Technological Change and the Future of CALL

Technological Change and the Future of CALL

My Reflect about reading 1:

-From what i read, the technological determinism refers to the idea that the introduction of new technology automatically brings certain results.

- Warschauer sets ten development in information and communication technology which it includes :

*The first important change is from phone-based to wireless communication because of improved technology and telephone/Internet relay facilities.
*A second change will be a move from dial-up Internet connections to permanent, direct online connections. For example, according to Telecommunications Research International.
*A third change will be from the use of mainly personal computers to the use of portable computing and online devices.
*A fourth change will be from narrowband (referring to the speed at which information passes over communication lines) to broadband.

*A fifth change will be from expensive personal computing systems to widely affordable computers and other hardware, first in the developed countries and then in the developing countries.

*Sixth development is that the Internet will change from being an exclusive form of communication and information, mostly limited to people in developed countries, to becoming a mass form of communication accessible to most of the planet.
*A seventh development will be a movement from text-based information and communication to audiovisual forms of information and communication, as exemplified by the growing popularity of digital photography and home video production facilitated by new technology and the increasing trend for Internet news sites to offer multimedia presentations of news.

*An eighth change will be from use of English as the main online language to multilingual Internet use. By 2005, the number of Web pages in English is expected to drop to 41% of the world’s total (Computer Economics, 1999). At the same time, however, it is suggested that a much higher percentage of the commercial Web pages will be in English.
*A ninth change will be from “non-native” to “native” users of information technology. This concept does not refer to language use, but rather to comfort and skill in using computers.

*A tenth change will be the movement of CALL from the language laboratory to the classroom. Computers and other online devices will be found in every classroom in developed countries, not only in computer laboratories. For example, the Maine Department of Education has made computers available to all 7th grade students in the state, together with wireless access points in most schools.


- Warschauer argues that, "The projected developments of ICT will have a profound influence on the context in which English is taught. Largely because of the increased use of English in new globalized media and commerce there has been a major expansion in the number of second-language English speakers around the world. And can thus enable students to read, write, and rewrite the world in their English classes as never before, but only if we too enable our students to use the full power of these technologies"



-In his research, Warschauer argued that there are five examined areas those are:
1-New Contexts
Because of the increased use of English in new globalized media and commerce there has been a major expansion in the number of second-language English speakers around the world.

2-New Literacies
In the era of print, the act of reading consisted of an attempt to understand the meaning of a single author. In contrast, reading in the
online era has become an attempt to interpret information and create knowledge from a variety of sources. Although all reading and research skills include selecting the right questions, choosing the right tools, finding information,


3-New Genres
it is teaching new types of writing through electronic communication and it can also be illustrated by a situation that occurred in an ESL writing course

4-New Identities
students who use new media can develop a wide range of literacies and identities, and these skills must be taken into account in English teaching.

5-New Pedagogies
it is the behavioristic approaches to language learning

-Warschauer Assign three stages of CALL which are: ( Structural CALL- Communicative- Integrative CALL)