Supervisor Premruedi Chanplaeng (standing) assists Arunpen Boribunmungsa in the early hours of the morning in the computer assisted language learning lab.

Computer assisted
language learning
heeds the 'Call'

Because computer games are very popular in Thailand,
the use of computers to enhance students' learning potential
is making steady progress

Enhancement not replacement

Today's new technology has enabled computer assisted language learning (Call) to progress from quite basic programmed instruction many years ago to the creation of interactive multimedia environments today.

Unfortunately, there is still a tendency to focus on multiple choice and gap-fill activities; however, some of the programs now in common use respond to spoken input, demonstrating the advances made in recent years.

Putting theory into practice

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) donated a computer program called Ellis to the Language Center at Udon Thani Rajabhat University, where I am a teacher. The of Call concept can now be utilized by the university as part of its development of English language teaching in the region.

This program allows students to work on their own and at their own pace on listening, speaking, vocabulary, grammar and reading skills. There are five programs, starting at Basic and progressing through Intro, Middle, Senior to Master Pronunciation. There is even a placement test to assist teachers with the placement of students grading them from one to 12, 12 being perceived as native speaker level.

The Ellis program started with 40 terminals and due to its success, a third laboratory is being installed, raising the number of terminals that can access the program to 160. While some education commentators may worry about terminals gathering dust through inactivity, the laboratories here are normally full until 7PM.

Teething problems and student reaction

When the program was initially set up, there were the usual start-up problems. The Language Center had to rely on the goodwill of the teachers in setting up terminals and conducting software maintenance to kick start the project into action. Luckily there were several teachers with computer backgrounds who were able to utilize their experience.

At first, I was slightly skeptical as I wasn't sure students would be interested in using computers for educational purpose, instead of playing standard computer games or socializing. After all, a lot of money was being spent on improving the infrastructure of the university. The question remained, could the money be spent on something better?

It was great when hundreds of students flocked to the computer laboratories in the first few weeks. The success could be because the new lab was a novelty. However, on investigation, students were happy to work at their own pace and because the work is progressive, students achieve success more quickly. They also get immediate feedback from the computer and so can see their progress and are motivated by their success.

The next problem was to keep track of student progress as there didn't seem to be a way of generating printouts from Ellis to give to users' teachers. Luckily, one of the Language Center staff, Peter Covey, was able to write a software program and now the Language Center can follow students' progress with ease. Also, teachers now have data that can be used for later research.

The future's bright

When Ellis was initially set up, it was free for students of the university. Now that it is successful, the Language Center is able to charge a small fee to assist with maintenance and wear and tear of equipment.

This has not dampened enthusiasm; on the contrary, students are still actively enhancing their learning potential and due to word of mouth, students from outside the university are signing up for courses. All students are provided with a "Passport to English", which gives them access to one thousand hours of self study material.

A new supervised course has been developed by the Language Center, which combines the use of Call and a classroom course that focuses on speaking and pronunciation. Once students are at the relevant Ellis program level, the Call is integrated with classroom work during a twenty-hour course. This course will assist those who want to have interaction with a native speaker in combination with Call.

It is hoped that the integration of Call with good old-fashioned teaching in a classroom environment will stimulate and motivate students to greater success. Early indications are that students are interested and spend more of their time studying English. We are anxious to see if their performance will improve in examinations over the coming semesters.

Steve Graham is an English language teacher at the Language Center, Udon Thani Rajabhat University in northeast Thailand. If there are any comments or areas for debate that you would like to discuss, you can contact Steve at: shed_chelsea@hotmail.co.uk .