Hey all,

Well since I started writing this blog a while back I've been getting a variety of questions from different readers.  Some are good, some are bad, and some are downright impossible to understand!  Then there are the questions that are clearly people asking me to do the homework from their 2nd year Applied Linguistics class - yeah right!

The following set of questions came to me the other day....they are bordering on being a homework help question, but I thought I'd post a couple of quick responses.  It was -51 celcius when I got up this morning, so I'm feeling a little punchy...keep that in mind as you read the answers  

I've bolded the original questions/info.

Dear Eric, I'm doing a survey on the use of CALL in teaching ESL learners by experienced teachers. Below are a few questions that I would like you to answer:

OK.  At the bottom of this post you'll find my invoice I'd like you to pay!  I mean come on...If you're going to ask a complete stranger (me) to help you out you should be able to do better than a cold call.  At least tell me who you are, here you're from, what you do, what this is for, why you need it etc. and give me a reason for wanting to answer your questions.

Oh, in case anyone is wondering what that little rant has to do with English learning and Call - well a lot!  It speaks to very basic communication skills, and specifically about digital communication skills.  Just because we communicate via a computer does not mean that the basics of communication are left out.  If I walked up to you on the street with a survey, I'd give my name, say who I worked for, and what the survey was about - at least that.  This is something I have to teach my students all the time after they send mee mails with subject lines that read...  "hehehe..." and then don't put their names at the end of them.  Those get put in the bin really quickly.

1. CALL and the teaching of Writing.

OK...something worth discussing probably...

You'll see that the next 2 questions relate to the 'writing process'.

Ahhh... the writing process.  Gotta love jargon.  For those who don't know what the writing process is, here it is in a nutshell.Think….write….edit…rethink…rewrite…re-edit…think more…write more…rewrite again…edit again..repeat until you are either dead, can't do it anymore, the deadline has arrived, or your teacher gives you a new topic.

a. How has the computer changed the way students approach / respond to the writing process?

Oh man I hate questions like this.  They are so poorly formed and generic that any answer is nearly useless.  Which computer are we talking about?  The one's in people's homes?  The one's at schools? The one's at libraries? Which students are we talking about here?  University students?  Students at a local community college?  High school?  Elementary? At our local immigrant and refugee centre?  Students in Mexico or Uganda?  All of these different elements could have a dramatic impact on what you mean with your question.

Example:  How has access to public library computers changed the way inner city students in Vancouver respond to the writing process in their public schools?

Example: How has the introduction of PC's into the private school system in Mexico city changed the way EFL students respond to the writing process?

Ok. I'll be nice now.  I guess it depends if they (students/teachers) have access to computers, and if their teachers actually use the computers for any part of their instruction/practice in the writing process.  Then it depends on how the teachers choose to implement computer based writing instruction, and then it depends on if the students choose to do it or not.

One way that I do know for sure that computer use in writing has had an impact everywhere is that pencil and paper always work, and computers almost always have problems...not that this is bad, just a nearly universally true experience.

b. How have new computer softwares changed the way teachers approach the writing process?

Well, at a minimum, for teachers who use computers in their writing classes, they've had to add in the element of also teaching how to use the software. They also need to teach what the software is used for (I had a student write me an essay using Microsoft excel - GOD was it hard to read!)  Then they have to be able to troubleshoot all the issue that arise when the technology gets in the way of learning (due to computer failure or student incompetence with the software)

Regardless of all that, in some cases computers have had a huge impact on how teachers teach writing, but in other cases absolutely no impact because they choose to not use computers at all.  And that is fine!

2. CALL and the teaching of Grammar.

a. From a computational point of view, there are basically three methods for answering processing; 1- String Matching, 2 - Pattern Matching, and Natural Language Processing. Describe in details the all three methods.

Yikes....what a mouthful, I'm not even sure it is English.  Well at least the question probably needs a little reformulation.  At any reate, I get paid VERY well to do this kind of literature survey work. At the risk of sounding rude, do your own homework.

b. How can you relate the three method with CALL in the area of teaching Grammar?

See my previous answer.

3. CALL and the teaching of Vocabulary and Reading.

a.  What is Text Manipulation in the area of CALL? Describe Text Manipulation in details and how can it be used in class in local context. 

Again, this really sounds like someone is asking me to do their homework.  Not a chance!  But...

Text manipulation can mean/be so many things possibly. At its core text manipulation simply means that.  Taking text and moving it around to see what happens.  In CALL that can include anything including things like:

• scrambled words and sentences or mixed up paragraphs
• CLOZE is a kind of text manipulation,
• fill in the ____ (Blank/Blanks)
• colour coding
• highlighting/bolding/underlining 
• it could be tying a word in MS Word and changing the font to size 26, italic, Comic Sans

By the way, only the last one there actually has any inherent connection to CALL since it is done on a computer.  However all the others could be used in CALL, or not as a teacher saw fit.I hope to hear from you soon,Hisyam

Hi Hisyam….now you've heard from me.  My responses may make you unhappy, don't be.  Go back and re-read it.  None of it is personal, and I've actually given you a LOT of informtation here - perhaps not how you expected it or wanted it, but it is there if you choose to look and think about what I've written.

If you feel the answers were helpful, why not by me a coffee to say thanks.  You can do it through paypal at the top left corner of this page.

---- end of question session---

As always, please feel leave comments below.  If you've got anything to add to Hisyam's questions, I'm sure he/she will be very glad to have more data for the survey.

Cheers,

Eric

P.S. I'm always open to questions on using computers in language learning.  You'll just need to be open to the answer... and I'm not always this cranky  

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