Computer-Aided Language Learning, or CALL, is a type of language learning and teaching software. However, the primary objective of CALL is to aid learning, and not teaching. It was developed for BBC Micros and Ataris, way before the advent of the PC. Prior to the arrival of the World Wide Web, CALL was used predominantly as disk-based language software. At the moment, CALL is being widely used as an aid to language learning and teaching over the internet.
CALL has two distinct features, namely, bidirectional learning and individualized learning. As such, CALL is not a method of teaching, but it has tools that facilitate learning. Predominantly, CALL materials promote self-paced learning for students, and they serve as accelerated learning materials as well. CALL can be used as a revision tool to highlight the points that are covered in the classroom. It also acts as a remedial tool for those learners who are not proficient with a certain language. Besides its function as language learning software, CALL can refer to any software that is created for purposes that are language-related. Hence, Electronic Authoring, Concordances, Computer-Aided Assessment (CAA), Dictionary, and Translation tools can come under the purview of CALL.
CALL has been gradually developed over the last three decades. During these decades, CALL has experienced three main phases of development, which are the Behaviorist CALL, Communicative CALL, and Integrative CALL. The first phase began in the 1950s and continued until the 1970s. The programs of CALL specialized in behaviorist theories of learning, and they were comprised of repetitive language drills.
The second phase, or the Communicative Phase, commenced in the late 1970s and carried on until the 1980s. This phase witnessed CALL being used more as an aid to the communicative approach to teaching. The focus was to use language for teaching grammar. Also in this phase, CALL was customized for the PC, which was in its nascent stage of development. The third phase of CALL began in the 1990s, and it facilitated the integration of CALL with new innovations in multimedia technology, such as graphics, sound, and animation, as well as computer-mediated communication. The new CALL provides a greater degree of coherence and direction to language teaching tasks and projects.
For a long time, CALL had a restricted use, but with the explosion of the Internet and the ubiquity of PCs in most parts of the world, it is being used in more and more schools and homes around the world. There have been several attempts by major software companies to design computers with a good measure of Artificial Intelligence (AI). To date, none of the results have been up to the mark, but efforts are underway to apply AI research to language teaching and learning. Therefore, the next phase of CALL may well be Intelligent CALL, which can make use of genuine AI for assisting language learning. This phase is not that far away.
Links:
Reference to Computer-Aided Language Learning
A Worldwide Association Dedicated to CALL
A USA-Based Professional Association Devoted to CALL
The European Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning
Speech and Language Technology in Education (SLaTE)
Useful Links to Useful Websites to Teachers who Specialize in CALL