A Historical Perspective

CALL began in the age of mainframe computers with large w

ell-funded projects, e.g.

PLATO [Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Oper

ations], 1960, University of Illinois

TICCIT [Time-Shared Interactive Computer Controlled In

formation Television], 1971, Brigham Young University.

The appearance of the home computer in the middle of th

e 70s (Apple I and II, Commodore PET, Radio Shack TRS-8
0) and at the beginning of 80s (Apple IIe, Sinclair ZX80, B
BC micro, Amiga, Atari, IBM PC) opened computing to a br
oader audience. The boom also extended to CALI.

In the second half of the eighties, the Apple MacIntosh wit

h the authoring system HyperCard became the trendsetter.
By introducing a sophisticated graphical interface, using sy
mbols to represent functions and the mouse to activate the
m, it set new standards for user friendliness.

Soon, the MacIntosh offered integrated sound and video.

CALL, which had so far mainly relied on reading and writing
abilities, could now also address listening ability.
Moreover, the authoring system HyperCard made it possible
to develop sophisticated hypertext applications without much
programming skill.

Using speech recognition, modern multimedia systems can

not only reproduce language, but actually be trained to analys
e input from a user.
This enabled CALL, for the first time, to address all four lang
uage skills: reading, writing listening and speaking.

BEHAVIORISTIC CALL

The first phase of CALL, conceived in the 1950s and i

mplemented in the 1960s and '70s, was based on the
then-dominant behaviorist theories of learning. Progr
ams of this phase entailed repetitive language drills a
nd can be referred to as "drill and practice" (or, more
pejoratively, as "drill and kill").

Drill and practice courseware is based on the model

of computer as tutor. In other words the computer
serves as a vehicle for delivering instructional mat
erials to the student. The rationale behind drill and
practice explains in part the fact that CALL drills ar
e still used today. That rationale is as follows:

Repeated exposure to the same material is benefic

ial or even essential to learning

A computer is ideal for carrying out repeated drills

, since the machine does not get bored with presen
ting the same material and since it can provide im
mediate non-judgmental feedback

A computer can present such material on an indivi

dualized basis, allowing students to proceed at thei
r own pace and freeing up class time for other acti
vities

Based on these notions, a number of CALL tutori

ng systems were developed for the mainframe co
mputers which were used at that time. One of the
most sophisticated of these was the PLATO system,
which ran on its own special PLATO hardware, incl
uding central computers and terminals. The PLATO
system included vocabulary drills, brief grammar e
xplanations and drills, and translations tests at vari
ous intervals (Ahmad, Corbett, Rogers, & Sussex, 1
985).

Communicative CALL (1980s)

focuses more on using forms rather than on the forms

themselves;
* teaches grammar implicitly rather than explicitly;
* allows and encourages students to generate original
utterances rather than just manipulate prefabricated
language;
* does not judge and evaluate everything the students
nor reward them with congratulatory messages, lights,
or bells;

 avoids telling students they are wrong and is flexible to a

variety of student responses;
* uses the target language exclusively and creates an
environment in which using the target language feels natural,
both on and off the screen; and
* will never try to do anything that a book can do just as well.

CALL IN THE 1990S

INTEGRATIVE CALL

Integrative approaches to CALL are based on two i

mportant technological developments of the last d
ecade--multimedia computers and the Internet. M
ultimedia technology--exemplified today by the C
D-ROM-- allows a variety of media (text, graphics, s
ound, animation, and video) to be accessed on a si
ngle machine. What makes multimedia even more
powerful is that it also entails hypermedia. That m
eans that the multimedia resources are all linked t
ogether and that learners can navigate their own p
ath simply by pointing and clicking a mouse.

Hypermedia provides a number of advantages for langua

ge learning. First of all, a more authentic learning environ
ment is created, since listening is combined with seeing, j
ust like in the real world. Secondly, skills are easily integra
ted, since the variety of media make it natural to combine
reading, writing, speaking and listening in a single activity.
Third, students have great control over their learning, sin
ce they can not only go at their own pace but even on thei
r own individual path, going forward and backwards to dif
ferent parts of the program, honing in on particular aspec
ts and skipping other aspects altogether.

Finally, a major advantage of hypermedia is that it

facilitates a principle focus on the content, without
sacrificing a secondary focus on language form or l
earning strategies. For example, while the main les
son is in the foreground, students can have access
to a variety of background links which will allow th
em rapid access to grammatical explanations or ex
ercises, vocabulary glosses, pronunciation informa
tion, or questions or prompts which encourage the
m to adopt an appropriate learning strategy.

Computer-mediated communication allows users t

o share not only brief messages, but also lengthy (f
ormatted or unformatted) documents--thus facilita
ting collaborative writing--and also graphics, sound
s, and video. Using the World Wide Web (WWW), st
udents can search through millions of files around
the world within minutes to locate and access auth
entic materials (e.g., newspaper and magazine arti
cles, radio broadcasts, short videos, movie reviews,
book excerpts) exactly tailoredto their own person
al interests. They can also use the Web to publish t
heir texts or multimedia materials to share with pa
rtner classes or with the general public.

THE PRESENT

The increasing use of CMC (computer mediated comm

unication) has given the educator another tool in the CALL
arsenal. One can now use chat, e-mail, SMS and Skype to e
nhance ones teaching.
Apple has made a significant comeback with the introdu
ction of the iLife concept which includes iPod, iTunes and a
n array of tools with which easily to create multimedia inter
action.

Research Issues

One area of declining interest is studies which query the nee

d for computers in the classroom and studies or compare C
ALL and traditional learning in terms of effectiveness.

Similarly, a focus of much research in the early years of CA

LL whether or not computers should be used in the classro
om for the learning of languages is no longer pertinent.

Accordingly, research is now directed into how computers s

hould best be used and for what purposes but a major challe
nge to many studies in CALL remains a lack of empirical re
search.

CONCLUSION

The history of CALL suggests that the computer can

serve a variety of uses for language teaching. It can
be a tutor which offers language drills or skill practic
e; a stimulus for discussion and interaction; or a tool
for writing and research. With the advent of the Inte
rnet, it can also be a medium of global communicati
on and a source of limitless authentic materials. Bu
t as pointed out by Garrett (1991), "the use of the co
mputer does not constitute a method". Rather, it is a
"medium in which a variety of methods, approaches
, and pedagogical philosophies may be implemente
d" (p. 75). The effectiveness of CALL cannot reside in
the medium itself but only in how it is put to use.