TEACHERS ON CALL:

WHAT EDUCATORS
MUST KNOW ABOUT
COMPUTER ASSISTED
LANGUAGE
LEARNING

Juan Pablo Espinoza

TEACHERS ON CALL

Technology is powerful, and it

has a uniquely strong way of
grabbing attention, finding a
relevant footing and really tuning
students into their language
lessons.
But do you know exactly how to
use this powerful technology that
results in maximum benefit for
you and your students?
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CALL

Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is the general term for the range of
processes and activities that employ computers in the teaching and learning of a new
language.
In the history of CALL we can see the confluence of the latest technology as well as the
most widely accepted language theories of the day.
HISTORY OF CALL

The history of CALL is often divided into three phases:

• Structural CALL
• Communicative CALL
• Integrative CALL
STRUCTURAL/BEHAVIORIST
CALL
• Starting in the ’50s and developing through the ’70s, we have
what’s called Structural/Behaviorist CALL.
This marked the era of Stimulus and Response. The computer
prompts the student with a question (stimulus) and the student
gives an answer (response) by filling in the blanks or choosing
from a given set of choices.
 • In the ’80s and ’90s came Communicative CALL.
The Communicative Approach to language teaching
came into being as a reaction to the Grammar-
Translation and Audiolingual methods. This time,
COMMUNICATIVE instead of teaching the language—its rules, syntax,
CALL phonemes and morphemes—teachers found ways to
provide opportunities for students to actually use the
language. They gave students tasks that can only be
completed by using language. Communication and
interaction were important.
INTEGRATIVE PHASE

The next phase of CALL is the Integrative Phase (which has

reigned from 2000 onwards). First came the drills of the structural
approach, then followed the skills in the communicative approach.
Critics of the second phase say that the skills taught may be limited
to the number and types of situations that may be presented to
students. (means we are not asking for directions or ordering food at
the restaurant the whole time.)
There needs to be an integration of the (general language)
knowledge presented in the first phase as well as the communicative
skills of the second phase. So, we have the integrative phase which
blended the virtues of the previous decades into a technology that,
for its part, has found its stride.
CALL

And that, briefly, is how CALL has

developed over the years.
One of the advantages of CALL, in its
present form, is the ability to cater to
individual differences. Differences
in learning styles, language skills
desired, pacing and learning schedules
can be easily accommodated.
Today, learning a language has not only been democratized, but it has also
been individualized.

For example, you create a free account in any of the major language learning
sites like Busuu and Babbel and you start your own learning journey without
interference from others. There are no classmates, no group lectures and no
chorus of students repeating after teacher.

You decide how much time you want to put in and when you want to access it.
There’s no calendar for classes where you’ll be marked absent when you don’t
show up.
 You can access the materials
Today, with mobile
anytime and anywhere you
technology, language learning
want. Actually, one way of
can happen on the go, while
looking at the history of
sitting on the bus, while
CALL is by noticing how
waiting in line at the store or
technology has individualized
even while taking a shower.
language learning.
 To Teach
CALL applications can be used by teachers as technology
partners in running their classrooms from the initial intro
HOW IS CALL of language concepts to the giving of electronic
USED? homework. Students are using computers in practically
every other aspect of their lives anyway, from locating
the nearest coffee shop to shopping for new shoes. So
why not throw learning a new language to the mix?
HOW IS CALL USED?

To Reinforce
CALL can also be used to reinforce a
teacher’s classroom lessons and
activities. When educators need help
in making lessons more vivid and
when they need the concepts to come
alive, instead of pasting cut-outs and
visual aids on the board they can
make use of multimedia lessons
offered in CALL.
 To Test
There will probably never be a substitute for a teacher or
a native speaker to determine whether a student has
HOW IS CALL actually become fluent with the language, but CALL has
USED? become very good at assessing competency with subsets
of a language. For example, it can easily determine if a
student has mastered specific topics, like grammar and
vocabulary.
HOW IS CALL USED?

To Practice
CALL can be used even when classes are out and in
the teacher’s absence. Language learning technology
in its present form is student-initiated and student-
centered, giving all the time and all the room in the
world for students to practice. Language practice can
be had in the privacy of one’s room and at a moment’s
notice. And the kicker is that students get to do all this
without fear of being negatively judged by others.
TO SUM UP!

CALL makes everything that much easier. From the teaching, reinforcing, testing and
practicing, CALL presents itself as a capable and consistent partner to both teacher and
student. It changed the way languages are being tamed.
It takes a teacher like you to kindle such fire. It takes someone like you to spark wonder
into the minds of your wards. And that’s why, for all CALL’s awesome potential, the
greatest teacher of all, and for all time, will always be…a teacher.