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Friday, April 30, 2010

Blog Post #14: Final Thoughts on CALL Course Experience

By taking this course, I have experienced first-hand a number of tools that could be beneficial to incorporate into a language classroom to aid in language learning. I think these tools are effective for their ability to get students collaborating with one another to accomplish tasks. When students are working together, they are not focused so much on language, yet they are using language to negotiate meaning and accomplish tasks. These tools are also effective in exposing students to authentic, real world input. Students can connect with native speakers potentially from around the world. Finally, these tools help students become independent, motivated learners.
I think it has been useful for me to practice using some of these tools myself: Voicethread, blogs, wikispaces, delicious, twitter, podcasting, etc. Some of these tools were completely new to me, such as voicethread, wikispaces, and creating podcasts. I enjoyed exploring how to work with these tools. In the classroom, it would be important to train students how to use technology and for what purposes. This can cause a bit of a conflict- is the purpose of a language classroom to learn language, or to learn how to use technology? Do the students have access to and use for the technology in their everyday lives?
Although CALL tools provide many opportunities for students to learn various aspects of a language, it seems there is a long way to go before CALL tools become commonplace in the classroom. Over this semester, I observed 5 classrooms; only one class used technology-the UIC's Tutorium used a podcast of news clips for a listening activity. The other classrooms used only a whiteboard and dry erase markers to present material, and students did not use technology to produce and practice language. It is important for future teachers to be able to understand how and when to use CALL tools in the classroom. Teachers might also have to show creativity in incorporating CALL tools, as classrooms may not be equipped for and institutions might not have resources for CALL tools.
I'd like to share the usefulness of these tools with my students in the future. I think it is important to model how technology is used to communicate. Tools such as email and instant messaging could be incorporated into activities to help raise student noticing abilities regarding form, and also how language is used within and between cultures. Other tools, such as creating podcasts, can help students become confident speakers. There are endless possibilities on how CALL tools can help students acquire language, and I look forward to exploring these possibilities with my future students.

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