An ABC of the history and future of CALL.

1. The ABC of Computer
Assisted Language
Learning

2. Three Phases of CALL
Though CALL has developed gradually over the
last 30 years, this development can be
categorized in terms of three somewhat distinct
phases:
- behavioristic CALL
- communicative CALL
- integrative CALL.

3. Behavioristic CALL
 The first phase of CALL, conceived in the 1950s and
implemented in the 1960s and '70s, was based on the then-
dominant behaviorist theories of learning. Programs of this
phase entailed repetitive language drills and can be referred
to as "drill and practice"
 Drill and practice courseware is based on the model of
computer as tutor .In other words, the computer serves as a
vehicle for delivering instructional materials to the student.
The rationale behind drill and practice was not totally
spurious, which explains in part the fact that CALL drills are
still used today.
 Briefly put, that rationale is as follows:
- Repeated exposure to the same material is beneficial or
even essential to learning
- A computer does not get bored with presenting the same
material and it can provide immediate non-judgmental
feedback.

4.  A number of CALL tutoring systems were
developed for the mainframe computers which
were used at that time. One of the most
sophisticated of these was the PLATO system,
which included vocabulary drills, brief grammar
explanations and drills, and translations tests at
various intervals.
 In the late 1970s and early 1980s, behavioristic
CALL was undermined by two important factors.
First, behavioristic approaches to language
learning had been rejected at both the
theoretical and the pedagogical level. Secondly,
the introduction of the microcomputer allowed a
whole new range of possibilities.

5. Communicative CALL
The second phase of CALL was based on the
communicative approach to teaching which became
prominent in the 1970s and 80s. Proponents of this
approach felt that the drill and practice programs of
the previous decade did not allow enough authentic
communication to be of much value.
Communicative CALL:
 focuses more on using forms rather than on the
forms themselves;
 teaches grammar implicitly rather than explicitly;
 allows and encourages students to generate
original utterances rather than just manipulate
prefabricated language, and
 uses the target language exclusively and creates
an environment in which using the target language
feels natural, both on and off the screen.

6.  Several types of CALL programs were developed and used
during the phase of communicative CALL. In these
programs, the computer remains the "knower-of-the-
right-answer” and it represents an extension of the
computer as tutor model. But - in contrast to the drill
and practice programs - the process of finding the right
answer involves a fair amount of student choice, control,
and interaction.
 In addition to computer as tutor, another CALL model
used for communicative activities involves the computer
as stimulus. In this case, the purpose of the CALL activity
is to stimulate students' discussion, writing, or critical
thinking.
 The third model of computers in communicative CALL
involves the computer as tool. In this role, the programs
do not necessarily provide any language material at all,
but rather empower the learner to use or understand
language. Examples of computer as tool include word
processors, spelling and grammar checkers, desk-top
publishing programs, and concordancers.

7. Integrative CALL
 Integrative approaches to CALL are based on
two important technological developments of
the last decade - multimedia computers and
the Internet.
 Multimedia technology - exemplified today by
the CD-ROM - allows a variety of media (text,
graphics, sound, animation, and video) to be
accessed on a single machine.
 What makes multimedia even more powerful
is that it also entails hypermedia. That means
that the multimedia resources are all linked
together and that learners can navigate their
own path simply by pointing and clicking a
mouse.

8.  Advantages
 First of all, a more authentic learning
environment is created, since listening is
combined with seeing, just like in the real world.
 Secondly, skills are easily integrated, since the
variety of media make it natural to combine
reading, writing, speaking and listening in a single
activity.
 Third, students have great control over their
learning, since they can not only go at their own
pace but even on their own individual path, going
forward and backwards to different parts of the
program, honing in on particular aspects and
skipping other aspects altogether.

9.  Electronic communication and the Internet
 For the first time, language learners can
communicate directly, inexpensively, and
conveniently with other learners or speakers of the
target language 24 hours a day, from school, work,
or home.
 This communication can be asynchronous (not
simultaneous) through tools such as electronic mail
(email), which allows each participant to compose
messages at their time and pace, or in can be
synchronous (synchronous, "real time") through
programs and platforms that allow people all around
the world to have not only one-to-one
communication, but also one-to-many. This allows a
teacher or student to share a message with a small
group, the whole class, a partner class, or an
international discussion list of hundreds or
thousands of people.

10.  Computer Mediated Communication allows users
to share not only brief messages, but also lengthy
(formatted or unformatted) documents - thus
facilitating collaborative writing - and also
graphics, sounds, and video.
 Using the World Wide Web (WWW), students can
search through millions of files around the world
within minutes to locate and access authentic
materials (e.g. newspaper and magazine articles,
radio broadcasts, short videos, movie reviews,
book excerpts) exactly tailored to their own
personal interests. They can also use the Web to
publish their texts or multimedia materials to
share with partner classes or with the general
public.

11.  CALL Authoring Programs
• enable the speedy development of CALL
materials.
• offer a do-it-yourself approach that is within the
capabilities of the average language teacher who
has no knowledge of computer programming.
• provide a range of pre-set activities.

12.  Intelligent CALL (ICALL)
• The extent to which the computer is capable of
analyzing learners’ errors has been a matter of
controversy.
• The possibilities and limitations of computers
programs in diagnosing learners’ errors and
providing appropriate feedback.
• The development of parsers (syntactic analysis
programs) and speech technology software are
beginning to make a significant impact on CALL.

13.  Computer Aided Assessment (CAA) and Language
Learning
Any instance in which some aspect of computer technology
is used as part of the assessment process.
CAA may include tests that take a similar form to CALL
exercises (multiple-choice and gap-filling format), but it
may also extend to using computers for onscreen marking of
students’ word-processed writing and using a spreadsheet or
database to keep a record of students’ grades.
DIALANG is a major European Union project aimed at
providing effective diagnosis of language competence in 14
EU languages. It uses online tests, including placement and
self-assessment tests, as key tools in this process.

14.  Whole-Class Teaching and CALL
Working with the whole class is possible through the use
of interactive whiteboards, a touch-sensitive projection
screen that allows the teacher to control a computer by
touching the whiteboard rather than using a keyboard or
mouse, although these can still be used.
Interactive whiteboards in combination with
loudspeakers offer a wide range of activities in the
languages classroom, and CALL software designed both
for use in computer labs and with interactive
whiteboards for whole class teaching is now widely
available.

15.  The future of CALL
Human Language Technologies (HLT) is likely to make an
increasing impact on CALL. Concretely, this impact
comes from the work on:
- Natural Language Processing,
- Machine Translation,
- Corpus linguistics, and
- speech technology.

16. REFERENCES
Davies, G. (2006). Language education, computer-
assisted. In B. Keith (ed.), Encyclopedia of
Language & Linguistics (pp. 460-470). Oxford:
Elsevier.
Warschauer M. (1996). Computer Assisted Language
Learning: an Introduction. In Fotos S. (ed.),
Multimedia language teaching (3-20). Tokyo: Logos
International: 3-20.