Testing a CALL Effectiveness Model

Author(s):  
John Paul Loucky

This chapter reviews developments in the field of CALL evaluation. It includes the implications of accepted CALL and computer-assisted second-language acquisition (CASLA) principles for improving instruction. It blends studies of thorough research with appropriate, good practice. It suggests how to build effective flipped learning programs and the questions to ask before designing or using CALL. It suggests pedagogical implications and areas for fruitful research into the use of richer CALL applications. Using accepted CALL principles, it provides a practical model for comparing and evaluating the relative effectiveness of CALL and Computer-Mediated Communications-enhanced language learning versus traditional printed texts and simple audio.

Author(s):  
John Paul Loucky

This chapter reviews developments in the field of CALL evaluation. It includes the implications of accepted CALL and computer-assisted second-language acquisition (CASLA) principles for improving instruction. It blends studies of thorough research with appropriate, good practice. It suggests how to build effective flipped learning programs and the questions to ask before designing or using CALL. It suggests pedagogical implications and areas for fruitful research into the use of richer CALL applications. Using accepted CALL principles, it provides a practical model for comparing and evaluating the relative effectiveness of CALL and Computer-Mediated Communications-enhanced language learning versus traditional printed texts and simple audio.


ReCALL ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARISOL FERNÁNDEZ-GARCÍA ◽  
ASUNCÍON MARTÍNEZ ARBELAIZ

Previous research has underscored the role of negotiation in providing appropriate conditions for second language acquisition. Varonis and Gass (1985b), in a study of English as a Second Language (ESL), found greater amount of negotiation in non-native–non-native interaction than in native-non–native interaction. Given the increased interest in computer mediated communication and in its applications to language learning, this investigation explores whether those results are obtained when using an electronic written medium. This study compared the negotiations generated by dyads of non-native speakers (NNS–NNS), native speakers (NS–NS), and non-native and native speakers (NNS–NS), in the oral and written modes. The results revealed that the NNS–NS group negotiated in the oral mode significantly more than in the written mode; this group also negotiated significantly more than the other two groups in the oral mode. Learners' shared social and linguistic background seemed to have facilitated the comprehension of input. Conversely, lack of familiarity with native speaker's pronunciation seemed to have caused more breakdowns in the oral conversations of the mixed dyads. Though the results of this study suggest that negotiation is not the main resource to obtain modified input in a foreign language context, other learning strategies that may be beneficial in the language learning process were at use in learner-learner interaction.


Author(s):  
Bolanle A. Olaniran

This chapter explores computer-mediated communication (CMC) and information communication technology (ICT) use in language learning. More specifically, the chapter addresses the impact or implications of CMC tools for computer enhanced language learning. The chapter attempts to present a review of key literature in adaptation of communication technologies to teaching or learning language in general and specifically second language acquisition. The chapter stresses the need to understand culture and contextual appropriateness of language, thus, it argues for communication technology to be used as a secondary resource rather than a primary tool for language learners. The discussion addresses the dimensions of cultural variability with respect to language learning. At the same time, features of synchronous and asynchronous CMC were analyzed in the context of language learning. Finally, the chapter addresses implications for language learning in computer mediated communication or computer assisted environments.


2011 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 19-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Blake

Online language learning (OLL) can take place in Web-facilitated, hybrid, or fully virtual classes. These formats are beginning to attract serious attention from the language profession and, in particular, the field of computer-assisted language learning (CALL). This article traces recent studies of online learning and then focuses in on its application to language learning through tutorial CALL, social computing, and games for language learning. I strive to show that tutorial CALL and computer-mediated communication can complement each other in the service of modern language instruction, along with the inclusion of language games. Although assessment studies of OLL remain sparse, the evidence is steadily mounting that shows that these new formats can provide learning environments conducive to successful second language development when properly integrated into the curriculum.


Author(s):  
Helen Zhao

This chapter introduces a new paradigm of Web-based language learning, experimental Computer-Assisted Language Learning (eCALL) and its application in ESL and EFL grammar instruction. eCALL methods provide online training that complements classroom practice, while integrating second language acquisition theories and models. The authors introduce an eCALL tutor that teaches the correct use of the English article system. The authors examined the effectiveness of the tutor in an experimental study with 78 Chinese intermediate-advanced EFL learners. The tutor incorporated Bayesian knowledge tracing and provided individualized and adaptive training of English article usage. Learners' performance was measured by accuracy and response time. The results show that the tutor led to significant learning gains after three hours of tutor training, with gains retained two weeks later. The robust learning effects were documented by a significant improvement in accuracy and fluency of using the article.


Author(s):  
Nuttakritta Chotipaktanasook ◽  
Hayo Reinders

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have been dramatically used in language education and identified in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) research as playing a central role in second language acquisition (SLA). This chapter addresses the integration of a commercially developed MMORPG Ragnarok Online into a language course as a basis for digital game-based language learning and reports on its effects on second language (L2) interaction. Thirty Thai learners of English who enrolled in a 15-week university language course were required to complete 18 face-to-face classroom lessons and six gameplay sessions. Learners' language use in both text and voice chats during gameplay was recorded and analysed to measure the effects of the game. The findings show that participating in MMORPG resulted in a significantly more considerable increase in L2 interaction that used a wider range of discourse functions compared with English interaction in the classroom. The authors discuss some of the theoretical and pedagogical implications of these findings.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 136-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Ziegler

ABSTRACTOver the last few decades, task-based language teaching (TBLT) has garnered increasing attention from researchers and educators alike. With a strong and growing body of research demonstrating the efficacy of tasks to support and facilitate second language development and performance (e.g., Keck, Iberri-Shea, Tracy-Ventura, & Wa-Mbaleka, 2006), TBLT has become a leading pedagogical approach. Similarly, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has also grown as a field, with the use and integration of technology in the classroom continuing to increase (Petersen & Sachs, 2015). As these fields have matured, a reciprocal relationship has developed (Lai & Li, 2011), with the literature on tasks and technology seeking to not only examine how technology might support and facilitate language learning, but how TBLT might serve as a framework to more thoroughly investigate CALL. In light of the expanding research on tasks and technology, this review article aims not only to provide a current state of the art of how technology-mediated TBLT facilitates and supports second language development and performance, but also to describe how technology can contribute to our understanding of how features of TBLT, such as task design features and task implementation, influence the success of second language acquisition. Suggestions for possible research agendas in technology-mediated TBLT are also made.


ReCALL ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Tan ◽  
Kay L. O’Halloran ◽  
Peter Wignell

AbstractMultimodality, the study of the interaction of language with other semiotic resources such as images and sound resources, has significant implications for computer assisted language learning (CALL) with regards to understanding the impact of digital environments on language teaching and learning. In this paper, we explore recent manifestations of CALL in 3-D virtual worlds, illustrated by the example ofSecond Life. The multimodal analyses of a conventional face-to-face lesson and three language learning activities inSecond Lifehighlight some of the affordances and challenges presented by 3-D virtual environments. The results suggest that while multimodal resources integrate naturally to facilitate language teaching and learning in an orderly, structured and goal-orientated manner in classroom lessons, the often uncoordinated use (or absence) of avatars’ gaze, facial expression, body posture, gesture, as well as the unclear proxemics and use of space pose problems for effective communication in a 3-D virtual world. In addition, a “technology-oriented” register, alongside traditional instructional and regulative genres and registers, is introduced to help students cope with the demands of learning a language in a 3-D virtual environment. The study raises the issue of the relative effectiveness of 3-D virtual worlds for language teaching and learning. In doing so, a digital approach to multimodal research is proposed in order to address the complexity of multimodal learning environments and the various challenges for CALL.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document