Ghofran Saleh Al Hindawi

0138006

What is CALL?
Computer assisted language learning (CALL) is widely spread and known, as
an approach to leaning a language and teaching using the computer as an
aid to reinforcement, presentation and assessment of material to be learned,
or as Levy (1991:1) defines CALL in a broadly way as the search for and
study of applications of the computer in the language teaching and
learning. In my opinion, i like to refer to it as learning a material involving
the utilization of computer in which students and computer can interact with
each other and make it easier for a teacher to illustrate information using
modern teaching programs that are provided by CALL.
How is CALL related to language learning and teaching?
CALL is highly related to language learning and teaching providing a lot of
programmers for people who are learning a second language such as:
MOOCS, CMC, SCMC and MALL. Nowadays using computer in learning and
teaching has become a trend, a lot of teachers depend on technology and
use it in their classes as a teaching tool. Computers have been used in
language learning since 1960s and were so basic and have limited usage,
but know they have developed in a way that serves all students needs in
second language acquisition.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of

CALL?
Nowadays, we have witnessed a huge interest in using computers in
learning and teaching a second language (L2), CALL as a language learning
method is believed that it improves the quality of language learning. It is also
claimed that using CALL in language classes offers new modern ways of
language teaching and learning which has a great influence on learning a
foreign language and creates an exemplary condition that simplify learning
process (Hoven, 1999; Harrison, 1998; Holmes, 1998).
However, as a method, CALL surely has its advantages and disadvantages .In
this essay the advantages and disadvantages of CALL will be examined
closely.
A clear advantage of CALL that it provides individualized and private learning
for students. Sometimes for some reasons, students can miss a class or
cannot attend the course and accordingly miss the information covered and
mentioned in the class, this kind of problem is easy to solve for CALL
programs, if students have computer they can use it and spend as much as
they want to understand the lesson they missed anywhere and anytime they
want. CALL also provides a strong motivation for students to learn a
language using its features such as animation, videos, audio and graphics

especially for visual and auditory learners; in that way learning can be more
attractive for students rather than boring and frustrating normal class.
In addition, CALL can offer immediate feedback for students by checking
their answers and providing them with the correct and wrong answers such
as multiple choice and fill in the blank questions, also it can give records of
the learners performance and progress, in that way students can observe
their development in language learning, similarly teachers also can benefit
from those feedback and records to know the students weaknesses and help
them to improve those weak points, here i would like to point out that the
teacher is a facilitator rather than just a person who controls the learning
environment and give instructions.
Also, CALL programs allow students to choose their language level they want
to start with and make their own decisions to develop a selective and
critical reading habit which enables them to scan a large amount of
information of their interest (Hartoyo, 2008: 27), in this way they dont
have to go through all the material, they can go directly to the material they
want, by taking proficiency test that some CALL programs provide ,they can
know what level they are and what they need to learn.
Besides having a lot of advantages, CALL also have many disadvantages.
First, CALL increases educational costs and this can cause a problem to
schools which have low budget because they will not be able to afford CALL
equipments and implementations, due to that some schools are not capable

of using CALL in their curriculum, also students with low income who dont
have computer at their home they can only access CALL in restricted hours
like school and library only, this will cause unfair education for those poor
students and other students.
Second, dealing with CALL programs can be difficult to untrained teachers
who have lack of knowledge about computer technology and how to apply it
in second language teaching, also students must have basic background
about computer technology, otherwise computer will not be beneficial for
both of them. In addition, untrained teachers may have negative attitude
towards using CALL in language teaching because they are afraid that CALL
might replace them and students will refer to computers rather than
referring to teacher for any question.
Third, CALL programs focus on reading, writing and listening with limited
speaking programs, Warschauer (2004) in Lai (2006) stated that a program
should ideally be able to understand a users spoken input and evaluate it
not just for correctness but also for appropriateness. Therefore, it doesnt
support face to face communications like in classrooms. Besides that, CALL
programs on computer simply have artificial intelligence so they cant deal
with learners unexpected problems and questions as teachers do in
classrooms.

Also CALL has an effect on students health, because by using computer

everyday inside and outside class and by staring at the computer screen for
long hours this may have a bad effect on their eye health.
In conclusion, applying CALL as a method and a tool in language learning
and teaching is necessary and needed especially that most societies are now
developed, CALL has many advantages that can be outlined as providing
individualized and private learning for students, offering immediate feedback
for students and allowing students to choose their language level. In addition
it should be considered that CALL also had limitations, such as increasing
educational costs which can be unfair for some students, untrained teachers
cant deal with CALL programs, CALL focuses on some language skills
missing speaking skill and it can affect badly on students eyes.
In my opinion, using CALL in language learning and teaching is very helpful
and useful to get the most effective teaching and learning process, but its
very important that teachers must know and study those advantages and
disadvantages before applying CALL in classrooms and use it in an
appropriate way to make it easy and fun for students to learn, and avoid
mistakes in employing CALL in classrooms, in order to get the maximum
benefit for ESL teachers and students.
References:
-Advantages and limitations of CALL. Retrieved December 22, 2016, from
https://web.warwick.ac.uk/CELTE/tr/ovCALL/booklet1.htm
In-text citations: (Advantages and limitations of CALL, n.d.)

- Computer-assisted language learning. Retrieved December 22, 2016, from

http://fis.ucalgary.ca/Brian/BibWarschauer.htmlIn-text citations: (Computerassisted language learning, n.d.)
- Davies, G. (2001). LLAS center for languages, linguistics and area studies.
Retrieved December 22, 2016, from
https://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/61In-text citations: (Davies, 2001)
-DinaAuroraTatiana, & Ciornei, S.-I. (2013). The advantages and
disadvantages of computer assisted language learning and teaching for
foreign languages . Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 76, 248252.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.04.107
In-text citations: (Dina & Ciornei, 2013)
- DocPlayer. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF COMPUTER ASSISTED
LANGUAGE LEARNING (CALL) by: Ujang Edi Brata. Retrieved December 22,
2016, from http://docplayer.net/22131876-Advantages-and-disadvantages-ofcomputer-assisted-language-learning-call-by-ujang-edi-brata.htmlIn-text
citations: (DocPlayer, n.d.)
-efidrew. (2008, August 1). Advantages and disadvantages of CALL
(computer assisted language learning). Retrieved December 22, 2016, from
https://efidrew.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/assignment-4-article-on-call/
In-text citations :(efidrew, 2008)
- ExampleEssays. (2002). Computer-assisted language learning (CALL).
Retrieved December 22, 2016, from
http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/207363.htmlIn-text
citations: (ExampleEssays, 2002)
- Intro to CALL. (2003). Retrieved December 22, 2016, from
http://www2.nkfust.edu.tw/~emchen/CALL/unit1.htmIn-text citations: (Intro
to CALL, 2003)
- Jan11_article01. Retrieved December 22, 2016, from
http://www.itdl.org/Journal/jan_11/article01.htmIn-text
citations: (Jan11_article01, n.d.)
- Norielr, & norielr. (2013, May 20). Lora Nainggolan Shepudan. Retrieved
December 22, 2016, from http://www.slideshare.net/norielr/computerassisted-language-learning-call-21549948?next_slideshow=1In-text
citations: (norielr & norielr, 2013)

- Nurulumama. (2010, November 11). COMPUTER-ASSISTED LANGUAGE

LEARNING. Retrieved December 22, 2016, from
https://nurulumama.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/200/In-text
citations: (nurulumama, 2010)