1. LESSON (2)
TECHNOLOGY AND LANGUAGE LEARNING
Computer-Assisted Language
Learning (CALL)

2. WHAT IS CALL?
 CALL stands for "Computer Assisted Language
Learning".
 It is defined as "the search for and study of
the application of the computer in
language teaching and learning"

3. BEGINNING OF CALL
 The idea of using the computer in teaching
language dates back to the 1950s.
 However, the first real application of the computer
in teaching language was in the 1960s and 1970s.

4. CALL , CALI & TELL
 The term CALI (Computer-assisted language
instruction) was in use before CALL since the
1950s.
 CALI fell out of favour among language teachers as
it appeared to imply a teacher-centred approach
(instructional), whereas language teachers are
more inclined to prefer a student-centred
approach, focusing on learning rather than
instruction.

5. CALL , CALI & TELL
 In the 1980s, the communicative approach to
language teaching changed the focus from teaching
and instruction into learning.
 The whole process changed into CALL (Computer
Assisted Language Learning) as it provided a highly
interactive and communicative support for the four
skills and the use of multimedia, CD-ROMs and the
internet.

6. CALL , CALI & TELL
 In the 2000s different types of technology were
presented besides computers and the Post-
communicative approaches to teaching and
learning effected the advance of TELL (Technology
Enhanced Language Learning).

7. NATURE OF CALL
 of CALL is essentially a tool that helps teachers to
facilitate the language learning process.
 It can be used to reinforce what has been already
been learned in the classroom or as a remedial tool
to help learners who require additional support.
 The design of CALL materials generally takes into
consideration principles of language pedagogy
and methodology, which may be derived from
different learning theories (e.g.
behaviourist, cognitive, constructivist) and second
language learning theories.

8. GENERAL HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY IN
LANGUAGE LEARNING
 CALL dates back to the 1960s, when it was first
introduced on university mainframe computers. The
PLATO project, initiated at the University of Illinois
in 1960, is an important landmark in the early
development of CALL (Marty 1981).

9. GENERAL HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY IN
LANGUAGE LEARNING
 The advent of the microcomputer in the late 1970s
brought computing within the range of a wider
audience, resulting in a boom in the development of
CALL programs and a flurry of publications of books
on CALL in the early 1980s.

10. THREE PHASES OF CALL
 The history of Call is usually divided into three
phases:
 Behavioristic CALL
 Structural CALL
 Restricted CALL
 Communicative CALL
 Open CALL
 Integrative CALL
 Integrated CALL

11. BEHAVIORISTIC CALL
(STRUCTURAL CALL, RESTRICTED CALL)
 The first phase of CALL
 It was conceived in the 1950s and implemented in
the 1970s and 1980s,
 It was based on the then-dominant behaviorist
theories of learning.
 Programs of this phase entailed repetitive
language drills.
 Drill and practice courseware is based on the model
of computer as tutor. In other words the computer
serves as a vehicle for delivering instructional
materials to the student.

12. BEHAVIORISTIC CALL
(STRUCTURAL CALL, RESTRICTED CALL)
 The rationale behind drill and practice is briefly put
as follows:
 Repeated exposure to the same material is beneficial or
even essential to learning
 A computer is ideal for carrying out repeated drills, since
the machine does not get bored with presenting the
same material and since it can provide immediate non-
judgmental feedback
 A computer can present such material on an
individualized basis, allowing students to proceed at
their own pace and freeing up class time for other
activities

13. BEHAVIORISTIC CALL
(STRUCTURAL CALL, RESTRICTED CALL)
 Based on these notions, a number of CALL tutoring
systems were developed for the mainframe
computers which were used at that time.
 One of the most sophisticated of these was the
PLATO system, which ran on its own special
PLATO hardware, including central computers and
terminals.
 The PLATO system included vocabulary drills, brief
grammar explanations and drills, and translations
tests at various intervals.

14. BEHAVIORISTIC CALL
(STRUCTURAL CALL, RESTRICTED CALL)
 In the late 1970s and early 1980s, behavioristic
CALL was undermined by two important factors.
 First, behavioristic approaches to language learning had
been rejected at both the theoretical and the
pedagogical level.
 Secondly, the introduction of the microcomputer allowed
a whole new range of possibilities. The stage was set
for a new phase of CALL.

15. COMMUNICATIVE CALL (OPEN CALL)
 The second phase, Communicative CALL, is based
on the communicative approach that became
prominent in the late 1980s and 1990s.
 In the communicative approach the focus is on
using the language rather than analysis of the
language, and grammar is taught implicitly rather
than explicitly. It also allows for originality and
flexibility in student output of language.
 The communicative approach coincided with the
arrival of the PC, which made computing much
more widely available and resulted in a boom in the
development of software for language learning.

16. COMMUNICATIVE CALL (OPEN CALL)
 The first CALL software in this phase continued to
provide skill practice but not in a drill format, for
example: paced reading, text reconstruction and
language games, but the computer remained the tutor.
 In this phase computers provided context for students to
use the language, such as asking for directions to a
place, and programs not designed for language learning
such as Sim City, Sleuth and Where in the World is
Carmen Sandiego? were used for language learning.
 Criticisms of this approach include using the computer in
an ad hoc and disconnected manner for more marginal
aims rather than the central aims of language teaching.

17. INTEGRATIVE CALL (INTEGRATED CALL)
 The third phase of CALL, Integrative CALL, starting from
the 2000s, tried to address criticisms of the
communicative approach by integrating the teaching of
language skills into tasks or projects to provide direction
and coherence.
 It also coincided with the development of multimedia
technology (providing text, graphics, sound and
animation) as well as Computer-mediated
communication (CMC).
 CALL in this period saw a definitive shift of the use of
the computer for drill and tutorial purposes (the
computer as a finite, authoritative base for a specific
task) to a medium for extending education beyond the
classroom.

18. INTEGRATIVE CALL (INTEGRATED CALL)
 Multimedia CALL started with interactive laser
videodiscs such as Montevidisco (Schneider &
Bennion 1984) and A la rencontre de
Philippe (Fuerstenberg 1993), both of which were
simulations of situations where the learner played a
key role.
 These programs later were transferred to CD-
ROMs, and new role-playing games (RPGs) such
as Who is Oscar Lake? made their appearance in a
range of different languages.