Let’s Talk about CALL, Baby!

Hellooo! (Is it me you’re…ahem anyway!)

Hi everyone! I’m back and it’s time to talk about CALL! What is CALL? Well the acronym stands for Computer Assisted Language Learning  and it’s the newest up and coming hot-shot technique in the world of language education.

As the world moves forward into the increasingly digital age, and we yearn for more connectivity, learning languages is becoming increasingly popular, and inevitably, we have tried and tested many ways of using technology to help us with our language learning. Therefore, many new apps and digital platforms have come into the fore in recent years that promise to have you speaking fluent “Insert target language here 😉 ” faster than you can say “Grammar notes”. However, it is my personal experience that such apps and platforms always lack something, and what one app has, another will lack and so on.

So with that in mind…let’s discuss my personal CALL wish-list! If I could design a CALL platform or app, what would it look like? What do I think would make the best language learning app possible? Let’s find out!

Visual Aspects

Although perhaps not the first thing that some may think of as important, I believe that any learning tool should be visually attractive and well laid out. According to Nokelainen (2006: 181) learning and the process of such is not a quantifiable concept, however I do believe that for many, an attractive visual aid not only entices and encourages a higher rate of programme usage, but also helps learners to retain the information that they learn.

Variety of Options

Many CALL platforms that I have used sometimes isolate themselves to a small number of languages, or provide more resources for certain languages over others. As a student of languages, I adore learning them, and believe that a wide variety of options is key to learning more about languages in general, and for keeping users interested.

Personalised Progress Checks

The very thought of exams or tests is enough to send shivers down the spine of any current or past students. However its important to map your progress when learning a language, it helps you to keep track of what you have done, and can also be a good motivator when you see how far you’ve managed to come. Therefore, I think it would be wonderful if more CALL packages could allow you to personalise how you track your progress; For example, allowing you to pick which skills you work on in an exercise, or letting you design  assessments to focus on one particular grammar point, and giving you small achievements along the way to keep you motivated. For as we all know, motivation is the key to continuation.

In short, most of the CALL packages that I have used in the past have done their jobs; they have helped me improve my language skills and I cannot fault them on that. However, I feel that the above points could make all the difference in turning something good, into something great!

Until next time,

Amee x