The Language Teacher
July 2000
Second Language Acquisition and Technology: The Time is Now
Frank Otto
Today, the developed world has entered an age where
technology abounds in all aspects of our lives. The advances seen in the
communications industry extend to our communicative learning needs, so that
acquiring a foreign language can be made much easier and faster with the
assistance of technology.
Japan is a world leader in technology and communications. As founder and executive director of CALICO (Computer-assisted Language Learning and Instruction Consortium), I was pleased to co-host, with my colleagues, an international symposium with ILS-BBC, on December 2-4, 1985, at the Tokyo International Hilton. This was our most successful international conference in my ten years of There has been considerable interest expressed in designing and implementing a variety of exemplary programs to teach courses in numerous disciplines with the assistance of a computer. As we study the feasibility of such projects, we must determine objectively in what ways and to what extent computer-assisted instruction (CAI) can make a significant contribution to teaching concepts more effectively, by providing teachers, administrators, and students with options that would not otherwise be available.
It has been my pleasure to direct CAI materials development projects designed to teach foreign and second languages since 1975. In the course of this research, several conclusions have been reached concerning ways in which language teachers and administrators can remain in the forefront, as CAI curricula are designed, implemented and evaluated:
- Competent teachers and administrators must be centrally involved in designing and managing the teaching-learning process,
- The letters CAI stand for computer-assisted instruction; that is, the purpose of the computer is to assist, not replace, the teacher.
- A major trend in teaching and learning during the past 10 years has been toward the individualization of instruction through the use of interactive multimedia courseware. We refer to this innovation as CAI/IL, (Computer-Assisted Instruction/Interactive Learning). This has not only altered the basic classroom situation, but the roles of teachers and students as well.
In the early days of interactive learning, there were pedagogical materials such as books, audio tapes, movies and visual aids. Today, interactive multimedia incorporates full-motion video, audio, voice recording, graphics, animation, and interactive text. Multimedia is defined as the sequential or simultaneous use of a variety of these media formats.
Access to technology, and access to computers in general, is constantly increasing. Well-designed multimedia software should manage a variety of multimedia, be easy to use, be exciting to look at, and most importantly, be pedagogically sound. Premium products in this area provide tutorial, simulation, practice, gaming, evaluation and training.
The teacher' s role is stronger than ever, especially when using multimedia software. People make this work. The instructor' s role is to teach, familiarize, integrate into the current curriculum, and to manage and evaluate students.
During this workshop, participants will quickly review the history of CAI/IL and explore how this technology has improved over the years. They will be able to work firsthand with software programs that exemplify the technologies discussed. Teachers will learn how best to integrate technology into their existing English training curriculum, and how to augment their teaching using these technologies.
I have found that, in the traditional classroom, 30 to 35% of the information is retained in the classroom. On the other hand, using interactive software, there is a 90 to 95% retention rate in one-half the time. Multimedia courseware attains the following major instructional goals: relevance, attention, confidence, satisfaction, and participation.
Throughout my career, my goal has always been to enhance the learning environment. I have served as a language teacher, language program director, a language school owner, a teacher educator, a materials-development specialist, a project director or principal investigator for numerous grants and contracts from government agencies desiring to apply technology to the teaching and learning of languages, and as the founder-owner of a software company dedicated to designing and developing products for learners of ESL/EFL at all levels.
Whatever our future may be in CAI/IL, the extent to which we will be successful depends more on teacher participation than upon any other single variable. We hope that you will accept the challenge to become involved in a way that is meaningful to you. Please join us for this workshop. I look forward to participating again in JALT' s international conference this year.
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