Technological Tools and Language Learning

Name: Zina Firas Al-Adham

ID#: 0151612
Course: CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning)
Instructor: Ms. Emily Clymer
Email Address: zeenaadham01@hotmail.com
Date: December 22, 2016

Technology has effectively played a central role in improving our daily lives in many
ways. It made our lives easier than before. An individual can do whatever he/she wants and
collaborate with an unlimited number of people regardless of the location or time by using
technology. In other words, a person can create his/her own small world by using technology.
Technology has the most impact on language learning processes, especially because students all
around the world are having more interest and passion toward learning foreign languages
nowadays. The use of technology as well as the phantasy for learning languages has made the
tutors more effective and creative in teaching languages. Technology has helped enhancing
classroom activities, motivate students, and engage them in classroom activities. (Tabatabaei,
2011, p. 516). In its role, this has refined a lot of academic skills for students.
The use of technology in language learning that is centered on multimedia-which
indicates texts, audios and videos- has led to the birth of CALL which is Computer Assisted
Language Learning (Alpanahi, 2014, p.6). CALL has been discovered in the 1960s because of
the advancement and ease of using technology. It can be defined as the search for and study of
application of the computer in language teaching and learning (Beatty, 2003, p. 7).

Technological Tools and Language Learning

CALL has been passed through three stages, namely, behaviorist CALL, communicative CALL
and integrative CALL. This academic revolution helped with the discovery of some
technological tools that are very useful nowadays for both students and teachers in teaching and
learning. These tools have made the learning processes interesting, simple and efficient. Some
effective and highly recommended tools are the following.
Go Animate is an online tech tool which was founded in 2007 and introduced in 2008
(Wiki, 2014). This tool is specialized in creating professional animated videos especially for
those students who study business (Teach thought staff, 2014). It is an effective tool for both
teacher and student. This tool focuses on improving students speaking and listening skills.
According to speaking, it gives the chance for pupils to record their voices directly or
imported as an audio to the website. According to listening, the tool provides ready-made
videos about different topics so that students can watch these videos and improve their listening
skills. The teacher may also create a video about a specific topic and share it with students and
thus delivering the idea of the lesson in a unique and special way. In addition to improving
students speaking and listening skills, Go Animate helps in launching students talents and
creativity since they can come up with new and unparalleled methods to communicate and to
share their feelings with their friends and teachers.
Unfortunately, not all websites are perfect. There should be some drawbacks in such
tools. In Go Animate, the length of the video is restricted for 2 minutes only and thus the space
for creativity will be limited. Some students may prefer to download the videos that were
discussed in classes on their computers in order to take the full advantage from them. Unluckily,

Technological Tools and Language Learning

this feature is not available on this website for free and thus students have to pay for it which
may not suit everyone.
Coursera is an online for-profit and educational technology which was launched in
2012. (Wiki, 2014). This website offers online courses in more than fifteen languages for
different subjects such as business, mathematics, engineering, medicine, computer science
and so on and so forth. Each course lasts for four to ten weeks with one to two hours of video
lectures a week (Wiki, 2014). At the end of each course, the website provides online quizzes
and assignments that are graded to examine students comprehension to the course. Coursera is
used by the most renowned universities and institutions and it is available for all ages. The thing
that is unique about this site is that there are on-demand courses. That is, if you want a course
about a specific subject, you can contact the managers and it will be available for you directly.
Recently, Coursera started offering a mobile app for iOS and Android which makes it
easier for smartphone users to learn. In addition, in 2013 Coursera started selling certificates for
each course that you have done. This will be very useful, since you add these certificates to your
resume in the future.
The disadvantage about Coursera is that the courses are partially free. After few months,
you have to pay for them to continue the course until the end. In its role, this will decrease the
number of the users of this website.
English Central is a worldwide, free and online website which was established in 2008
and available for iOS and Android users (wiki, 2007). It provides more than 10,000 videos with
more than 8 languages for students to watch and to learn from (Wiki, 2007). It is an effective tool

Technological Tools and Language Learning

for those who want to strengthen their English language skills in an entertaining way far away
from the ordinary methods of learning like the textbooks. The videos in this application are all
subtitled and their length does not exceed 2 minutes. They are all categorized according to the
proficiency level (low advanced, intermediate, advanced, etc.). In addition, the videos are
categorized according to the genres (business, academic, social, media, travel, etc.). This gives
the student the chance to pick up what interests him/her. After watching the videos, the student
will be provided with some exercises which will ask him/her to rewrite the hardest words in the
videos and then to pronounce them. There are unlimited attempts allowed to answer these
activities.
The user can set up a skype session with a native speaker of the language to take a free
language assessment test which is a special feature about this tool. An individual may also
choose which skill he/she would like to focus on and he/she will be provided with the suitable
exercises for each skill. The thing that is unique about this tool is that it can be used by students
for academic purposes and it also may be used by other people for extracurricular purposes.
It is great to know that you as a learner can watch unlimited set of videos, but the
limitation about it is that after watching two of them, you have to share the tool with your friends
on one of the social media equipments. Furthermore, when attempting the pronunciation
activities, you are going to be given a grade, but if you have any mistakes, there will be no tips to
let you know the correct way to pronounce a word.
It is obvious now that by the technological revolution, the methods of teaching that
depend on books and papers are fading away progressively. This allows the distance learning

Technological Tools and Language Learning

methods to occupy the learning circuit, thus will lead to more persuasive and dynamic ways of
teaching courses with more enthusiasm. In addition, this will replace the traditional methods of
communicating between the students and teachers with other ones mediated by technology
(Keegan, 2008). Never lose sight on the other developments that were accrued by technology
such as e-learning, synchronous learning system and mobile learning (Keegan,2008).
Recent studies show that 80% of the population agrees that learning is enhanced when
text and pictures are integrated in a multimedia environment. (Keegan, 2028). Stop for a while
and imagine our lives without technology, especially in the field of learning. How our
classrooms will go on without technology? Release your imagination to 2030. What new
developments will be discovered in e-learning?

References:
-dei, D. K. The impact of new technologies on distance learning students. Retrieved
December 21, 2016, from https://eleed.campussource.de/archive/4/1422

-M. T., & Y. G. (n.d.). The impact of technology on teaching and learning languages.
-Benefits and drawbacks to using go!Animate - EnglischDidakt. (2013, July 31). Retrieved
December 9, 2016, from http://www.anglistikdidaktikwiki.unijena.de/index.php?title=Benefits_and_Drawbacks_to_Using_Go!Animate

Technological Tools and Language Learning

-Staff, T. (2014, September 9). 16 common core technology tools--with examples -.
Retrieved December 9, 2016, from Uncategorized,
http://www.teachthought.com/uncategorized/common-core-technology-tools-literacyspeaking-listening/

-Computer-assisted language learning (2016). . In Wikipedia. Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-assisted_language_learning
-Coursera (2016). . In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coursera
-Quizlet (2016). . In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quizlet