Outline I. Why do we need computers for language teaching? II. How

Outline

• I. Why do we need computers for language teaching?
• II. How are computers used in language teaching contexts?
• III. What computer technology can be used for language teaching?
• IV. What knowledge and competence do language teachers need?
• V. Conclusion

Is the computer a must in language 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.

Is the computer a must in language teaching?

Computers CAN

Judge predetermined right-or-wrong answers, e.g., multiple choice and fill-in-the-blanks

Provide immediate, yet fixed, feedback, suggestions, and encouragement

Provide authentic information through multimedia - texts, images, sounds, videos, and animations

Motivate task persistence Record learner’s writing, speech, and learning progress

Computer CAN’T

Judge unexpected input

Provide individualized feedback beyond a predetermined list of messages

Engage learner in rich negotiation of meaning characteristic of face-to-face interaction

Motivate depth and quality of engagement characteristic of human interaction

• (Adapted from Meskill, 2002)

Is the computer a must in language teaching?

• 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.
• Computer technology is neither an unalloyed blessing nor an unmitigated curse.
• The effectiveness of computer use in learning and teaching does not reside in the computer technology itself but in how it is put to use and for what purposes.

New Paradigms in Education (Gubbins, Clay, & Perkins, 1999)

• Traditional
• lecturing on factual information
• working as an individual
• teacher was the primary source of knowledge
• teacher and print media served as the primary means of communication
• learning was separated from the rest of the community

• New
• guiding, motivating, and facilitating
• valuing working together
• many rich sources of immediate knowledge
• learning using a vast variety of media including the Internet
• learning now occurs globally

I. Why do we need computers for language teaching?

• Strengths of
• computer technology
• Multimedia
• Resources
• Interactivity
• Flexibility

• New paradigms
• in education and
• language teaching
• Constructivist
• approach
• Communicative
• language teaching

II. How are computers used in language teaching contexts?

• Four Contexts and Three Roles
• Locus of Control
• Early CALL vs. Modern CALL
• (*CALL: computer assisted language learning)

Contexts & Roles for computer assisted language teaching

• Contexts
• One-computer classroom
• Computer Network room
• Self-access learning center
• Distance learning

• Roles of the Computer
• Tool
• Tutor
• Medium

Locus of Control

• Locus of control: the continuum between the program’s and the learner’s responsibility for decisions about the learning outcomes, sequence of learning, learner interactions, and even content.
• Program User
• Tutorial | Games | Simulation | Experimental | Content-free | Programming
• games simulations tools languages
• (Chandler’s categories of CAI/CALL activities, 1984)
• Behaviorist Constructivist
• Model Model
• (tutor) (tool & medium)
• Individualism Collaboration
• & Competitiveness & Negotiation

• The Web, CMC