Ismail Sangkala, M.Pd. NIDN. 0921018703 ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Rethinking CALL Ismail Sangkala, M.Pd. NIDN. 0921018703 ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Why do we need to rethink what we know? Knowledge Power Confidence We need to think critically. We need to make wise decisions.

Main Issues Is the computer a must in language learning and teaching? What is computer assisted language learning (CALL)? What can teachers and learners do in using computers for language learning? What knowledge or competence do language teachers need for CALL?

Issue 1: Is the computer a must in language learning and teaching? Two fallacies (Bax, 2003) “Omnipotence” fallacy Computers can do everything and should replace current learning and teaching technologies. “Sole Agent” fallacy The key or only factor in successful implementation of the technology is the technology itself.

What Computers Can and Can’t Do Judge predetermined right-or-wrong answers, e.g., multiple choice and fill in the blanks Provide immediate, but fixed, feedback, suggestions, and encouragement Provide authentic information through texts, pictures, sound, video segments, and animation Motivate task persistence Record learner’s writing, speech, and learning progress    Computer CAN’T Judge unexpected input Provide feedback beyond a predetermined list of messages   Give feedback that address unexpected input; in other words, meaning Engage learner in rich negotiation of meaning characteristic of face-to-face interaction Motivate depth and quality of engagement characteristic of human interaction

Factors affecting CALL Teacher Learner Context How to use it? Objective Material Activity Instructional Approach

How is the computer used? Computer Roles Tutor (behaviorist) Tool (cognitive) Medium (sociocognitive) CALL Contexts One-computer classroom Network computer lab Self-access learning center Distance learning

Issue 1: Is the computer a must in language learning and teaching? Conclusion No, but computers will become “normalized” in everyday practice, like a pen or a book (Bax,2003). Computer technology has to be treated as an aid, but not a panacea. The effectiveness of CALL cannot reside in the computer technology itself but in how it is put to use and for what purposes.

Issue 2: What is computer assisted language learning (CALL)? Definition: This term (Computer-assisted language learning - CALL) is widely used to refer to the area of technology and second language teaching and learning despite the fact that revisions for the term are suggested regularly (Chapelle, 2001, p. 3). Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) may be defined as the search for and study of applications of the computer in language teaching and learning (Levy, 1997, p.1). Given the breadth of what may go on in computer-assisted language learning (CALL), a definition of CALL that accommodates its changing nature is any process in which a learner uses a computer and, as a result, improves his or her language (Beatty, 2003, p. 7).

Issue 2: What is computer assisted language learning (CALL)? Types of CALL programs/materials: CALL-specific software (CD-ROMs) Generic software (e.g., word-processors - Word, presentation software - PowerPoint, and spreadsheet - Excel). Web-based learning materials Computer-mediated communication (CMC) programs (synchronous: online chat; asynchronous: email and discussion forum)

Issue 2: What is computer assisted language learning (CALL)? CALL activities: multiple-choice & true/false quizzes gap-filling exercise/cloze matching re-ordering/sequencing crossword puzzles games and simulations writing & word-processing concordancing  web quests/searching web publishing Computer-mediated communication (synchronous and asynchronous) Tutor Tool or Medium

Issue 2: What is computer assisted language learning (CALL)? Early CALL vs. Modern CALL   Early CALL   Modern CALL Behaviorist approaches individualized drills programmed-learning viewing language as discrete components emphasizing the importance of control giving extrinsic feedback communicative and constructivist approaches task-based, collaborative activities providing alternatives to learners viewing language as a whole emphasizing the importance of guidance giving both extrinsic and intrinsic feedback

CALL – Listening Skills Issue 3: What can teachers and learners do in using computers for language learning? CALL – Listening Skills Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab Adult Learning Activities - California Distance Learning Project BBC Learning English: Watch and Listen Voice of America - Special English

CALL – Speaking Skills My English Tutor English Pronunciation (Okanagan University College, Canada) Conversation Questions for the ESL & EFL Classroom Top 100 American speeches in the 20th century Reader’s theater (an example: “Many Moons”)

CALL – Reading Skills Learn to Read at Starfall Phonics and Word Study Vocabulary for K-12 and ESL Kids ESL games in EnglishClub.com Mother Goose Rebus Rhymes SurLaLune Fairy Tales The Online Books Page (University of Pennsylvania) English reading from EnlgishClub.com Repeat after Us - Online Library and Language Lab The Gold Scales of Tales, Poems and Wisdom

CALL – Writing Skills ABC Letters, Writing, Words, Numbers, Shapes, & Colors ESL Blues Advice on Academic Writing Purdue University's OWL (Online Writing Lab):    a) Grammar/Writing Resources, Handouts and Exercises for ESL Students    b) Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling

Web-Quests A WebQuest usually includes the following elements: An introduction or scenario A task that is meaningful and doable A process for completing the task Information resources to support the task A conclusion that brings closure and evaluation WebQuests facilitate cooperative learning, offer different kinds of resources, and provide a variety of ways to access and demonstrate knowledge. Dr. Alice Christie's Matrix of 320 WebQuests WebQuest Resource Bank (香港中文大學探索網站資源庫)

Concordancing A concordancer is a computer program that allows users to search a collection of authentic texts (i.e. a corpus) for multiple examples of selected words or phrases. Users can use a concordancer to find examples of authentic usage to demonstrate word collocations, word usage, or even the structure of a text. Examples: 國立清華大學 CANDLE Project - TOTALrecall, VN Collocation (TANGO), and Collocation Checker 淡江大學 Collocation Explorer VLC‘s Web Concordancer 香港理工大學 Google

CMC Activities Synchronous ESL Cafe's Chat Central ESL Chat Room in EnglishClub.com Chat Room in Englishbaby.com VLC Chat Rooms (Hong Kong) Asynchronous Dave's ESL Cafe:   1) Student Discussion Forums, and 2) Teacher Discussion Forums EnglishClub.com ESL Forums BBC Learning English – Communicate Nicenet.org

Issue 3: What can teachers and learners do in using computers for language learning? Recap Remember what computers can do is to present information with multimedia and to provide predetermined feedback. There are four features that need to be considered for the CALL activities: accessibility, interactivity, renewability, and adaptability. Pedagogy first and technology second. Pedagogical Interactivity is more important than computer Interactivity.

Issue 4: What knowledge/competence do language teachers need for CALL? Electronic literacy (Shetzer & Warschauer, 2000) Communication: how to express and interpret meaning in the computer-mediated communication environment Construction: how to write 1) from essay to hypertext, 2) from words to multimedia, and 3) from author to co-constructor Research: how to navigate Web sources, search for information, and evaluate and interpret the found information

Issue 4: What knowledge/competence do language teachers need for CALL? Content Knowledge + Electronic Literacy Second Language Acquisition TESOL Methods CALL Tool Literacies computer literacy network literacy technology literacy Literacies of Representation information literacy media literacy Visual literacy Communication

Conclusion ~ From Alice's Adventures In Wonderland (p.1) “What is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversation?”            ~ From Alice's Adventures In Wonderland (p.1) Technology is neither an unalloyed blessing nor an unmitigated curse. Computers don’t teach, but teachers do. Learners don’t learn from machines but from human beings.

Contact Information 陳其芬 國立高雄第一科技大學 應用英語系副教授 教學網站: http://www2.nkfust.edu.tw/~emchen/Home/ Email: emchen@ccms.nkfust.edu.tw Phone: 07-601-1000 ext 5118 “If knowledge is worth having, it is worth sharing.” ~ Deborah Cameron