Use of CALL as a utilitarian pedagogy in English language teaching

ABSTRACT There are no two opinions about English being the language of dominance for the current wave of globalization. By the same token, the World Wide Web has emerged as the principal technology that has made global education viable as well as made virtual Universities possible. t constitutes an incredible resource to teach English by adapting online materials. !omputer "ssisted #anguage #earning $!"##% with pedagogical applications has helped us to understand the nature of the language. t is the responsibility of the teacher to make the class interesting and activity oriented. The paper analyses how the English language teaching methods are rapidly shifting from traditional methods to the trend&setting methods using computer applications and multimedia environments. t e'plores how teachers can integrate language with technology and channelize students( interest in developing creativity. t then proceeds to e'pose them to the methods of self&learning that will help them in improving their language throughout their lifetime. Key Words: Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), Internet, LSRW: the four cardinal skills of language learning, namely listening, speaking, reading and riting! Introduction "#er the past fe ne years, the Internet has emerged as a prominently technology! $he influence of such a po erful technological tool has

per#aded all aspects of the educational, %usiness, and economic sectors of our orld! In addition to the communicati#e %enefits of the Internet, the Internet can also %e used to retrie#e and access information! $he World Wide We% is therefore a #irtual li%rary at one&s finger tips! It is a readily a#aila%le %enefits to the language learner, a fe orld of information for the language learner! While the Internet offers numerous such possi%ilities are e'amined here, in e% allo s the incorporation of hich e'tends our a%ilities to ith su%(ect matter! In the conte't of language learning! $he

animation and pictures, sound into lessons

present materials that encourage student interaction

order to effecti#ely train and prepare learners for appropriate use of the language, inno#ati#e and interesting methods need to %e adopted at this initial le#el! An inno#ati#e classroom is the computeri)ed classroom that %rings in ne methods of interaction such as the use of online and do nloaded content and instantly marked e'ercises! $hese types of acti#ities accompanied %y *o er *oint presentation helps in enhancing education through technology! A num%er of studies ha#e %een done concerning ho the use of CALL affects the de#elopment of language learners+ four skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and riting! ,ost reports point to significant gains in reading and listening and most CALL programs are geared to ard these recepti#e skills %ecause of the current state of computer technology! ,ost reading and listening soft are is %ased on drills (-omingo .oemi /00123/2 30)! 4o e#er, using current CALL technology, e#en ith its limitations, for the de#elopment of speaking a%ilities has gained much attention! $here has %een some success in using CALL, in particular computer mediated communication, to help speaking skills closely linked to 5communicati#e competence6 a%ility to engage in meaningful con#ersation in the target language and pro#ide controlled interacti#e speaking practice outside the classroom (7hsani, 8ar)ad, 7#a 9nodt :uly3;;<)! Chat has %een sho n to help students routini)e certain often2used e'pressions to promote the de#elopment of automatic structure that helps to de#elop speaking skills! $his is true e#en if the chat is purely te'tual! $he use of #ideoconferencing gi#es not only immediacy hen communication ith a real person %ut also #isual cues, such as facial e'pressions, making such communication more authentic (Stepp2 =reany, :onita, :anuary /00/)! 4o e#er, communication, hen it comes to using the computer not as a medium of ith other people, %ut as something to interact ith #er%ally

in a direct manner, the current computer technology+s limitations are at their clearest! Right no , there are t o fairly successful applications of automatic speech recognition (ASR) or speech processing technology here the

computer 5understands6 the spoken

ords of the learner! $he first is

pronunciation training! Learners read sentences on the screen and the computer gi#es feed%ack as to the accuracy of the utterance, usually in the form of #isual sound a#es (7hsani, 8ar)ad, 7#a 9nodt, :uly 3;;<)! $he second is soft are here the learner speaks commands for the computer to do! 4o e#er, speakers in these programs are limited to predetermined te'ts so that the computer ill 5understand6 them (-omingo .oemi /00123/230)! Listening skills : In learning 7nglish, listening can help impro#e speaking considera%ly! $his is %ecause a learner of 7nglish can learn to speak 7nglish %y imitation! >ut a lot of people tend to ignore this feature! As a matter of fact, listening is not as easy as it seems to %e! We need to hear #arious types of 7nglish repeatedly and continuously if e ant to communicate properly, meaningfully and naturally! Listening is potentially one of the most promising areas in the de#elopment of CALL! $his is %ecause multimedia soft are consists of standard audio and #ideo input! In addition, it in#ol#es the use of te't support and hyperlinked glossaries! Listening acti#ities typically in#ol#e presentation follo ed %y comprehension ?uestions some of punctuated presentation, in hich the flo hich include full or partial dictations! "ne type of presentation specific to CALL is the is interrupted at inter#als to ask ?uestions along the ay! $his in theory encourages more focused attention and allo s a learner to get a check on understanding early in the acti#ity! $rudy Wallace, Winifred 7! Stari%a and 4er%ert :! Wal%erg! (/00<) contend that 5Listening skills are essential for learning since they ena%le students to ac?uire insights and information and to achie#e success in communicating others6! Speaking skills : In terms of direct practice of speaking, recent de#elopments on the e% ha#e allo ed for #oice chat sites hich make it possi%le for learners and teachers to interact trough the Internet in distance education courses! Asynchronous ith

speaking practice is possi%le through

! im%a!com, using Internet #oice

mail, or simply attaching sound files to email! Recently, there has also %een interest in ha#ing students produce and pu%lish podcasts! ,any %elie#e that putting students in front of a computer in groups of t o or more ill get them talking a%out the computer task and impro#e speaking fluency, although research has not al ays %orne this out! Like many other CALL acti#ities, it depends on the students+ readiness and moti#ation! 8or tutorial CALL, practicing speaking has al ays %een tricky! Auralog+s $ell,e,ore, !auralog!com is an e'ample of a program hich allo s some limited con#ersation that gi#es something of the e'perience through the use of speech recognition soft are! ,ost programs simply rely on #oice, recording a line from a dialogue and then comparing it ith the nati#e sample! It has %een suggested %y many practitioners that using te't2%ased chat supports the de#elopment of speaking skills indirectly due to the synchronous and informal nature of the chat! $he most e'ample, idely used indirect method for practicing e%! 8or speaking is to listen to con#ersational dialogues on disk or the !focusenglish!com@dialogues@con#ersation!html, e% in#ol#e the use of Reading skills: ,ost reading instructions on disk and the meaningful technologies, such as hyperte't glossaries, translations, and notes on grammar, usage and culture! 7lectronic %ooks and online te'ts often are e?uipped ith hypermedia links to te't, data, graphics, audio, or #ideo! As the students read the te't, they are a%le to click on the links to access definitions of ords, additional information on concepts, illustrations, animations, and #ideos, all of hich increase their understanding of the material! $hey also ords! ,ultimedia reading, such as accelerate reading %y offering readers immediate access to the students to rely on conte'tual cues to understand ne #oice2enhanced2te'ts and dynamically illustrated materials are found to %e useful especially on C-2R",s! Aarious acti#ities, like do nloading a suita%le article from the internet gi#ing it to the learners after deleting some ords to

fill in the %lanks and (um%ling up the paragraphs for the students to re2order, can %e gi#en to arouse their interest in reading! 8or instance teachers can gi#e the students a te't a%out a particular cele%rity to read! In pairs, they role2play an inter#ie %et een a (ournalist and the cele%rity! Writing skills: Writing as re#olutioni)ed for e#eryone ith ord processing and the addition of spell checkers has %een ?uite helpful! =rammar and style checkers are much less useful to date and using a thesaurus can %e counter producti#e if students aren+t trained in their limitations! .e technologies comprising media such as email, %logs, ikis and social net orking en#ironments such as )ou riting %y pro#iding free Tube, ,y Space and 8ace >ooks, encourage student

forums for personal self2e'pression in a multimedia mode! $he >usiness 7nglish $rainer, one can put in their pocket do nloading o#er 3<0 ,*B and #ideo podcast lessons on essential language for meetings, presentations, telephoning, negotiations, tra#el, sociali)ing and a lot more! "ne can make real progress ith their language skills using the detailed study notes and online acti#ities a#aila%le to mem%ers! Encouraging self learning techniques: Language instructors can dra $he instructors can use on technology %ased sessions to channeli)e the potential of youngsters to ards enriching their language skills! e% %ased resources for teaching 7nglish and include ord2completion, and e%sites a%out the interacti#e e'ercises, such as choosing the correct multiple choice ans er, reading comprehension, gap2filling, listening e'ercises, discussion forum! $hese are some popular tool messages here student can post

hich other people can read and reply to! Company

rele#ant to >usiness 7nglish teaching moti#ate the students to kno

companies and organi)ations! $he students read and listen carefully, organi)e the ideas and enhance their kno ledge! If Instructors assign some group acti#ities, students search for rele#ant online te'ts hich pro#ide them ith in2 depth kno ledge of #arious concepts! While doing presentations in the

classroom, non2nati#e speakers concentrate on deli#ering their ideas to a large group of students, there %y learning the art of communication! As future professionals, the learners ha#e to prepare proposals, reports, letters, and emails! Language instructors ill %e a%le to pro#ide ith e% addresses and assign tasks such as group discussion, small presentation on the emerging fields of science and technology, role play, posting ritten orks on the proposals, letters, emails etc! ,ore topics using the topics e%sites on these concepts, students get a chance to apply their intelligence and understanding ill definitely enrich their learning process! In fact, through such ill %ecome more autonomous! .e s e%sites here they can authentic materials students

like >>C or C.. are a great resource for teachers of 7nglish can %e easily used in the classroom to focus on language skills! I ple entation of technology:

find articles and often audio and #ideo files reporting on the latest ne s! $hese

$here is no denying the fact that technology is a %oon for language learners! $hough radio and tele#ision play a #ital role in communication, computer and Internet ha#e %rought a re#olution in the 7L$ classroom! Language la%oratory is a must for de#eloping LSRW skills! In the Language la%, the indi#idual learner should get a head phone and a teacher+s console! $here ill %e interaction %et een students and the teacher through orking ith microphones! Language la% ill pro#ide intensi#e listening and pronunciation practice! Students may find it easy and comforta%le in computers! Like a tutor, computers assess the learner+s reply and point out the mistakes! $he computer promotes the ac?uisition of linguistic skills and demands acti#e participation of the students! CALL programs aim at impro#ing grammar, #oca%ulary, reading comprehension and also Students can ha#e a different kind of e'perience soft are! $here are soft are packages hich riting skills! $hese programs are more fle'i%le and con#enient than te't%ooks! ith the help of enhanced ith the computer #oice recognition and multimedia capa%ilities that go

ill increase critical thinking

and pro%lem sol#ing and this ill enrich students+ language proficiency! Conclusion: Csing technology for 7nglish language teaching ill %e successful only if the teachers understand the a%ility and the re?uirement of the target group of learners! It can %e said that the age of technology has opened ne possi%ilities for language instruction and helped learners to ha#e ays of learning ! $he authors hope that ill %e possi%le %y adopting ne teaching access to inno#ati#e and interesting inno#ations in the 7L$ classroom References: 3! Auralog+s $ell ,e ,ore, !auralog!com /! -omingo .oemi /00123/230 5Computer2assisted language learning6 B! 7hsani, 8ar)ad, 7#a 9nodt (:uly 3;;<) 5Speech technology in computer aided language learning: Strengths and limitations of a ne CALL paradigm6 Language Learning and $echnology /(3):DE2F0! D! SteppG=reany, :onita (:anuary/00/) 5Students perceptions on

methodologies of hich the computer and Internet are part and parcel!

language learning in a technological en#ironment: Implications for the ne millennium6! Language Learning and $echnology E! $rudy, Wallace, Winifred 7! Stari%a and 4er%ert :! Wal%erg (/00<) $eaching, speaking, listening and Writing! International Academy of 7ducation
F!

!i%e!unesco!org@pu%lication@!!!@practice23D!pdf!

!focusenglish!com@dialogues@con#ersation!html,