Computer Assisted Language Learning

August 2003

Where are we now and where are we going?

Graham Davies, Educational Software Consultant, Camsoft

There is no question that Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has come of age. Computers have been a feature of teaching and learning of Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) since the 1960s in higher education and since the early 1980s in secondary education. The rapid growth in the use of ICT in MFL in the 1980s led to the foundation of the two leading professional associations: CALICO (USA) in 1982 and EUROCALL (Europe) in 1986, both of which continue to thrive and now form part of the WorldCALL umbrella association. CALL's history is well documented at the History of CALL website.

Warschauer (1996) distinguishes three phases of CALL, illustrating the development of an increasing number of different ways in which the computer has been used in language learning and teaching:

• Behaviouristic: The computer as tutor, serving mainly as a vehicle for delivering instructional materials to the learner.
• Communicative: The computer is used for skill practice, but in a non-drill format and with a greater degree of student choice, control and interaction. This phase also includes (a) using the computer to stimulate discussion, writing or critical thinking (eg using programs such as Sim City), and (b) using the computer as a tool or workhorse - examples include word processors, spelling and grammar checkers, and concordancers.
• Integrative: This phase is marked by the introduction of two important innovations: (a) multimedia, (b) the internet. The main advantage of multimedia packages is that they enable reading, writing, speaking and listening to be combined in a single activity, with the learner exercising a high degree of control over the path that he/she follows through the learning materials. The internet builds on multimedia technology and in addition enables both asynchronous and synchronous communication between learners and teachers. The advent of the web has opened up a new range of tasks for MFL learners, eg web quests, web concordancing, and collaborative writing.

We are now well into the third phase. The range of different types of CALL software currently available is impressive. As well as routine drill-and-practice programs, there are vocabulary games, action mazes, adventures and simulations, exploratory programs, and text reconstruction (total Cloze) packages. See Module 1.4 at the ICT4LT website for further examples.

There has been a prolific output of publications on CALL. The EUROCALL and ICT4LT bibliographies list the most important research and academic publications, and CILT's InfoTech series offers a range of practically oriented publications for practising teachers. Many schools, especially specialist schools with Language College status, have set up extensive MFL websites, for example Ashcombe School and the Royal Grammar School High Wycombe. Electronic discussion lists form virtual communities of teachers, enabling them to exchange views, seek advice and generally let off steam. The Linguanet Forum is a good example of a lively discussion list aimed at MFL teachers.

A wealth of publications relating to online language learning and teaching has appeared in the last few years, a recent publication being Beyond Babel (Felix 2001). But the web needs to be treated with a degree of caution. As Felix points out:

"...it takes a very special person to learn and, especially, speak a language without face-to-face communication."

(Felix 2001:8)