Intro+to+CALL

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING

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=**Definition** = The field of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) promotes an approach to Second Language Acquisition (SLA), in which technology is used by teachers and learners to facilitate, reinforce and assess knowledge of foreign languages and cultures. Rather than a teaching method itself, CALL is merely promoted by researchers as a strategy in support of traditional language teaching, and it strives to combine the use of technology to theories of SLA and language pedagogy.

The integration of technology into the language curriculum does not aim, therefore, to replace traditional teaching techniques. Rather, the goal of CALL is to suggest to language teachers a variety of alternative ways to reinforce their lessons with more in-depth information presented in many formats, expose students to authentic materials that better connect them to the target language and culture, and to offer engaging opportunities for language learners to interact with peers and native speakers in the target language, and using the technology that students appear attracted to, and that seems to motivate them. CALL aims to ultimately provide a way for teachers to create an effective and efficient language learning environment, where differentiated methods are applied to enhance language learning in and outside the classroom. CALL supports the creation of autonomous language learners, who are capable of communicating and functioning in the target language in a technology-driven society.

=**Classification of Computer Software in CALL **= The 2010 ICT4FL project of the European Commission classifies computer and web programs implemented in language learning into either //generic// software or //CALL specific software//.  · //__Generic software applications__ // are multi-purpose computerized programs that are not designed specifically for language acquisition, but they are extremely useful in language teaching when used in well-designed activities, which seek to apply aspects of the functionality of the software to language learning situations. (Ex. Word, PowerPoint, Google Earth, Skype)  · //__CALL software applications__ // are computer programs designed to promote explicit or implied language learning objectives and are usually based on the software authors' beliefs about the ways in which students learn languages. CALL software can be content-specific in that the teacher cannot change the linguistic content or the format of the activities which seek to teach that content (Ex. Rosetta Stone, QUIA, Destinos, LanguagePod). CALL software applications can also be content-free in that the teacher can provide the content which the software then uses as data for the pre-programmed activities (Ex. Wimba, SonySANS, OWL, Anvill).

=**Benefits of CALL **= CALL puts today particular emphasis in promoting interactivity, element that perhaps students are unable to fully maximize in a traditional face-to-face language classroom, where the opportunity for speaking in the target language is shared among many individuals. Element that is, however, present in daily activities conducted by Digital Natives, who massively interact with peers today using text-messaging, chats, webcams, online video games and Facebook. CALL promises to expand the potential for communication in language education and link students to teachers, other language learners and native speakers through computer-mediated interactions.

Furthermore, the use of technology into language education aims to promote autonomous language learners, who are able to access and responsibly evaluate and use electronic resources, in and outside the classroom. Kritsonis and Lai  [|(2006)] remind that distance learning can strongly benefit students who are shy or inhibited language learners, because it allows them to access resources at their own pace and time, as many times as needed. Similarly, Gong [|(2002)] discusses that computer environments are highly motivating for speaking a foreign language, because they offers a private workspace where learners can take risks and experiment the language in ways, which might be psychologically threatening in a classroom or real-life communication situation. The students who are more skilled language learners equally benefit, however, from an individualized and independent learning experience, because it permits them to proceed themselves at their own pace and time and achieve higher levels of linguistic competence. Because of technology, student can today make choices in how to learn, and they can gather information from many different sources, anywhere, anytime and according to specific individual preferences and skills. Gong concludes that the CALL environment serves indeed as a self-teaching system that adjusts the level of the task to fit the students' ability level and learning style, allowing the student to become an independent learner.

Moreover, research in CALL promises to overall enhance students' motivation and maximize their achievements through technology-driven experiential learning. Researchers investigate ways for language teachers to integrate computer programs and communicative technology to reduce students' learning stresses and anxieties, and to introduce them to authentic and engaging language situations and materials in formats that they understand and relate to. Computer and Internet technologies are offered as alternatives to induce Digital Natives to practice language and cultural skills in authentic ways, that helps them make sense of information in context, extract and evaluate meaning, and ultimately relate information to their everyday life. Additionally, a number of studies have demonstrated that the integration of CALL indeed positively impacts the development of the language learner’ four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). Through computer-mediated communication systems like chats for example, students strongly improve listening and speaking abilities, because these environments maximize opportunities for meaningful conversation in the target language, and help students routinize circumstantial expressions and develop colloquial speaking skills. Tools like web cams and video chats additional enrich the development of communicative skills thank to visual cues, such as facial expressions, that make communication more authentic and comprehensible. Vocabulary development and reading comprehension are also positively influenced by the use of computer and Internet technologies. In this regard, Constantinescu [|(2007)] discusses that online dictionaries, interactive text and multimedia glosses assist student associate vocabulary to meaning in context, because they present visual imagery and text descriptions, which help learning and retention of new foreign words. Writing skills are as well enhanced by the use of computer and Internet applications. In addition of using emails, web pages and text chats to communicate with teachers and peers, students can today participate in collaborative writing using online blogs, wiki, and forums.

=**History of CALL **= Computers have been used for language teaching ever since the 1960s. The ITC4FL project reports that, throughout the course of these past 50 years, diverse currents of CALL have been distinguished according to the different ways in which technology was perceived as beneficial for foreign language learning, and the various theories and methods of SLA and language pedagogy that were promoted at each stage of CALL history.

The PLATO project, initiated at the University of Illinois in 1960, is an important landmark in the early development of CALL, which took place from the 1960s to the late 1970s. During these decades, CALL projects were confined mainly to universities, where computer programs were developed on large mainframe computers. CALL researchers of the time built on the belief that computers had to be implemented into language learning simply as tutors, functioning primarily as a mean to deliver instructional materials in form of text, and to provide differentiated stimuli to which the language learner had to give a response back in text format. CALL was limited to computer programs that language learners used as an instrument strictly for grammar practice. The interaction between the learner and the computer followed the “Wrong-Try-Again” model, which left no room for meaningful communication. Early CALL was also called Behaviorist CALL, because its applications were based on the behaviorist learning model of SLA characterized by extensive drills, translation tests, explicit grammar instruction and corrective feedback. Researchers of this time mainly implemented the Grammar-Translation and Audio Lingual teaching methods, and they used what is considered today obsolete technology.

From the beginning of 1980s until the early 90s, the arrival of the personal computer (PC) and computer networks expanded the use of computers to a wider audience, and it enabled researchers to communicate and collaborate with others, resulting in the development of numerous CALL programs. Communicative CALL is the result of this era, when new cognitive theories such as the Natural/Communicative Approach and Community Language Learning method emphasized interactions and communication as both the means and ultimate goals of learning a foreign language. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> [|Warschauer] (1996) remarks that proponents of the Communicative approach felt that the drill and practice programs of the previous decades did not allow enough authentic communication, therefore they wanted to begin focusing more on making students use forms of the target language rather than the form itself. [|Moras] (2001) reports that in Communicative CALL computers were employed not only as tutors but also as tools for students to practice language skills in a non-drill and more communicative manner. Technology was integrated primarly to achieve communicative competence, by providing implicit grammar explanations, avoiding extensive corrective feedback and encouraging language learners to produce utterances of prefabricated forms of the target language. Warshchauers underlines that in Communicative CALL, the computer remained the knower-of-the-right-answer, but as compared the previous Behaviorist CALL programs, the process of learning involved a fair amount of student's choice, control, and interaction with the computer. Communicative CALL introduced the concept of language learners' autonomy, and it shifted language education towards a more student-centered language learning environment.

The proliferation of Internet and Internet technologies that has taken place since the 1990s has drastically impacted more recent practices of CALL. Warschauer recalls that, no longer satisfied with teaching structured skills (even if taught in a communicative manner), a number of educators were seeking ways to teach in a more integrative way, for example using task- or project-based approaches. The result has been the so-called Integrative CALL, that utilizes multimedia and the Internet to support SLA. Integrative CALL programs apply asynchronous (not simultaneous) and synchronous (real-time) technology to foster communication via multi-channels, and expand communication from a one-to-one to a one-to-many structure. In this regard, applications of Intergrative CALL such as blogs, wikis, social networking and podcasts enable users to create and share content with a small group, the whole class, a partner class or a global audience. This global and more student-oriented learning environment offered by Integrative CALL responds to the desire and need of digital natives to interact with each other using technology. Researchers declares, however, that Integrative CALL is still largely evolving due to the constant changing and advancing of technology and academic research educational technology. Accordingly, Erben and Sarieva [|(2008)] report that speech-recognition computer programs have been at the center of attention of CALL researchers, and that the explosion of iPods, iPhones and web enabled-cell phones seems to predict that mobile technology will also have a dramatic impact on the future of language education. Similarly, Shrum and Glisan [|(2010)] anticipate that as we continue focusing on communication as primarly goal for language learning, we will perhaps expand our understanding and acceptance of virtual spaces as educative tools and find ways to teach languages and cultures through virtual realities such as Second Life.

=**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Barriers and Challenges to CALL **= <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Lee [|(2000)]discusses that the most imposing barriers inhibiting the practice of Computer-Assisted Language Learning are caused by the financial inability to guarantee proper hardware and software for every learner, and teachers' lack of technical knowledge, which often causes a resistance by teachers to technology-enhanced education.

Financial barriers include the cost of purchasing, installing, maintaining and updating computer hardware and software. Even when computers and technical devices are indeed available to schools, teachers often do not have the skills necessary to operate and integrate these tools into the classroom. Therefore, funding for specialized training presents another financial barrier to the integration of CALL programs. The issue of funding technology in education strongly concerns Wang <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> [|(2008)], who remarks that some educators fear that as a result, educational costs might rise and put in jeopardy the equity of education.

__Woodbridge__ (2004) observes that the lack of specialized training is so evident that any teacher with minimal knowledge about computers is often called on to provide technical support to colleagues. He reminds, however, that teachers with lack of technical skills are often experienced independent educators, who desire control over their teaching strategies and selection of tools, therefore, their inability to handle technical difficulties on their own raises their level of frustration and hesitance towards technology. Acceptance of new technologies as effective educative tools is another important barrier to the achievement of CALL projects. Numerous language educators are not aware of or do not fully acknowledge the potential benefits of computers and Internet for language learning. Among the reasons for inacceptance of technology, the extra time and preparation required to use technology present real constraints tor those educators who are simply not interested in computers.

=**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Opportunities for Professional Development in CALL **=

__<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">ACADEMIC PROGRAMS AND CERTIFICATES __<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Certificate in Computer-Assisted Language Learning, [|Monterey Institute]  <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Certificate in Language Technology, Brown University [|Brown University]  <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Certificate in Language Technology, [|Eastern Michigan University]  <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">M.S. Program in Language Technology, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> [|Carnegie Mellon University] · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Ph.D Linguistics and Technology, [|Iowa State University]  <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Ph.D Second Language Acquisition/Instructional Technology, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> [|University of South Florida] · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Ph.D Language, Literacy and Technology, <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">[|University of California-Irvine]

__<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS __<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> · **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">CALICO: **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> Computer-Assisted Language Consortium Organization: <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> http://www.calico.org. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">EUROCALL: **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> Ueropean Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> http://www.eurocall-languages.org. · **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">IALLT: **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">International Association for Language Learning Technology: <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> http://www.iallt.org · **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">CERCLES: **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">European Confederation of Language Centers in Higher Education <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">@http://www.cercles.org/ <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> · **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">APACALL **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> Asia-Pacific Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning [|www.apacall.org]  <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> · **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">WorldCALL: **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> The worldwide association of CALL associations, which is in the process of establishing itself as an official profession association. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">http://www.worldcall.org

__<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS AND PUBLICATIONS __<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> · [|Language Learning and Technology (LLT)] · [|Calico Journal] · [|Re-Call] Eurocall · [|System] · [|Languages] · [|LiLT] · [|Esol Technology]

__<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">LISTSERV __<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> · [|FLTEACH] · [|LLTI] · [|Nanduti] · [|Carla LCTL] · [|IALLT Ning] <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">---