merrysa arbet`s blog

This colloquium devoted to English for Special Purposes and Information Technology reveals the sustained growth and interest in the development of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and Dr Giorgos Ypsilandis is to be congratulated for having had the organisational inspiration to make it possible.

There can be no doubt that English as an international second language is an important domain and one which involves a large investment on the part of teachers and of those being taught. If there were only one way of teaching English, and a need for just one methodology and just one text-book, life would be easier. There are, however, a myriad factors which have to be taken into account: the learner's needs, linguistic ability, language awareness, first language characteristics, cultural background, motivation, etc. There is not just one English and there is not just one sort of student. Both exist in many varieties. Hopefully, the increase in the availability and the ease of access to Information Technology will help the teacher increase teaching efficiency and enhance learning. Learning is obviously of paramount importance - the teacher exists not to teach but to enable the other to learn and all our efforts must be steered towards the attainment of that aim.

As I am wont to say, the computer is a comparatively new tool in the pedagogical process. It seems to have achieved prominence in the last few years since the Internet has been opened up to all and we are witnessing a globalisation of information and dissemination of ideas. Educators, and administrators, have not been slow to appreciate the value of the computer as a means of accessing digitalised information, whether it be via the Web or through a CD-ROM. Rapidly, depending upon the availability of the hardware, institutions and schools are relying more and more upon computerised resources. Teachers have understood how practical it is to be able to get their students to research classes by using information technology and thereby learn more.
The papers in this collection will bear witness to one of the language teacher's most endearing and characteristic features - ingenuity. It is eye-opening to see how language specialists have realised the potential of IT as a means of increasing their efficiency in the classroom and of enabling them to face contemporary problems with a contemporary medium. It is lateral thinking which is often more important in the advancement of knowledge than a scientific discovery { per se}. It is the manner in which a discovered fact is adapted to the service of mankind which reveals its value. Language teachers have shown their genius in the way they have adapted modern means of communication, developed for other purposes, into a tool for language learning. A number of the communications show how, even with limited hardware and software at one's disposal, it is possible to make effective use of the inherent value of IT within the teaching situation.

The ease with which material is converted into a 'web page' encourages the exploitation of that medium and exercises, even whole books, are being scanned in all over the globe. In some ways, for the editor of a research journal such as myself, this is a blessing in disguise. I believe that the use of the web is perhaps expanding too quickly and that it is to the disadvantage of research into cognitive methods and practices. No one would claim that present language teaching methods are perfect and yet we may be missing the opportunity of enhancing them as we make greater and greater use of a new medium without paying due attention to the fact that it is a different medium.

A few years ago, the cry was for evaluation. There was a perceived need for an evaluation of computer-assisted learning programs to see how their efficiency compared with that of standard methods. We have moved on since then, the computer is now in the classroom and its role is no longer challenged in the same way. Yet there is still a need for evaluation, an evaluation of the way in which the computer can be used to optimum effect in the learning process.

Evaluation is a delicate undertaking and it is often difficult, sometimes impossible, to apply the evaluation of a given method by someone else to one's own group. Much evaluation of CALL is based on small numbers which are context specific and can be influenced by the novelty of the medium, the enthusiasm of the particular group of learners, the enthusiasm of the teacher who is set on making the project work, the age of those involved, their individual motivation, etc. Often only a small part of a course is subjected to evaluation and not the course as whole. At the present time, few teachers can really understand how their students learn and feel in front of a computer because they themselves completed their schooling without ever using one specifically for that purpose. In time, the situation will change but it could remain true for some years to come.

As people set out to integrate information technology into their teaching, it might be useful within the framework of general evaluation to remind ourselves of certain desiderata. English as L2 and ESP are probably the most important areas of language instruction in the world at present. It is our duty to consider certain issues and evaluate them before we proceed.

At the outset, there is a need for more research to be carried out on user reaction to using a computer. Some people seem to take to using them very easily, others are more reluctant and there have been reports of computer-phobic students . How many of them are there? Do they represent a significant percentage so that they require special treatment? What is going to happen to them when all class exercises are required to be completed on screen? When all tests are corrected automatically?

Are we adopting the right layout for on-screen presentation? Is the font size too small? Is it the most legible type of character? The tendency is to present material on screen as though it were the page of a book. Does the new medium not require a new way of presenting information so that it can be more readily assimilated? It is the lament of many a teacher that students will not and do not read. Will they read things any more readily in computerised form ?

The colours chosen are also important . Some Web and CD-ROM pages are aesthetically attractive but rather difficult to read. Some pages have distracting designs on the periphery. To what extent do they hamper rather than improve learning? If multimedia adjuncts are employed, to what extent are they helpful? Can they not also distract from the core message ?

It is becoming standard practice to highlight certain terms in teaching texts, often enabling the student to seek help over certain terms through an electronic dictionary or other form of explanation. It may be that the student concentrates on the highlights to the detriment of the rest of the text. A clever person will be able to form a summary just by glancing through the highlighted terms. This is a useful, time-saving skill, but it could lead to a loss in language learning .

The ubiquity of Web resources means that material is readily available. The busy pedagogue may not have time to read through the whole of the internet resource and yet, this is essential, if one is to be certain that the resource does not clash with the student's cultural susceptibility .

There is also a question of validity of the information. At present, there is no censorship and no quality control over the majority of internet publications. Many texts contain errors of fact and errors of language which could be counterproductive if used with a certain level of student. At a more advanced level, the student could be asked to correct them. What is clear is that the use of a web resource is as demanding upon the teacher's critical eye as the purchase of a new textbook.

Many tasks which are computer-linked enjoy a certain success at the present time because of the novelty of solving them through the 'new' medium. This factor of newness will soon disappear and there is obviously a need for programs which encourage greater interaction so that the learner does not just feel a pawn in a technological game but an individual who is able to communicate and exchange information with a virtual being. We, therefore, have to concentrate on the creation of Web pages and of CD-ROMs which involve the learner much more, which provide adequate help and explanations and which are essentially user-friendly.

Sound quality through the PC is improving and it will help provide an audio back-up for our language work. The choice of register and accent for such activities has to be considered very carefully. Depending upon the linguistic level of the learner, it may be found that the creation of an artificial dialogue is more beneficial than access to a live one. It is one of the ironies of learning that education settings often produce better results than natural ones.

As we ponder the above, it is important to remember that motivation to learn a second language is linked to the degree of success and the pleasure of the experience. If we want our students to learn, we need to make them feel that they are making progress and that for them to do so, they have to feel that their input is worth it. Fear of the computer, screen pages which are difficult to read or in offensive colours, frustration because they seem to be dealing with a computerised form of a textbook which they did not understand, being asked to read texts which are not strictly relevant to their need, etc. - these are all negative factors which can upset the learner and nullify the teacher's efforts. Surely our aim must be to make those efforts as efficacious as possible? Evaluating what we have done and being sure of what we want to do are 'musts' if this aim is to be achieved.

Colloquia provide an occasion for recipes for success - and rightly so. As someone committed to the belief that IT provides a unique opportunity to respond to the needs of language learning, I can but hope that teachers and researchers, motivated by their own success with IT, will go on to resolve and overcome some of the difficulties which still, in my view, exist . Many of the niceties of CALL have yet to be mastered; as with any pedagogical system, CALL is an on-going challenge.