Running Head: COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING

Computer Assisted Language Learning

Jeisson Nicols Rozo
UNICA

Abstract

COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING

Education technologies were one of the most developed areas in the world.
Computers, which have entered the school life in the late 1950s in developed
countries, are still developing day by day throughout the world; the computermediated communication and the Internet have reshaped the use of computers for
language learning. Computers are no longer a tool for only information processing
and display but also a tool for information processing and communication. Computer
Assisted Language Learning (CALL), use different methods to accomplish a specific
educational goal. The use of technology by a computer enhances the student to use
different tools with the computer as a device to help children or Adults to learn a
foreign language, the computer with software and hardware give us a lot of tools and
ways to improve supplementary practice in the skills: speaking, reading, listening and
writing, there are different programs used in a computer (Word, Power Point, Adobe,
Moviemaker etc) and games which students can interact. Through this method
language learning will be much easier for students; teachers will be able to go from
the normal class and move on an interactive activity. According to some studies this
method helps people to learn easier a foreign language because they are surrounded
by the technological area which is a very popular activity nowadays. But students not
only use programs, internet and games, but they can use videos and some other
tools that a computer can offer us.
Keywords: Technology, interactive, method, educational, tools, teacher.

Computer Assisted Language Learning

COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING

CALL used to be a result of development in research related to the use of computers

for linguistic purposes and for creating suitable language learning conditions, 1980s
have witnessed the spread of computers both in educational institutions and in
people's homes (Gndz, 2005) since the beginning of the 80s computers has also
found their way into many schools (Gndz, 2005) , the computer laboratory has
become an integral component of foreign-language programs in most educational
institutions; Computers have been used for language teaching for more than three
decades, the computer-mediated communication and the Internet have reshaped the
use of computers for language learning. Computers are no longer a tool for only
information processing and display but also a tool for information processing and
communication, the computer is a human made tool which is incapable of action
(Gndz, 2005). That is, it has no inborn wisdom, no initiative and inherent ability to
learn or to teach. It may communicate with the student visually by displaying text,
graphics or video images on a screen; it can also present sound in the form of
speech, music or other audio-output (Gndz, 2005).
Computer assisted language learning is a term used by teachers and students
to describe the use of computers as part of a language course (Gndz, 2005),
computers allow the user to carry out tasks which are impossible in other media such
as providing feedback automatically on certain kinds of exercises or editing a piece of
writing by deleting, moving and inserting text (Gndz, 2005).
CALL present the computer as flexible classroom aid, which can be used by
teachers and learners, in and out of class to learn a foreign language, CALL also use
generally activities such a transferring information from one medium to another; that
is, from one student to another, or from one group to another group (Gndz, 2005).
Students listen to a tape-recording of a story and then sequence the events of the

COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING

story, or match sentences spoken with the characters in a story. Also CALL frequently
involves an information-gap, with one student, or group of students needing
information from others in the class to complete an activity (Gndz, 2005). One of
the characteristics of many CALL programs is that the students have to pronounce or
type in exactly the answer the computer expects because the computer can only
accept the answers it has been programmed to accept (Gndz, 2005).
The role of computers in language teaching has changed significantly in the
last three decades. Previously, computers used in language teaching were limited to
text. Simple simulations and exercises, primarily gap-filling and multiple-choice drills,
abounded. Technological and pedagogical developments now allow us to integrate
computer technology into the language learning process (Gndz, 2005).
The value of CALL is that it allows a richer form of language exploration and
play than has ever possible before. The use of computers is compatible with a variety
of approaches, methods and techniques of learning and teaching (Gndz, 2005).

References

COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING

Gndz, N. (2005, October). The Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies.

Retrieved Agust 08, 2011, from www.jlls.org/Issues/Volume1/No.2/nazligunduz.pdf