Computer-Assisted Language Learning: A story that goes long back

Computer-Assisted Language Learning: A story that goes long back
By Kiraki Spanou

I. Introduction

The term "Computer-Assisted Language Learning" or "CALL" is used to describe any kind of language learning activity that makes use of computers. CALL has existed for about 40 years and has undergone a series of stages that are directly connected to both the levels of advancement of the technological means and the type of methodology prevalent at each stage.

In the early days, with the large mainframe computers, the task of creating language software programs was rather daunting, as developers needed to have a deeper knowledge of programming languages. In more recent times, though, computers have become more "user-friendly" and, therefore, easier for the non-specialists such as language teachers, to use, enabling them to create more complex applications with relative ease. Nevertheless, apart from the benefit of making the task of program-authoring easier, the extraordinary speed of computer development has led to a constant introduction of new technology, which has rendered the teachers' task of evaluating it properly quite difficult (Levy, 1997).

This article deals with both the technological developments in the area of CALL and with the stages that CALL methodology has gone through since computers were first introduced in language learning.

II. Technological developments in CALL

Computer-assisted language learning has enjoyed about four decades of history while the microcomputer had not even been invented during the first twenty years. CALL has gone through numerous stages being influenced primarily by the dramatic developments in computer science. What was initially available only to the few, has nowadays become widely accessible to most students. In this article, the history of CALL has been divided into two periods: the first covers the decades of the 1960s and the 1970s and the second covers the more recent developments of the 1980s and 1990s.

a) Beginnings of CALL (1960s & 1970s)

This is the period when large-framed computers were used and CALL appeared only in the form of experimental projects carried out by universities, which prepared the ground for future developments.

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