The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of technology-related changes that are taking place in the engineering institutes of India vis-à-vis language learning and teaching and to examine how far these changes are actually able to make a difference at the ground level.

The backgound for using computer aided teaching

Department of Science and Humanities (S and H), which includes English as one of its major subjects, in an integral part of every institute. In these institutes English classes have a higher student-teacher ratio, varying between 60 to 90 students per class. Moreover, English language teaching still mainly depends the chalk and talk method. Therefore, it is extremely difficult, it not impossible, for the teacher to give special attention to each student in such big classes. Many students also suffer from low confidence in their use of English because it is not the language they are most comfortable in. Most of the companies are giving this feedback to the training and placement cells of these institutes during the recruiting process which takes place every year. This is where ELCS Labs enter into the picture. It is believed that ELCS Lab/CALL has the potential to provide teacher with a powerful set of tools for sharing information with the students interactively and efficiently which can help improve the language skills of students. The following eight conditions for optimal language learning through the use of CALL are outlined in Egbert and Hanson-Smith’s (1999) Classic book, CALL Environments, Research, practice, and critical issues:

· Learner have opportunities to interact with each other and negotiate

· Learners interact in the target language with an authentic audience.

· Learners are involved in authentic tasks.

· Learners are exposed to and encouraged to produce varied and creative language.

· Learners have enough time and feedback.

· Learners are guided to attend mindfully to the learning process.

· Learners work in an atmosphere with an ideal stress/anxiety level.

Teachers are now using computer technology as an aid to create a supportive and effective learning environment in the classroom. The potentialities of computer aided teaching is well captured when they elicit that the computer based activities render the students an opportunity to perform diverse tasks with the computer, which broaden their repertoire of metacognitive, cognitive, and affective learning strategies.

· The language teachers’ interest to learn how to use new tools motivates him/her to incorporate computer technology in the language teaching.

· The language teachers’ feeling of staleness or boredom in the traditional talk-chalk method necessitates an attempt to re-awaken the interest in teaching.

· Students’ interest in using technology as a means to enhance their learning might have motivated the teacher to incorporate computer in the language teaching.

· Teachers’ curiosity about important new developments in the field of teaching.

Functions of call:

Communication Skills are an indispensable component for the success of any Professional. Language has to be practiced, heard and corrected. If one has to reach out to people, one has to speak their language. In short, to acquire the sensibility for the sounds and rhythm of a language, one has to hear the best samples of a spoken language. This is precisely the function of a language laboratory. It is a unique synergy of art and technology, taste and craft.

Objectives:

· Language Laboratory is for practicing and assessing one's speech.

· A facility to allow the student to listen to model pronunciation, repeat and record the same, listen to his performance and compare the same with the model and do self-assessment.

· Gives freedom to learn at their pace.

· Teacher's assistance is provided individually and collectively.

· Allows every participant their privacy to speak and listen.

· To enhance students’ performance at Placement Interviews, Group Discussions and other recruitment exercises.

What can we do with call?

· Communicating with electronic pen friends, something that most students would enjoy. Teachers should explain how it all works and help students find their key pals. Two EFL classes from different countries can arrange to send E-mail regularly to one another. This can be done quite easily thanks to the web sites providing lists of students looking for communication. It is also possible for two or more students to join a chat-room and talk on-line through E-mail.

· Another network-based EFL activity could be project writing. By working for a project a pupil can construct knowledge rather that only receive it. Students can work on their own, in groups of two or in larger teams, in order to write an assignment, the size of which may vary according to the objectives set by the instructor. A variety of sources can be used besides the Internet such as school libraries, encyclopedias, reference books etc. The Internet itself can provide a lot of food for thought. The final outcome of their research can be typed using a word processor. A word processor can be used in writing compositions, in preparing a class newsletter or in producing a school home page. In such a Web page students can publish their project work so that it can reach a wider audience. That makes them feel more responsible for the final product and consequently makes them work more laboriously.

· The Internet and the rise of computer-mediated communication in particular have reshaped the uses of computers for language learning. The recent shift to global information-based economies means that students will need to learn how to deal with large amounts of information and have to be able to communicate across languages and cultures. At the same time, the role of the teacher has changed as well. Teachers are not the only source of information any more, but act as facilitators so that students can actively interpret and organize the information they are given, fitting it into prior knowledge (Dole, et al., 1991). Students have become active participants in learning and are encouraged to be explorers and creators of language rather than passive recipients of it (Brown, 1991). Integrative CALL stresses these issues and additionally lets learners of a language communicate inexpensively with other learners or native speakers. As such, it combines information processing, communication, use of authentic language, and learner autonomy, all of which are of major importance in current language learning theories.

Why use call?

Research and practice suggest that, appropriately implemented, network-based technology can contribute significantly to:

Experiential Learning

The World Wide Web makes it possible for students to tackle a huge amount of human experience. In such a way, they can learn by doing things themselves. They become the creators not just the receivers of knowledge.

Motivation

Computers are most popular among students either because they are associated with fun and games or because they are considered to be fashionable. Student motivation is therefore increased, especially whenever a variety of activities are offered, which make them feel more independent.

Enhanced Student Achievement

Network-based instruction can help pupils strengthen their linguistic skills by positively affecting their learning attitude and by helping them build self-instruction strategies and promote their self-confidence.

Authentic Materials for Study

All students can use various resources of authentic reading materials either at school or from their home. Those materials can be accessed 24 hours a day at a relatively low cost.

Greater Interaction

Random access to Web pages breaks the linear flow of instruction. By sending E-mail and joining newsgroups, EFL students can communicate with people they have never met.

Individualization

Shy or inhibited students can be greatly benefited by individualized, student-centered collaborative learning. High fliers can also realize their full potential without preventing their peers from working at their own pace.

Independence from a Single Source of Information

Although students can still use their books, they are given the chance to escape from canned knowledge and discover thousands of information sources. As a result, their education fulfils the need for interdisciplinary learning in a multicultural world.

Teachers' barriers to the use of computer:

The barriers inhibiting the practice of Computer-assisted Language Learning can be classified in the following common categories (a) financial barriers, (b) availability of computer hardware and software, (c) technical and theoretical knowledge, and (d) acceptance of the technology.

Financial barrier’s

Financial barriers are mentioned most frequently in the literature by language education practitioners. They include the cost of hardware, software, maintenance (particular of the most advanced equipment), and extend to some staff development.

Existing universities policies and procedures for budgeting and accounting were well advanced for classroom instruction. The costs of media were accounted for in the university as a part of the cost of instruction. Though the initial investment in hardware is high, inhibiting institutions introduction of advance technologies.

Lewis et al. (1994) indicate three conditions under which Computer-assisted Learning and other technologies can be cost-effectiveness: Computer-assisted Learning costs the same as conventional instruction but ends up with producing higher achievement in the same amount of instructional time; it results in students achieving the same level but in less time. These authors indicate that in examples where costs of using technologies in education are calculated, they are usually understand because the value of factors, such as faculty time and cost of equipment utilization, is ignored (McClelland, 1996).

Availability of computer hardware and software

The most significant aspects of computer are hardware and software. Availability of high quality software is the most pressing challenge in applying the new technologies in education (Herschbach, 1994; Miller, 1997. Underlying this problem is a lack of knowledge of what elements in software will promote different kinds of learning. There are few educators skilled in designing it because software development is costly and time-consuming (McClelland, 1996).

Technical and theoretical knowledge

A lack of technical and theoretical knowledge is another barrier to the use of Computer-assisted Language Learning technology. Not only is there a shortage of knowledge about developing software to promote learning, as shown above, but many instructors do not understand how to use the new technologies. Furthermore, little is known about integrating these new means of learning into an overall plan, such as artificial intelligence in computers, might promote learning of higher-order cognitive skills that are difficult to access with today's evaluation procedures and, therefore, the resulting pedagogical gains may be under-valued. Improper use of technologies can affect both the teacher and learner negatively (Office of Technical Assessment, 1995).

Acceptance of technologies

Engaging in Computer-assisted Language Learning is a continuing challenge that requires time and commitment. As we approach the 21st century, we realize that technology as such is not the answer to all our problems. What really matters is how we use technology. Computers can/will never substitute teachers but they offer new opportunities for better language practice. They may actually make the process of language learning significantly richer and play a key role in the reform of a country's educational system. The next generation of students will feel a lot more confident with information technology than we do. As a result, they will also be able to use the Internet to communicate more effectively, practice language skills more thoroughly and solve language learning problems more easily.

CONCLUSION:

The ability to communicate well in English has become more stark in the midst of even increasing globalization today. Academicians assume that exposing students to authentic ELCS Lab materials designed by so-called native speakers of English would meet this need to become proficient in the language. Computers can/will never substitute teachers but they offer new opportunities for better language practice. They may actually make the process of language learning significantly richer and play a key role in the reform of a country's educational system. The next generation of students will feel a lot more confident with information technology than we do. As a result, they will also be able to use the Internet to communicate more effectively, practice language skills more thoroughly and solve language learning problems more easily.

REFERENCES:

Levy M. (1997) CALL: context and conceptualization, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Received on 01.11.2012

Modified on 12.11.2012

Accepted on 22.11.2012