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Taylor Thompson ITTT Course Summative Task April 15, 2019 Convenience Over Quality? Assessing the in’s and out’s of Computer Aided Language Learning Computer aided language learning (CALL) has re-shaped the language learning platform, but has it changed for the better? The answer to this question is rooted in the history of CALL and how it was created. Well you guessed it, CALL’s popularity came at about the same time as computers hit the scene in the 70’s and 80’s. However, it really began to gain traction when the world wide web was birthed in the 90’s. It went from drill and practice to virtual worlds and distant learning just like that. This is when the shift from quality to convenience happened and some may argue that it had a negative impact on language learning. To really understand the impact of CALL we must look at the advantages and disadvantages. When you have an entirely web based class you are deprived of the basic language learning necessities. Communication and interaction suffers when you are not physically present. It has been proven for years that the best way to learn a language is to speak it. Immerse yourself into the language non-stop. This is extremely difficult to do with a 100% CALL style course. Web based learning or distant learning can also shift the attention to the instructor. This is opposite of how language teacher are taught. The main point of language learning is to shift the attention to the students. This concept is impossible when trying to communicate primarily from the internet. There will be some obvious miscommunication, especially when there are students who need more instruction than others. All of this is concerning for the success of CALL, however, there are ways to counteract these blatant issues. For one, modern institutions implementing CALL into their classrooms are using a blended learning approach. This allows them to have the convenience of the internet to provide helpful vocabulary or tools for practicing. This has proved to be extremely effective for language classes. This doesn’t solve the “convenience over quality” stalemate we have been talking about, but it is an advantage nonetheless. Advocates of CALL have developed “student-based” material that has been tailored to take the attention away from teachers and put it back into the students hands. In order to do this they created material that embodies interactive and individualized learning qualities. This method still requires teachers to guide the lessons but provides a tool for the teacher to monitor the language learning process. All in all, there are good and bad ways to implement CALL. Modern institutions have recognized the disadvantages of pure CALL programs and have developed ways to counter them. The consensus is that using blended learning and teacher directed/student centered methods is the most affective way to implement effective language learning. Although you cannot create the atmosphere of a classroom, where students are interacting with one another in person, we can still incorporate a foundation of language learning through CALL. Once the foundation is established, practicing the language in practical settings is still the best way to learn a foreign language, no matter which method you decide to use. References Higgins, John (1983). "Computer assisted language learning". Language Teaching. 16 (2): 102–114. doi:10.1017/S0261444800009988.
