MONZÓN CANCINO MARIA CONCHITA

TIC’S

RAFAEL FERRER MÉNDEZ

JUNE 22, 2015

COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (CALL) IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF INTERACTIVE APPROACH: ADVANTAGES AND APPREHENSIONS

To begin with the question whether computers really assist second language learning, many teachers who have never touched a computer tend to respond with an emphatic no; whereas, the overwhelming number of teachers who give computers a try find that they are indeed useful in second language learning. No doubt, computers make excellent teaching tools, especially in teaching languages in any aspect, be it vocabulary, grammar, composition, pronunciation, or other linguistic and pragmatic communicative skills.

And the major benefits offered by computer in enhancing language acquisition apparently outweigh its limitations.

Is very important talk about interest and motivation. It is often necessary, in a language learning classroom, to provide repeated practice to meet important objectives. Because this can be boring, painful, and frustrating, many students lose interest and motivation to learn foreign languages.

CALL programmers present the learner with a novelty. They teach the language in different and more interesting, attractive ways and present language through games, animated graphics and problem-solving techniques. As a result even tedious drills become more interesting. In fact, CALL motivates the students to go beyond the point of initial mastery and practice activity until they become automatic.

Many students need additional time and individualized practice to meet learning objectives. The computer offers students self-instructional tasks that let them master prerequisite skills and objectives at a speed and level dictated by their own needs. Besides, additional programmers can be made available for students who master objectives quickly.

Computer database can be used by the instructor to classify and differentiate the type of general errors as well as errors committed by learners on account of the influence of the first language.

In spite of its glaring merits, the prospect of computer-assisted language learning has troubled teachers more. Perhaps, the major cause of their worry might have developed from the basic problem of accessibility.

Often the computers have been kept in Science or Math’s department causing a real and psychological distance in the minds of the Arts faculty. Nevertheless, many see computer as a threat not only in terms of its power to replace the traditional skills, which the language teachers promote, but also its eventual replacement of the teacher himself.

Furthermore, shifting the control center from the authoritarian teacher to the need-based learner and accepting the humble role of a facilitator/moderator instead of being a veritable dictator does not come easy for the traditionally clad chalk-talk teacher. In addition, the computer-student interactive learning not only allows the possibility of role changes, but also the potential for role-reversal, endangered by physical reversal by students.

Computer-Assisted Language Learning(CALL) contrasted with Textbook-Assisted Language Learning (TALL), demands certain extra-skills such as typography, graphic design, or paper making and the lack of which panics the teacher and the taught alike.

 For instance, an inadvertent typographical error on the part of the student input may be classified wrong although the grammar of the student's answer is correct. Further, in terms of communication of ideas, a book is a means of communication between the author and the reader.

Yet, these apprehensions should be seen in the backdrop of a developmental stage of computerisation of individuals and institutions and as a temporary phenomenon. The next generation of teachers and learners will be part of a computer generation.

They will take for granted the skills demanded by computer technology and handle it as coolly as switching on a taperecorder or watching a television. Similarly, the pupils will need no readjustment of attitude when faced with a computer in a classroom and their familiarity and frequent association with the machine would replace the sense of awe and alienation felt by older people.

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CORNEY, H. (2011, February 27). Technology ICT. Retrieved July 12, 2019.