My Feedback to CALL

Using computers in language learning is very innovative, especially when comparing to the traditional teaching methods, which we students are much familiar with. However, in my point of view, computers, with their prominent features, can help users improve their learning effects. After acquiring Computer Assisting Language Learning course for several weeks, generally speaking, I thought there were few practical new things I have learned, such as how to practice Internet Corpus and Concordancers, the useful syntax of Google, and the information contain in weekly extra reading materials. On the contrary, there were also one teaching materials I deliberated as less helpful – the e-pal project.

To begin with, I would like to discuss about the teaching materials that I considered helpful and useful to my language learning. There were three topics that I have studied and interested me the most in Computer Assisting Language Learning course, which were Online Dictionaries and Translators, Corpus and Concordancers, and Google Syntax. After receiving the lecture and the actual practice on the computer, I gained a much more complete conception about the three software above; moreover, I also learned how to use them properly and how to improve my learning efficiently. It is truly such a waist to ignore those powerful resources stored in the Internet, especially those can make your language more natural and more easily understood. Furthermore, when using the computers in the CALL course, I could operate a computer by myself through which I would have to concentrate on the playing of the software or suffering the Website. I thought this could benefit the students with the details of the contents. Moreover, I could have the instant positive or negative feedback right after applying the software in class. It means my personal commendation to the teaching materials will immediately appear.

Next I would like to talk about the teaching materials, e-pal project, which I conceived as less helpful to my language learning. During the process of practicing this project, I felt insecured and depressed. First, it put me into a tough and hard work to find one who would like to exchange email with me. Second, I could not control the reply speed of my e-pals; even though I tried to write back to them as soon as I could, they continuously wrote to me once a week or longer. Third, it is uneasy to begin with “the personal life experiences” topic, because my e-pals still do not interested in sharing personal emotion; however, I would keep trying.

To be honest, computer and technology is really a huge benefit to my language learning, no matter it is foreign or native. I believe there must be much more ways to apply technology into my language learning, and I definitely hope to discover more. On the other hand, I do consider that what I have learned will definitely change my behavior in the future. For example, I will try to combine my language learning processes with computer and the Internet more; by doing so, I expect to enhance my studying ability and efficiency. To be more specifically, in order to make my use of words much similar to native speakers, I plan to increase the percentage of using Corpus and Concordancers when I finish my composition.

In brief, by using the computers in our learning, we students may have opportunities to gain access to the new environment and achieve a better result from the interactive searching processes with the Internet.