts of information • Students need to adapt to changes rather than train in a single way to approach a task. • The learner is now an active participant and expects to explore and create language
CALL Today • Teachers are not the sole source of language information • They are now facilitators of language rather than fonts of wisdom • Teacher training is a key element to success in the flexible classroom. • This means the use of multimedia and others resources effectively
CALL Software • Administrators by software to provide something that: – Provide realistic, native speaker models of language in a variety of media. – Offer a language learning curriculum – Do a needs assessment – Determine the best next step for the learner – Provide practice in the skills areas
CALL Software –Record what the students has done, along with an evaluation –Be available at any hour –Require no additional pay or benefits
CALL Software • Some packages design to meet English language teaching needs include: – CALI's Ellis – DynEd's, Dynamic English, – Berlitz's English Discoveries – Jostens' English Language Development and STEPS – Hartley's Project Star.
CALL Software • Products are made for a target audience • Jostens and Hartley products are made for North American ESL • CALI and DynEd are geared toward EFL • They are all high cost products
Activity