About CALL..

Computers have become commonplace, so you have to ponder the massive impact on language teaching by computers..Why don't we think about what had an effect in the past and have an impact now on language learning..There have been three channels of using computers to study language to date. Just for you information, Professor Kim's hand-out says that "the old one is subsumed within the new one, not being rejected by new one..The phases do not gain prominece on fell swoop, but gain acceptance slowly and unevely"..


Fist, Behavioristic CALL is the first phase of CALL of all the three phases..
Programs of this CALL is called 'drill and practice' because you have to repeat language drills..The software of this CALL acts like a tutor, therefor you can associate it with the notion, "computer as tutor".. Even though this first phase is relatively old concept, you cannot afford to ignore it, because it is acceptable in many aspects even today. Take the following for representative example..

Repeated exposure to the same material is beneficial or even essential to learning..

I agree with this 100% since so many years of studying English saw me wake up to the fact that repitition of something, such as vocabulary, Idiom, grammar make you remember what you learned long enough.

However, this behavioristic CALL was not wholly with merits. It had some demerits..First, ti had been rejected at both the theoretical and the pedagogical level. Additionally, the advent of the microcomputer meant a departure from behavioristic CALL..


The next big thing was Communicative CALL which is the second phase of CALL..This CALL supplemented the behavioristic CALL by putting a lot of emphasis on 'authentic communicaiton' There are lots of features of communicative CALL.. Let me introduce some to you..

using forms are more emhpasized that the forms themselves..
grammars are taught implicityly rather than explicityly..
not telling students they're wrong..

Communicative CALL still uses computer as tutor, but it also uses compyter as stimulant in the purpose of activating student's discussion, writing, or critical thinking..Plus, it regards a computer as tool with the aim of entitle the language learner to use or understand language by using word processors, spelling and grammar checkers and so on..Even communicative CALL left something to be desired because people thought that computers are not central elements of the language teaching proces..This lead to the third phase of CALL..


Intergrative CALL was built up on the ground of two technbologies..One is multimedia compyters, the other is the Internet..When I think of the multimedia, CD-ROM comes across my mind at the drop of a hat..That is because I have used CD-ROM to study English for several years..I study "CNNez" which use CNN news materials for English learners, there for I am one of beneficiaries from the advanced techbology..Next up, the integrative CALL by the internet is also useful to me..I download everyday news materials form EBS website through the Internet and I post what I do not understand in news articles on the related website and I get feedback from anyone who know the answer to my question..

I am just flabbergasted by the fact that everything works like magic at the click of a mouse..