Responses to Two Course Readings

Reading Computer Assisted Language Learning: an Introduction by Mark Warschauer, I have better understood how the different modes of CALL have influenced our daily teaching. Take the online program, English builder, which our school is using, for example. It is actually a type of drill and practice program based on the behaviourist CALL. The computer is used as tutor. The computer is supposed to be the knower of the right answer. Students need to do listening, reading, writing and speaking exercises and the right answer and elaboration is provided by the computer rather than the teacher.
But the communicative and integrative CALL remind me that behaviourist CALL is not interactive and the language learning will be limited if learners can not communicate naturally and authentically. Teachers should adopt different technologies appropriately so that students can be stimulated to discuss and share and think by using the target language in a critical way. While students may be asked to express their opinions on the same topic on a blog or the blackboard, they may also make comments on and give responses to their group members’ post.
According to the chapter about Language Teaching and the Internet, autonomous learning, collaborative learning, cross-cultural learning, and critical learning are the important learning goals. Students must learn both the new technologies and the language together. More project learning and student-centre learning activities should be integrated into our teaching practice. Computer technologies and internet make it possible for students to first work on their own and then combine the works of all group members and modify the whole with suggestions from others.

After reading the two articles, I bear in mind that all the new technologies are not important in themselves but the way they are used to help with language teaching and learning. I used to use the computer technologies and the internet more as tool and tutor rather than stimulus in my class. Sometimes it was used for the purpose of integrating technologies. But how useful and effective were they in the language teaching and learning? I myself am in doubt of it. From now on I will try my best to use the technologies in the purpose of facilitating student-centered learning in a collaborative and critical way.