ISSUES IN CALL IMPLEMENTATION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON TEACHER TRAINING Nuraihan Mat Daud, International Islamic University ABSTRACT This paper discusses the problems that teachers usually face in conducting English classes by using computers. The initial stage of such an undertaking might have a great impact on the teacher's future decision with regard to using computer as an aid in teaching. Some suggestions on matters to include in teacher training are given to help the teachers cope with the use of the technology more confidently. KEYWORDS CALL, Teacher Training, CALL Methodology, Curriculum Integration, Materials Development, Classroom Management. INTRODUCTION Language instructors, despite their reservations and prejudice, have begun to see the many advantages of computers as aids in learning. However, the uncertain nature of CALL methodology drives some of them away. Most expect the computers to handle all of their students' problems. In the case studies that I carried out in Malaysia, most teachers expressed their problems in coping with the technical aspects of CALL. The different types of computers confused them. The lack of software to answer the students' needs is another factor that shut them off from CALL. Above all, they were skeptical about the possibility of integrating CALL into the curriculum.
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The problems faced by teachers in implementing CALL might be represented by the following scenario which involved three different teachers teaching at three different institutions with three different sets of students and different facilities available.
The first teacher, A, works in a fully equipped computer lab (17 Econet computers—which is designated for language teaching only). The second teacher, B, works in a smaller laboratory (5 IBM compatible computers—designated for members of the school computer club). The third teacher, C, can only work with one IBM compatible computer which he has to share with the school's office. The limited facilities available is one of the major obstacles in such undertakings. The teachers have to cope with their own feeling of inadequacy, and at the same time they have to handle big classes in difficult situations. Two of the teachers have been exposed to different types of computers to those available at school. A is more familiar with IBM than BBC computers whilst C is more familiar with Apple than IBM.
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Since none of the teachers have any specific training in CALL, a personal training session was provided for them. It was given at their own place of work. I tried to: • Teach how to use the hardware (start the machine) especially to those not familiar with the machine.
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• Show how to use the software. • Discuss how it could be integrated into the syllabus. • Help the teachers as they conduct their classes (ala team-teaching). In the discussion, suggestions were given on how to use the software. For example, in the case of STORYBOARD, teachers were informed that they can begin with teaching the lesson of the day first. They can then ask the students to do some text reconstruction exercises which the teachers could type in before the class. For homework, the students can do more work on the computers autonomously. The problems I faced in conducting such training were: • Getting the teacher's attention. It seems to me the teachers were only interested in seeing what the program was all about. However, in their language class they did not attempt to put in their materials to go with the day's lesson although they were already shown how to author the text. • Classroom control could not be discussed at great length because the problems in store for an individual teacher could not be foreseen. Moreover the teachers did not seem to show great interest in such discussions. Most probably they assumed that they could handle these teaching aids just like the others-except for the technical aspect of it. Realizing the fact that the learners might not be familiar with both the hardware and the software, I helped the teachers in conducting their lessons, particularly in how to start the machine and get into the software. All the three teachers chose to stay away from this although they had been taught how. They did not seem to have the confidence in starting the class. Classroom management was left entirely to the teacher.
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What took place in the classrooms might also have been experienced by those who are new in this field. Based on the analysis, it is found that the main problem lies in classroom-control rather than what they thought was a technical problem, that is, their inability to cope with the machine. The class proceedings were video-taped. In Ns class, each of the computers was shared among two or three students. In B's class about four students had to share four computers each. In the case of C, the students were divided into two groups: boys and girls. While one group was using the computer, the others were asked to do some other activities. There were about 15 students in each group. In the discussion of this paper, only the recording of the boys' group is used for analysis. The following findings are made based on the recording:
The above diagram shows that the teachers spent less than half of their teaching time communicating orally with their students. Even when they did, they had difficulties in getting themselves heard. There were instances where the teachers' directions were ignored. One had the impression that the students were so absorbed in their attempts that they failed to listen to what their teachers had to say. These difficulties in getting students' attention might put the teachers into a threatening situation. In C's class although he spent nearly half of the time talking to the group, he did not attempt to address the whole class at all. In all the three cases, none of the teachers gave attention to all the three categories (individuals, group, whole class) throughout their class period.
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QUALITY OF TEACHER TALK Many irrelevant questions were posed by A and B. In the case of A, the kind of hint given was limited to only asking the students to check their spelling. Teacher C concentrated on the mechanics of the program rather than the language. He kept on asking questions like whether they read the text first or whether they had checked their score or not. To a certain extent only teacher C managed to relate the software to the syllabus. He reminded the students of what they had done in the class, and asked them to apply their knowledge of the structure of the English language to answer the questions. One main argument for using computers in language teaching is that it enables the teacher to attend to individual student's needs. However this did not really happen in the three settings. Attention was rarely given to the individual students or groups. Of the three samples, A had the greatest opportunity to do so but it was not used effectively. In the case of C, the teacher hardly attended to the girls group. Instead he concentrated his attention on the students who were using the computer only. It seemed that he did not manage to cope with students having two separate activities. The students hardly referred to the teachers for technical help. Although some had problems especially with keyboard manipulation they seemed to prefer to discuss among themselves in solving their technical and language problems. They might have felt more at ease with their friends when it came to 'playing around' with the computer. Most probably the students did not really expect the teachers to know the mechanics of the computer, or they might have preferred to do it independent of the teacher. This does not mean that the teacher's presence is not important where CALL is concerned. In fact, in this situation the teacher can help monitor the use of the target language. CLASS CONTROL Where students were divided into many groups, the teachers had difficulties in controlling their language usage. Most of them resorted to their own language in their discussion. In C's class where there was only one group working with the computer which involved three different races mainly Chinese, Malay and Indian, the Chinese spoke in their language when discussing among themselves and Malay was used for discussion within the whole group—English, the target language was used very rarely.
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If used at all, it was used in relation to the activities demanded by the software. The teachers also had difficulties in getting the students' to listen to instructions. Time was not managed properly. The students insisted on continuing the exercise despite teachers order to stop or to listen to their suggestions. In all cases, the teachers gave in to the students' wants. In C's class, there was an obvious grouping where the three races were concerned. The keyboard was always monopolized by the Chinese. To see whether this happened in other classes, a number of CALL classes were arranged with other groups. This pattern seemed to recur in other cases. The Malays only began to take an active part in the activity when a Malay student took control of the keyboard. The students' background might have attributed to this phenomenon. One's culture might have an influence on the conduct of a CALL class. This area deserves further research. The above discussion shows that the main problems in CALL classes is not limited to technical problems but there are other important points that the teachers should address which include inter and intra group relationship. COMPUTERS AS A TEACHER SUBSTITUTE The students might see the computer as another means of learning the language. The presence of the teacher might not be as important as it is in the traditional language classes. The teachers themselves might feel that they have been placed in the same position as the students. In other words, they are also one of the learners in the class. The teachers had to ask the students to key-in their guesses in the case study, and their guesses were not always right. This might make the teacher feel insecure in handling their CALL classes. This also means that teachers have to plan their lessons well if they intend to use the computers at all, and not use them just to fill in their time slot. This, however, entails that more time would have to be allotted for lesson preparation which not all teachers can afford to do. This is one of the drawbacks of using this approach.
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IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER TRAINING The different demands that the use of computers might have on the teachers might call for special CALL methodology training. A number of steps can be taken to help teachers cope with the effects it has on their role as a teacher and their self-esteem. @s may include having CALL methodology as part of teacher training. However, in such training emphasis has always been given to exposure to the different kind of pieces of software that are available in the market. What we failed to see is that there is more to teaching than just showing the students the software. The following suggestions may help equip the teachers in actual teaching situations: Exposure to Different Kind of Software Teachers are sometimes alarmed when they find that the hardware at work is different from the one that they have been exposed to (either at home or at the place where they had their training). We might have an early "withdrawal symptom" from the teachers. The point that should be emphasized here is that the main thing is to get themselves familiar with the computer — which is basically knowing how to start the machine and familiarizing themselves with the keyboard and the system. 113M, Macintosh and BBC have their own idiosyncrasies but it does not mean that it is impossible to adapt. Classroom Management Apart from what software to teach, the main issues in CALL classes include: • How to teach together with the computer • How to manipulate the available software and most importantly • How to handle students in this type of classes.
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Among the factors that should also be taken into consideration are the: • • • • •
number of students sex race student's attitude student's aptitude
There are a number of issues that may affect one's decision about CALL classes management. Among them are: • • • • • • •
The number of computers The number of students The type of software available The type of hardware used (e.g. Network versus Stand-alones) The laboratory set-up The kind of teaching materials available The size of the class / lab.
All these have an influence on the ways of conducting CALL classes efficiently. Exposure to the different types of situations may give trainees ideas on how to cope with them in the future. This leads us to the importance of the practicum. Teaching Practice Teaching practice would help them experience genuine handling of situations specific to CALL classes. It might also be to the trainees' advantage if they could conduct their practicum in situations that differ from one another, for example in term of laboratory set-up and number of computers available. The most important outcome of the practicum might be the triumph of overcoming one's own inferiority complex when it
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comes to handling the 'aliens' in front of the students. To a certain extent it might also help to prove the point that teachers can afford to make mistakes in class (although not all teachers can bear this thought). Integration into the Curriculum Some teachers argue that the material available does not really answer the needs of the students. They argue that CALL would only rob them of their precious contact hours because of the need to finish the syllabus within the allotted time. The ways of integrating CALL into the curriculum are vast and varied. This is only limited by the teacher's lack of creativity. Based on the software, teachers can always develop materials that would be of direct relevance to the courses that they are teaching. Materials Development Teachers can select appropriate software to suit the different courses. In the Materials Development course they can be shown how such integration can take place. Emphasis should be given to text manipulation, that is, the software used does not have to be specially dedicated to language learning. Other pieces of software can also be exploited for the purpose of language teaching provided the right materials are developed or the right teaching techniques are adopted for this reason. CONCLUSION In order not to limit CAI to its enthusiasts, a number of steps have to be taken to attract other practitioners. One of the ways of doing this is by providing more rigorous training so that a wider community of teachers could participate confidently in this area. Such training should address the likely problems that teachers are going to face in the implementation of CALL. CALL Methodology and Materials Development are important in helping the trainees. However, the success of a CALL class or the effective use of computers in class would still depend on the credibility of the teachers. Attending courses would help but it is the teacher's own motivation that would determine whether CALL has its place in the education system.
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REFERENCES Cameron, Keith (Ed.). Computer Assisted Language Learning. Blackwell Scientific Publishing. Oxford. 1989 Farrington, Brian. "Al. 'Grandeur' or 'Servitude'?" Cameron, K (Ed.) Computer Assisted Language Learning. Blackwell Scientific Publishing. Oxford. 1989. Niman, John. A Teacher's Companion to Microcomputers. Lexington Books. Massachusetts. 1985. Payne, A.; B. Hutchings and P. Ayre. Computer Software for Schools. Pitman. London. 1980. AUTHOR'S BIODATA When this article was written, Nuraihan Mat Daud (B.A. Hons. in Linguistics, Monash University Australia, M.Sc. in T.E.S.P, Aston University UK) was a research student at the University of East Anglia, UK Currently, she is carrying out further research on the problems of CALL implementation at the University of Hull, UK She is attached to the International Islamic University, Malaysia. AUTHOR'S ADDRESS Nuraihan Mat Daud English Language Department International Islamic University Jalan University 46350 Petaling Jaya Selangor Malaysia E-mail:
[email protected]
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