History

Early CALL favoured an approach that drew heavily on practices associated with programmed instruction. This was reflected in the term Computer Assisted Language Instruction (CALI), which originated in the USA and was in common use until the early 1980s, when CALL became the dominant term. Throughout the 1980s CALL widened its scope, embracing the communicative approach and a range of new technologies, especially multimedia and communications technology. An alternative term to CALL emerged in the early 1990s, namely Technology Enhanced Language Learning (TELL), which was felt to provide a more accurate description of the activities which fall broadly within the range of CALL. The term TELL has not, however, gained as wide an acceptance as CALL.

Typical CALL programs present a stimulus to which the learner must respond. The stimulus may be presented in any combination of text, still images, sound, and motion video. The learner responds by typing at the keyboard, pointing and clicking with the mouse, or speaking into a microphone. The computer offers feedback, indicating whether the learner’s response is right or wrong and, in the more sophisticated CALL programs, attempting to analyse the learner’s response and to pinpoint errors. Branching to help and remedial activities is a common feature of CALL programs.

Wida Software (London, UK) was one of the first specialist businesses to develop CALL programs for microcomputers in the early 1980s. Typical software of the first generation of CALL included Wida's "Matchmaster" (where students have to match two sentence halves or anything else that belongs together); "Choicemaster" (the classic multiple-choice test format); "Gapmaster" (for gapped texts); "Textmixer" (which jumbles lines within a poem or sentences within a paragraph); "Wordstore" (a learner's own private vocabulary database, complete with a definition and an example sentence in which the word to be learned is used in a context); and "Storyboard" (where a short text is blotted out completely and has to be restored from scratch). Wida's packages continue to be popular and are now merged into one general-purpose, multimedia authoring program known as "The Authoring Suite": http://www.wida.co.uk

Storyboard-type activities, also known as "total cloze" activities, have been popular for many years. The concept originated from Tim Johns, subsequently modified by John Higgins. A variety of total cloze programs have appeared over the years, including "Copywrite" (part of the "Fun with Texts" package), "Quartext", "Eclipse" and "Rhubarb".

Other CALL activities in the early days of computer use in schools included working with generic packages such as word-processors, which revolutionised text production assignments by enabling language learners to continually revise and have peer reviewed what they are writing before printing out the final version of their composition.

Current CALL software has embraced CD-ROM and DVD technology, and there is growing interest in Web-based CALL (see Felix 2001), whole-class teaching with interactive whiteboards, and the use of blogs, wikis, podcasts and other social networking tools.

For a complete history of CALL from its early beginnings to the start of the new millennium, see Delcloque P. (2000) History of CALL. This document began as a poster exhibition that was produced to mark the beginning of the new millennium. It was then set up as a website (now closed) and is now available in PDF format: http://www.ict4lt.org/en/History_of_CALL.pdf

Pedagogical and methodological considerations

Fascinated by the new technology in the early days of CALL, many teachers focused on technological issues, neglecting pedagogical and methodological questions and not realising that innovative pedagogy and methodology were required to integrate satisfactorily the use of computers into the foreign languages curriculum. A point of criticism which could easily be refuted was the claim that students tended to be isolated from their classmates when working in a computer lab - the "battery chicken" syndrome. It was soon discovered that using computers in language classes could promote team work among students and, if planned well, could also encourage them to use the target language to communicate in front of their computers, thus increasing the time they spent practising their oral skills. See:

Piper A. (1986) "Conversation and the computer: a study of the conversational spin-off generated among learners of English as a Foreign Language working in groups", System 14, 2: 187-198.

Whole-class teaching, which was a feature of early CALL - because schools could only afford one computer per classroom - is now making a comeback with the introduction of interactive whiteboards.

An approach to CALL that can be considered innovative is the use of concordance programs - dubbed Data Driven Learning by Tim Johns. This approach dates back to the early 1980s and is now widely used, especially by teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). See Module 2.4 at the ICT4LT website, Using concordance programs in the modern foreign languages classroom:
http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod2-4.htm

Generally speaking, however, CALL pedagogy and methodology continue to lag behind the technology.

A recent approach has been to see CALL in relation to other technologies in society, and to stress the possibility that computers may only become fully effective in language teaching and learning when they have become "normalised". Normalisation of CALL, in this analysis, will be achieved when we use computers every day in language teaching as we use pens and books, without excessive expectations and without undue fear. Normalisation could therefore be seen as potentially a valuable aim and agenda for the profession (Bax 2003).

Online CALL

Before the internet, communication amongst different countries was limited. Only those who visited other countries or were fluent enough in another language to write or speak on a telephone could communicate. With the birth of the internet, all of that changed. Suddenly communicating with the world was virtually at everyone’s finger tips twenty-four hours a day. Now the only problem standing in everyone’s way was the language barrier amongst countries. Not everyone had the time to enroll in classes with their busy lives in order to learn new languages. With this need for the world to start communicating and break the language barriers, the internet seemed to once again come to the rescue when it began creating online foreign language programs to start teaching people other languages. Through these programs, people could pick any language they wanted to learn and learn it right there in their own homes, at their own pace, any time of day. There are now countless such products on the market, most of them available on the online forum. It has now become increasingly easier to avoid the traditional methods of actual courses or self-help tapes and books to understand other languages. As in any new program though, there are both negative and positive factors to learning languages through the internet, but no one can doubt that these programs have definitely made it possible for many people to learn different languages who would have never had a chance to do so otherwise. See:

Gi-Zen Liu, Aleck Shih-Wei Chen (2007). A taxonomy of Internet-based technologies integrated in language curricula. British Journal of Educational Technology 38 (5), 934–938. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00728.x

Many studies have been done in the United States following people in this country who are limited in their English proficiency and are trying to learn English through technological tools such as the internet. One particular study was done following limited English proficient Latino students. Researchers studied how well a group of Latinos were grasping English by using instructional technology. The research highlighted many benefits to learning a language online such as, “It allows students to have the most control over the direction of their learning by controlling their time, speed of learning, autonomy, choice of topics or even their own identity.”{{cite web
|author=North Central Regional Educationl Laboratory
|url=http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te900.htm
|title=Critical Issue: Using Technology to Support Limited- English-Proficient (LEP) Students' Learning Experiences
|publishdate=2003-06-24
|accessdate=2006-07-16}} In a classroom these Latino students would have had to go at the pace of their English teacher, where online each student could choose his/ her pace. This allows the students to really grasp a concept before they move on. Also they do not have to be worried about being embarrassed in a classroom if they are called on and do not know the answer. Research has proven that students involved in the online learning process have more confidence in their abilities because they do not feel pressured with the rest of the class’ abilities and are able to solely focus on their own. Online programs also offer immediate feedback that many students benefit from rather than awaiting a teacher to grade papers. The computer tells its students right away which answers were wrong, allowing the students to go back and fix mistakes. This helps limit the amount of time that students go having misconceptions about the new language they are studying.

However, even though there are a lot of positives to online learning, research also has indicated that technology really shouldn’t be used without the integration of professional assistance. Technology is most useful when it is, “integrated into a teaching program as a whole.” Interaction with a teacher when learning a foreign language at a certain point becomes vital in order to have someone to communicate with and practice speaking to. Students can not correct their own speaking in a new language. Also online learning can cause lots of frustration to students when there is a subject that they come across that is unclear to them. It is almost always more efficient for students to spend one-on-one time with a teacher when they don’t understand something rather than trying to solve his/her problems for himself. Students teaching themselves material without interaction with a teacher only promotes passive learning, which could backfire once a student is forced to leave their computer with the new knowledge and go out into the world communicating with others. It seems that the internet’s foreign language programs may not be the big hero in breaking language barriers that at first glance they seem to be.

Word 2 Word

Word2Word.com offers a website where people can learn other languages online, and there is no shortage of languages available.{{cite web
|author=Word2Word
|url=http://www.word2word.com/coursead.html
|title=Free Online Language Courses
|publishdate=1996
|accessdate=2006-07-15}} The site covers everything from English to Hindi, with each language available through a separate online thread. There are multiple ways to view such availabilities. Some would argue that this is a fantastic innovation, allowing for people who are unable for whatever reason to take an actual academic course to learn another language to do so “on the fly” at their own convenience. Technophiles who prefer to achieve knowledge through the internet have the ability to do so with sites like Word2Word. Critics, however, may argue that this takes away from true understanding of language. For instance, how can someone truly master a language without engaging in discourse with peers with the use of the language? Can a person truly understand Ukrainian without hearing others speak the tongue and communicating with them one-on-one? One cannot argue, though, that in a short time-frame such technology can be infinitely beneficial in that a person could pick up the language very quickly if they are devoting their free time to it constantly. One can learn a language while on a cross-country flight, for instance. Nonetheless, the lack of interpersonal contact while learning a foreign language will always be a drawback to such technological advances.

Further reading

See the ICT4LT Resource Centre for a select bibliography on CALL: http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_resource.htm

See also EUROCALL's CALL Bibliography . This is a comprehensive list of CALL publications, including other bibliographies on the Web.

ATALL (Autonomous Computer-Assisted Language Learning) ATALL Wikibook. See also Littlemore J. (2001) Learner autonomy, self-instruction and new technologies in language learning: current theory and practice in higher education in Europe. In Chambers A. & Davies G. (eds.) ICT and language learning: a European perspective, Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger (now taken over by Taylor & Francis). David Little has also published widely on learner autonomy in the context of CALL, e.g. Little D. (1991) Learner autonomy: definitions, issues and problems, Dublin: Authentik http://www.authentik.com

Bax S. (2003) CALL - past, present and future, System 31: 13-28

CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) journal, Taylor and Francis (formerly published by Swets & Zeitlinger): http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/

Chapelle C. (2001). Computer applications in second language acquisition: foundations for teaching, testing and research, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Cheon Heesook (2003) The viability of Computer Mediated Communication in the Korean secondary EFL classroom, The Asian EFL Journal Vol 5, 1: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/march03.sub2.php

Davies G. (1997) "Lessons from the past, lessons for the future: 20 years of CALL". In Korsvold A-K. & Rüschoff B. (eds.) New technologies in language learning and teaching, Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Also on the Web at: http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/coegdd1.htm

Davies G. (2007 - revised) "Computer Assisted Language Learning: Where are we now and where are we going?" http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/docs/UCALL_Keynote.htm

Davies G., Bangs P., Frisby R. & Walton E. (2005) Setting up effective digital language laboratories and multimedia ICT suites for Modern Foreign Languages, London: CILT: http://www.languages-ict.org.uk/managing/digital_language_labs.pdf

de Szendeffy J. (2005) A practical guide to using computers in language teaching , Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Egbert J. & Hanson-Smith E. (eds.) (1999) CALL environments: research, practice and critical issues, Alexandria, VA: TESOL.

Felix U. (2001) Beyond Babel: language learning online, Melbourne: Language Australia.

Fitzpatrick A. & Davies G. (eds.) (2003) "The Impact of Information and Communications Technologies on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and on the Role of Teachers of Foreign Languages". This is a comprehensive report commissioned by the EC Directorate General of Education and Culture.

Fotos S. & Browne C. (eds.) (2004) New perspectives on CALL for second language classrooms, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Jarvis H. (2005) Technology and change in English Language Teaching (ELT), The Asian EFL Journal Vol 7, 1: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/December_05_hj.php

Language Learning and Technology: A specialist CALL journal available only on the Web: http://llt.msu.edu

Levy M. (1997) CALL: context and conceptualisation, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Liu, G.-Z. & Chen, A.S.W. (2007). A taxonomy of Internet-based technologies integrated in language curricula. British Journal of Educational Technology 38 (5), 934–938. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00728.x

Mills, Jon (1997) "Virtual Classroom Management and Communicative Writing Pedagogy" Proceedings of 1996 European Writing Conferences: EARLI Special Interest Group Writing, Writing and Computers Association, University of Barcelona, 23-25 October 1996. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat Autònima de Barcelona. CD-ROM. ISBN 84-88795-36X. http://www.geocities.com/f_j_mills/Virtual_Classroom_Management_and_Communicative_Writing_Pedagogy.PDF

ReCALL: The Journal of EUROCALL, now published by Cambridge University Press - login at http://www.journals.cup.org. Back numbers are available at: http://www.eurocall-languages.org/recall/r_online.html

Son J.-B. (ed.) (2004) Computer Assisted Language Learning: concepts, contexts and practices, Lincoln, NE: iUniverse.

Warschauer M. (1996) Computer-assisted language learning: an introduction . In Fotos S. (ed.) Multimedia language teaching, Tokyo: Logos International.

Warschauer M. & Healey D. (1998) Computers and language learning: an overview, Language Teaching 31:57-71.

Wenger E. (1998) Community of practice: learning as a social system . Relates more to business than education, but contains some interesting ideas on creating, organising and sharing knowledge.

Professional associations

APACALL : Asia-Pacific Association for CALL.

CALICO : US-based professional association devoted to CALL. Manages a regular annual conference.

JALTCALL : Japan-based professional association devoted to CALL. Coordinates an annual conference and the JALTCALL Journal.

PacCALL : Professional CALL association in the Pacific: from East to Southeast Asia, Oceania, across to the Americas.

PacCALL Australia : Australian Chapter of the Pacific CALL Association

EUROCALL : Europe-based professional association devoted to CALL. Manages a regular annual conference.

IALLT : US-based International Association for Language Learning Technology. IALLT is a professional organisation dedicated to promoting effective uses of media centres for language teaching, learning, and research. Manages regular conferences.

Learning Technologies Special Interest Group The Learning Technologies Special Interest Group of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language. This UK-based group runs a variety of events and produces a regular newsletter.

TESOL Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, CALL Interest Section.

WorldCALL : A worldwide association devoted to CALL and embracing other leading professional associations. The WorldCALL 2008 conference will take place in Japan.

SLaTE Speech and Language Technologies for Education