CALL & MALL (ELT-2)

 

Hello friends,

Digital Learning is "learning facilitated by technology that gives students some element of control over time, place, path and pace." 

Learning is no longer restricted to the school day or the school year. The Internet and a proliferation of Internet access devices have given students the ability to learn anytime. The Internet and a proliferation of Internet access devices have given students the ability to learn anywhere and everywhere. Interactive and adaptive software allows students to learn at their own pace, spending more or less time on lessons or subjects to achieve the same level of learning.

Digital learning is more than just providing students with a laptop. Digital learning requires a combination of technology, digital content and instruction.

Now let's discuss briefly about CALL.

CALL

Until quite recently, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) was a topic of relevance mostly to those with a special interest in that area. Recently, though, computers have become so widespread in schools and homes and their uses have expanded so dramatically that the majority of language teachers must now begin to think about the implications of computers for language learning.

The list below is representative but not exhaustive.

1	CALL	Computer-assisted language learning, sometimes expanded as computer-aided language learning
2	CELL	Computer-enhanced language learning: suggests the computer's role is to make learning better
3	TELL	Technology-enhanced language learning: this accommodates more than just computers, often bringing in video and seeing the computer as just one part of a larger system.
4	TALL	Technology-assisted language learning: variant of CALL and TELL
5	CALI	Computer-assisted language instruction: with "instruction" in it, it's more teaching oriented
6	CBLT	Computer-based language training: views elements of language learning as "training" and tends to use an approach with definable, measurable objectives
7	IT and ICT	Information Technology/Information and Communication Technologies are common acronyms outside of language teaching, particularly in Europe; sometimes this is presented as IT or ICT for LT
8	NBLT	Network-Based Language Teaching: focuses on computers linked in networks, both locally and through the Internet, especially for computer-mediated communication
9	DLL	Digital Language Learning: a relatively new term encompassing computers and other digital devices
10	MALL	Mobile Assisted Language Learning: learning with mobile devices  like smartphones and tablets (sometimes also used for Multimedia Assisted language Learning

1.Behaviouristic CALL

The behavioristic phase coincides with Skinner’s work in the1950s and continued into the 1970s. Because repetition and response to stimuli are major tenets of behaviorism, CALL programs of this area focused on repetitive drills and practice, allowing students to learn at their own pace, with the computer acting as a mechanical tutor, continuously repeating drills.q

 

 

PLATO LAB

 

During the behaviorist era, the language laboratory became a dominant technical device for second language learning because it provided increased opportunities for students to hear and repeat language, important facets of the audio-lingual method of language instruction. In 1960, PLATO was developed and primarily focused on vocabulary and grammar drill exercises. During this era, technology continued to support behaviorist methodology, as illustrated by Lorge  who praised language labs as places where, 

 

“imitative practice could be recorded, judged, erased, re-recorded, to the point of learning” 

(Salaberry)

 

In the early 1970s, the TICCIT (Time-Shared, Computer Controlled Information Television) combined capabilities of television and computers to teach grammar, spelling, and writing skills to second language learners, again mainly in drill form. However, by the late 1970s the effectiveness of audio-lingualism and language laboratories were discounted on the basis that students weren’t able to interact meaningfully with pre-recorded tapes; thus inhibiting rather than enhancing student performance.

 

 

2.Communicative CALL

 

The communicative era of CALL began in the late 1970s and coincided with the research of Stephen Krashen  on language acquisition as a natural, communicative process, rather than a function of repetition and drills. In 1984, John Underwood, a strong proponent of the communicative approach, developed the following guidelines for communicative CALL:

• focus on using language forms than on the forms themselves

• teach grammar implicitly rather than explicitly

• encourage students to generate original utterances rather than manipulate prefabricated language

• do not judge and evaluate everything the student says in the target language

• avoid telling students they are wrong and be open to a variety of student responses

• create an environment in which using the target language feels natural

 

New CALL programs were developed to support the communicative approach, focusing less on drills and more on text reconstruction, language games and programs to stimulate language use in class discussions, writing assignments, and critical thinking tasks. During this time, the focus shifted from what learners did with the computer to how they worked with one another while at the computer. However, despite these communicative and interactive advancements in CALL, computer-mediated language learning was fragmented and did not address major aspects of language acquisition, such as spontaneous oral production, pronunciation, effective guided writing and, development of reading skills.

 

 

Integrative CALL

 

In the early 90s, computer-mediated communication (CMC) revolutionized the use of technology for language instruction by enabling students to communicate directly with individual or groups of language learners, both asynchronously through email or synchronously through instant messaging.  

 

Researchers noted that the language generated in chat room environments bore a strong resemblance to the type of language generated in oral conversation, reducing the barrier to realistic online communication between learners. Other studies of the effects of CMC on oral proficiency have reported positive results in several areas of language acquisition, especially in language production, a key component of communicative competence.

 

In the late 1990s the development of CD-ROMs, increased access to the Internet, and the advent of multi-media computers enabled further development of integrative CALL by facilitating language learning through text, sound, graphics, and video. 

 

Two major benefits of this interaction are increased

1. learner control of what, when, and how they learn and students have immediate access to content and (2)cultural information they previously could not access. 

 

 

This widespread access to authentic materials, including newspapers, magazines, videos, TV and radio broadcasts, has greatly increased the potential language learning opportunities available, both individually and in classrooms.

MALL

 

Mobile learning is undergoing rapid evolution. Mobile phones can support many kinds of learning, including language learning. Mobile technologies offer numerous practical uses in language learning.

A computer is better than a mobile phone for handling various types of information such as visual, sound, and textual information, but mobile phone is superior to a computer in portability. They can be just as easily utilized outside of the classroom as they can in it;learners can study or practice manageable chunks of information in any place on their own time, thereby taking advantage of their convenience.

Thank you.