Unit 4. Conceptualization I: The CALL Literature

4. 6.   Email and Internet

 6.   Email and Internet

• The ways in which email is employed in language teaching and learning are numerous and multifaceted.

• Collections of materials or archives can be stored conveniently at local sites for worldwide access.

• The materials can simply be viewed or downloaded via the Internet, as would be the case with listening materials in the OLA (Oral Language Archive).

 6.   Email and Internet

• Material collections may be of a textual, audio or visual kind, or a subset therein

• Examples of these collections relevant to CALL are: online newspapers in many languages; audio, video or multimedia; text corpora such as Cobuild Direct; or databases containing information on many topics.

 6.   Email and Internet

• We can access these remote databases:

• Using bibliographic databases to track down references and software applications

• Using full-text and reference databases which can be incorporated in CALL applications

• Using Email discussions lists (TESL-L)

 6.   Email and Internet

• Email and Internet can be used not only to access resources, we can use them to communicate between individuals and groups, locally or at a distance.

• Under the umbrella of Computer-mediated Communication, mechanisms for interaction include email, bulletin boards, discussions lists, Internet Relay Chat, and computer conferencing systems.

6.   Email and Internet

• It is helpful to use a time/space division:

• The geographical dimension can be divided:–Co-located -> same place–Remote -> different place

• The time axis can be divided:–Synchronous -> same time–Asynchronous-> different time

 6.   Email and Internet

• Asynchronous remote communication:• 1. Electronic mail. There are programs

linking students of different universities• Increasing student participation• Maintaining social relations within the group• Providing for real authentic communication

and independent learning• From the teacher’s point of view, it enriches

teachers’ experiences because collegues are able to share new ideas and materials more easily.

 6.   Email and Internet

• Asynchronous remote communication:• 2. Discussions lists. A message, or

‘posting’, goes to all subscribers on the list.• Created in 1994 to provide a forum for

cross-cultural discussions and written practice for college, university, and adult students in English language programs

• Useful to create special lists for language learners

 6.   Email and Internet

• Asynchronous remote communication:

• 3. Computer conference system. Still asynchronous, the user is provided with a more structured environment for managing the interaction.

• Email and lists operate via software that facilitates communication, and it is left to the user to sort messages.

 6.   Email and Internet

• Synchronous remote communication:

• 1. Internet Relay Chat allows people to converse with each other via a keyboard simultaneously.

• The screen is split in half and in the top is the type message to be sent and the bottom half shows the reply.

 6.   Email and Internet

• Synchronous remote communication:

• 2. Video conferencing software provides a conferencing environment capable of managing text, audio and video in real time.

 6.   Email and Internet

• Synchronous remote communication:• 3. On-line games • MUD (Multi-User Dungeon)• MUSH (Multi-user Shared Hallucination). It

requires the use of symbols>>more difficult for the inexperienced), and

• MOO (MUD Object Oriented). • MOOze University. Provides a target language

environment for real time discussions between learners of that languages around the world.

 6.   Email and Internet

• CONCLUSION• Teachers and students now have

access to material or archives, colleagues and students that were unavailable before.

• As a result, new forms of learning using the computer can be conceptualized in CALL for the first time