CALL computer assisted language learning A short course

CALL – computer assisted language learning A short course delivered by Dr. Klaus Schwienhorst. MITE 2001 - January 2002

CALL – computer assisted language learning The Tower of Babel n The seven language group that spoke English to a German! n English and the Internet n ICT and communication in many languages n

CALL – computer assisted language learning CALL n computer-mediated communication, allowing learners to communicate and collaborate with target language culture and its speakers while accessing authentic materials Data Driven Learning - DDL n can cut out the middleman. . . to give the learner direct access to the data, the underlying assumption being that effective language learning is a form of linguistic research

CALL – computer assisted language learning is one innovative approach to language learning n ‘situates the learner next to a corpus of authentic material with a search engine and a task’ n diverges from our common experience of language learning n

CALL – computer assisted language learning ICT and Language Learning - three generations § behaviourism § communicative (multi-media) approaches § a renewed focus on form and learner autonomy

CALL – computer assisted language learning Authentic material n n n has a purpose in its own language can be print, radio, TV, Internet. . . exploits o o o n n world knowledge discourse knowledge linguistic knowledge is available in on-line electronic corpora problems of register and standards

CALL – computer assisted language learning

CALL – computer assisted language learning Internet resources search engines n language resource collections n tutorials, exercises, dictionaries n Ø are up-to-date, vast, convenient

CALL – computer assisted language learning Machine Translation offers grammatically acceptable translations of straightforward formal (e. g. business) text n but. . rock ‘n roll = roulement de n de roche ‘; ripping yarn = filé de déchirure = thread of tear n

CALL – computer assisted language learning Concordancers and DDL n n n use corpora (large 600, 000+ word electronic texts) and a search tool (concordancer) to generate concordances KWIC (keyword in context) lists a keyword centred in a fixed length field (80 characters? ) using strategies of perceiving similarities and difference, of hypothesis formation and testing

CALL – computer assisted language learning Some searches homophones - whether/weather n prepositions ‘the horse fell on me’; ‘typical of the animal!’ n stylistic analysis – use of colour in a novel n

CALL – computer assisted language learning Research claims that learners assume control n are encouraged to ask questions about language n take on the role of researchers n rate concordancers higher than other materials for vocabulary acquisition n

CALL – computer assisted language learning MOOs n n text based synchronous communication environments language is uncorrected uses the written medium to increase language and linguistic awareness offers a variety of communication scenarios, some user defined (rooms or a ‘bot’)

CALL – computer assisted language learning MOOsearch claims higher levels of topic initiation in target language, less by question n reciprocal adaptation of styles of input n students taking control of learning n

CALL – computer assisted language learning Autonomy assumes a capacity for reflection in the learner n reception always followed by interaction with authentic content and production n Ø interaction - rewriting, change of focus, editing, letter writing. . .

CALL – computer assisted language learning

CALL – computer assisted language learning v on language and culture v on autonomy and adult learning v on styles of language learning

CALL – computer assisted language learning And our own (multilingual) experience of v reception v and . . . processing Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir agus go n–éirí an oíche libh