An Empirical Study of CALL in Foreign Language School, Guizhou University for Nationalities
1. Introduction
Now that there is a much larger college enrolment, English teaching is facing many problems. Big classes make it difficult for the students to practice their oral English in class. Though the classes are usually graded, in the same class students’ English levels are still quite different and this makes it difficult for the teachers to meet the different needs of students. The third difficulty is the large teaching本论文由英语论文网/ content in every class hour. Besides the huge teaching content, teachers must also address the following teaching tasks: developing students’ reading, listening, speaking, writing and translating abilities. English as an important international language has gained increasing attention from Chinese educational institutions for more than two decades. The granting of 2017 Olympic Games to China could be seen as recognition of the increased fluency of English being spoken in our country. In order to make an improvement in the standard of English being spoken in China each university and college takes all the means necessary. Namely Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is very common in recent years among the English teaching approach in universities. Guizhou University for Nationalities (GZUN) is not an exception; a lot of modern electronic equipment has been installed in the classrooms. Therefore, this survey will examine the effect of this modern electronic equipment. The aim of my study is to investigate the attitude and the effect of this teaching method.
1.1Theoretical background
According to the Gestalt approach, we perceive objects as well-organized, with structures, instead of separated, isolated parts. And the psychology of learning stresses that our ability to see shapes and patterns is determined by subtle relationships among the parts (Margaret W. Matlin, 1995:6). Jean Piaget, the famous Swiss philosopher and psychologist, has researched constructivism. His ideas about learning helped shape our knowledge about the development of thought(陈琦，英语论文范文，刘儒德，2017：88). He emphasized that language learning should be student centered. According to the theory of constructivism, knowledge is not taught but is learned by the learner himself through constructing new knowledge on the bases of old knowledge, under a certain setting, with the help of others, such as teachers or study partners, utilizing certain study resources. The student is the center of teaching and the teacher works as organizer, facilitator and motivator, utilizing settings use, cooperation and dialogue to motivate the student’s interests, activity and creativity (James T. Walker, 1996:178). Teachers should meet the needs of students. CALL can help students learn in this way.
1.2 Introduction of CALL
Computer Assisted Language Learning may be defined as “the search for and study of applications of the computer in language teaching and learning”. (Levy 1997:1)
This is a catch-all definition, CALL is a relatively new term, having come into favor in the early 1980s, replacing the older term CALI (Computer Assisted Language Instruction). The term CALI fell out of favor because it became associated with programmed learning, i.e. a teacher-centered rather than a learner-centered approach that drew heavily on behaviorism (刘书林， 刘春燕，林跃武，2017：217). Throughout the 1980s CALI widened its scope, embracing the communicativ，英语论文范文 |
