Three Phases of CALL

       Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) Is an approach to language teaching and learning in which computer technology is used as an aid to the presentation, reinforcement and assessment of material to be learned, usually including a substantial interactive element.

Though CALL has developed gradually over the last 30 years, this development can be categorized in terms of three somewhat distinct phases which I will refer to as behavioristic CALL, communicative CALL, and integrative CALL.

           First behavioristic conceived in the 1950s and implemented in the 1960s and '70s, was based on the then-dominant behaviorist theories of learning. Programs of this phase entailed repetitive language drills and can be referred to as "drill and practice" Drill and practice courseware is based on the model of computer as tutor. 

           Second Communicative CALL was based on the communicative approach to teaching which became prominent in the 1970s and 80s. Proponents of this approach felt that the drill and practice programs of the previous decade did not allow enough authentic communication to be of much value.

 According to Underwood, communicative CALL:

·        Focuses more on using forms rather than on the forms themselves.

·        Teaches grammar implicitly rather than explicitly.

·        Avoids telling students they are wrong and is flexible to a variety of student responses.

·        Will never try to do anything that a book can do just as well.

      Third, Integrative approaches to CALL are based on two important technological developments of the last decade - multimedia computers and the Internet.

•      Multimedia:

 Multimedia technology as it currently exists thus only partially contributes to integrative CALL. Using multimedia may involve an integration of skills (e.g. listening with reading), but it too seldom involves a more important type of integration. 

•     The Internet:

  Computer Mediated Communication allows users to share not only brief messages, but also lengthy (formatted or unformatted) documents - thus facilitating collaborative writing - and also graphics, sounds, and video. They can also use the Web to publish their texts or multimedia materials to share with partner classes or with the general public.

     Finally, These activities are supplemented by a range of other classroom activities, such as in-class discussions and dialogue journals, which assist the students in developing their responses to the stories' plots, themes, and characters - responses which can be further discussed with their email partners in the US