The Language Teacher
02 - 2002

The University of Exeter Computer-Aided Language Learning Conference

S. Kathleen Kitao

Doshisha Women's College

Kenji Kitao

>Doshisha University

The University of Exeter Computer-Aided Language Learning Conference was held in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter September 1-3, 2001. Approximately 100 people registered for the conference from about 20 countries, including Canada, France, Israel, Japan, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, the United States, Lebanon, Greece, Denmark, Belgium, Egypt, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, and Germany. This ninth biennial conference was coordinated by Prof. Keith Cameron.

The conference opened on the evening of September 1 with a reception sponsored by Swets and Zeitlinger Publishers. Conference participants were welcomed by Prof. Cameron of Exeter University. It was announced that Prof. Cameron will be retiring, so this will be his last CALL conference, although this conference may be continued by another university.

Later in the evening, two plenaries were held. In "Using CALL to Address Changes in Student Learning Styles," Randall P. Donaldson and Margaret A. Haggstrom of Loyola College in Maryland, USA, argued that the characteristics of CALL require changes in the way that teachers teach and students learn. They looked at CALL materials and how they could help students interact with others in English and develop communicative competence. Geoff Lawrence of the World English Centre, Canada, spoke on "Second Language Teacher Belief Systems towards Computer-mediated Language Learning: Defining Teacher Belief Systems." He discussed, considering the pressure on educational systems to integrate computer technology, the importance of understanding teacher belief systems. These belief systems influence the use of computer technology, and they are influenced by teachers' attitudes toward innovation and beliefs about the effectiveness of an innovation.

On September 2 and 3, about fifty concurrent sessions were held. Most of the presentations fell into one of four categories -- research on CALL and related issues, and various CALL programs or uses of CALL and related issues, policy and administration.

Presentations that involved research on CALL and related issues included "Investigating Syntax Priming in an E-Mail Tandem Language Learning Environment" by Christine Appel and Carl Vogel, "Orality in MOO: Rehearsing Speech and Text: A Preliminary Study" by Markus J. Weininger and Lesley Shield of Open University, UK; "From Symptoms to Diagnosis" by Michael Levison, Greg Lessard, Anna Marie Danielson, and Delphine Merven of Queen's University, Canada; "Language Learning with Native Speakers in a MOO Community: Real or Virtual" by Lien Goedeme of the University of Antwerp, Belgium; and "An Experiment in Computerized Teaching of English as a Second Language" by Evelyne Cauvin of Universite de Paris VIII, France. Research is mainly emphasizing testing claims of the effectiveness of CALL.

The vast majority of presentations were related to CALL programs or uses of CALL. These included "What Constitutes a Good Internet Research Project" by Harashima Hideto of Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan; "Extensions to Computer-assisted Oral Reading to Help Children Learn Vocabulary" by Greg Aist of Carnegie Mellon University, USA; "Designing a Multimedia Feedback Tool for the Development of Oral Skills" by Tsutsui Michio and Kato Masashi of the University of Washington, USA; "Web-based Instruction for Interactive Learning in Reading Class" by Yen Shu-chin of Kao Yuan Institute of Technology, Taiwan; "A Cloud Around Development and Exploiting CALL Material" by Christine Sabieh, Notre Dame University, Lebanon; "Web-Based Learning System for Sociolinguistic Skills in Japanese" by Hirata Naoya, Inoguchi Yasuchi, Kamiyama Hiroshi, Kawazoe Yoshiyuki, Ogawara Yoshiro, and Saita Izumi of Tohoku University, Japan; "Learning Foreign Languages Comparatively Across the Internet" by Shirley Holst and Jutta Maria Fleschutz of GMD-IPSI, Germany; "Graded Reading System on Line" by Shiozawa Tadashi of Chubu University, Japan; and "Teaching Students to Find Internet Resources Related to Culture" by Kenji Kitao of Doshisha University and S. Kathleen Kitao of Doshisha Women's College, Japan. There is a continuing interest among teachers about how CALL can best be applied in the classroom.

Among the presentations on policy and administration were "In Line with the On-Line: UK and EU Policies on ICT in Higher Education" by Catherine Chabert of University of Cardiff, UK; "CALL Labs: Have They Run Their Course?" by Lawrie Hunter of Koichi University of Technology, Japan; and "Teaching and Learning Danish in a Virtual Department" by Jannie Roed, Claire McAvinia, and Jane Hughes of University College London, UK.

On the evening of September 2, there were two more plenaries. Monique Adriaen and Roberta Sinyor of York University presented the paper "New Techniques for New Students: Adapting Language Instruction to Technology" on how traditional materials and techniques can be used in with new technologies. Mike Levy of Griffith University, Australia spoke on "Coherence and Direction in CALL Research: Comparative Designs." Levy developed a typology of these comparisons, including comparisons between CALL and traditional materials; comparisons between computer-mediated communication and face-to-face communication; and comparisons of the effects of different media.

Forty-eight papers presented at the conference were published in C.A.L.L. - The Challenge of Change: Research and Practice (2001, Cameron, K., Editor; Exeter: Elm Bank Publications. ISBN 1-902454-13-8; 371 pages). In the introduction to the collection, Prof. Cameron emphasized that teachers can no longer depend on the novelty of using the computer alone to motivate students. Computer programs must be attractive and worthwhile, and they must foster learning. Traditional methods cannot just be transferred to the computer program; however, we do not yet know enough about how the characteristics of the computer and the Internet can most effectively be used in teaching and learning.

On September 3, concurrent with the CALL conference, a workshop on teaching Arabic was organized by Mohamed-Salah Omri to mark the opening of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies. There were five presentations on using computers and the Internet to teach Arabic by presenters from the US, the UK, Denmark, and Egypt. The presentations included "Arabic Grammar in the Internet" by Helle Lykke Nielsen of the University of Southern Denmark; "Developing a Website for Teaching Arabic: Technical Issues" by Iman Saad and Heba Salem of American University, Egypt; and "Arabic CALL: Lessons from the Past, Opportunities for the Future" by R. Kirk Belnap of Brigham Young University, USA.

In addition to the presentations, most participants had meals and coffee breaks together during the conference. This provided many opportunities to meet other participants and socialize as well as discuss issues related to the conference.

Online reports of the 1997 conference <ilc2.doshisha.ac.jp/users/kkitao/teflnews/v1/n4j.htm#exeter> as well as the 1999 conference <ilc2.doshisha.ac.jp/users/kkitao/library/report/exeter/exeter99.htm> are available.