My reflection on CALL tools

This past semester I had the opprortunity to become familiar with the use and benefits of a variety of CALL tools. I came to realize that some CALL tools are maybe better suited for the instruction of specific skills than others. For example blogs could be used for writing and reading practice whereas voiceboards for listening and speaking. I also came to appreciate the opportunities that CALL tools provide for communicative activities such as peer review or collaboration on assignments which raises learners awareness. In addition students' develop a sense of ownership and initiative since most of the times their work is shared or reviewed by others.

I will definitely consider using CALL tools in my teaching. Before using any of the CALL tools I will collect information regarding the literacy and computer skills of my students. Even in the case of students who have limitted experience with technology, I will consider beneficial that they become exposed to simple CALL tools, so that they can develop a sense of exposure and familiarity with the new technology which they can apply in different areas of their life. I will try to introduce the new technology in a way that is not overwhelming or challenging to them and raise regarding their awareness of the benefits of this process.

Using Voiceboards for practicing oral skills

Voiveboards on blackboard are online discussion boards that use voice rather than text for communication. With voiceboards students and teachers can create threaded oral discussions, practice their oral communication skills such as pronunciation and record oral presentations. Voiceboards can be used for both teacher and peer feedback. Students can also use voiceboards to post their soundwork and teachers or peers can respond with voice messages accompanied with the corresponding transcript. For students who have a hard time pronuncing words, they can sumbit their soundwork and teachers can make oral comments and submit a written transcript with spaces for the parts that were not easily understood.

Another beneficial aspect of choosing voiceboards is the limitted knowledge or experience with technology required. Voiceboards do not require a high level of technological literacy on behalf of the teachers and students with minimum computer skills and/or literacy level can easily use them.

Meebo

Meebo is a great video-conferencing tool that can prove beneficial in a language learning environment. Students can be exposed to both native and non-native speakers and become familiar with different accents and ways of pronunciation. Students also have the opportunity to become aware with the corresponding facial expressions, gestures and/or body postures that are involved in oral communication and vary among speakers of different linguistic backgrounds. Meebo provides students also with authentic input and promotes language learning in a fun and interactive way.

E-Journaling

In the article the authors describe how students used e-journals to respond to a speech acts assignment in Japanese. In this study students experienced different types of speech acts with CALL tools and provided feedback by using e-journals. The researchers used the present study in order to collect information and draw some conclusions regarding the learners' perception of the new technology including its benefits and challenges, the urgency of timing feedback, the drawbacks related to non-individualized feedback and the effectiveness of assessment tools.

I think that e-journaling could prove to be a powerful tool in writing courses. E-journals could be used by students in order to give peer feedback to each other. Students could be assigned in groups of three and asked to review each others work and provide feedback through e-journals. Students could leave comments and make suggestions for improvement. One benefit of using e-journals for peer feedback is that the comments are written and students at any point can go back, read their peer's comments and make the appropriate changes. In addition some international students who still lack the advantage of oral fluency that peer workshops require and/or who come from societies where interdependent views of the individual are emphasized may feel uncomfortable to express their opinions orally and feel better with giving written feedback.