Computer assisted language learning has become so widespread that almost most of the schools in Hong Kong incorporate computer assisted language learning in their English curriculum. Based on the sharing given by my classmates, it is very popular for primary school teachers to use E-books for teaching as there are songs, animations and story-telling, etc. to arouse students’ interests. Others like using resources in You Tube and some well-known English learning websites, such as BBC Learning English.com. And last but not least, the most widely used software for teaching in classrooms is PowerPoint as it saves teachers’ time for writing blackboard and it helps teachers to deliver their messages more effectively and efficiently.
According to the introduction made by Mark Warschauer, Computer Assisted Language Learning can be divided into three phases: behavourist CALL, communicative CALL and integrative CALL. The aforementioned resources used by my classmates can be categorized as a mixture of behavouristic and communicative CALL. For example, the use of e-book on the one hand allows students to practice passage reading and pronunciations. Although the system is usually unable to tell students whether they are correct or not, this kind of practice does not provide any communicative opportunities for students. Another special feature is that repeated exposure is possible as long as students would like to replay the tasks. On the other hand, simple language games in the E-book enable students to focus more on using the language rather than on forms.
However, the existence of integrative CALL is still not popular in local context although multimedia computers and the Internet are so common. I believe there are two major reasons which prevent teachers in Hong Kong from adopting integrative CALL in language teaching. First, most local teachers may not understand how they can properly exploit multimedia and Internet for their students in language learning. Second, they usually lack support from their schools and colleagues to develop such a platform for students to learn through exposure to authentic examples, feedbacks and continuous amendments of work by themselves.
In order to help teachers cope with the challenges, EDB in Hong Kong should make serious thoughts in thinking about how to help teachers exploit the use of multimedia resources and Internet.
According to the introduction made by Mark Warschauer, Computer Assisted Language Learning can be divided into three phases: behavourist CALL, communicative CALL and integrative CALL. The aforementioned resources used by my classmates can be categorized as a mixture of behavouristic and communicative CALL. For example, the use of e-book on the one hand allows students to practice passage reading and pronunciations. Although the system is usually unable to tell students whether they are correct or not, this kind of practice does not provide any communicative opportunities for students. Another special feature is that repeated exposure is possible as long as students would like to replay the tasks. On the other hand, simple language games in the E-book enable students to focus more on using the language rather than on forms.
However, the existence of integrative CALL is still not popular in local context although multimedia computers and the Internet are so common. I believe there are two major reasons which prevent teachers in Hong Kong from adopting integrative CALL in language teaching. First, most local teachers may not understand how they can properly exploit multimedia and Internet for their students in language learning. Second, they usually lack support from their schools and colleagues to develop such a platform for students to learn through exposure to authentic examples, feedbacks and continuous amendments of work by themselves.
In order to help teachers cope with the challenges, EDB in Hong Kong should make serious thoughts in thinking about how to help teachers exploit the use of multimedia resources and Internet.
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