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CALL in the EFL Classroom and its Impact on Effective Teaching-learning Process in Saudi Arabia 

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CALL in the EFL Classroom and its Impact on Effective Teaching-learning Process in Saudi Arabia 

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I lived in Saudi Arabia from 1990-2004. The late 90s, early 2000s was an exciting time when Microsoft and Macintosh computers came about and my generation got exposed to all kinds of fun programs. I remember computer programs to develop literacy, vocabulary and language arts such as Jump Start 1st Grade. I will say that I was surprised that Saudi students in 2016 still weren't interested in learning English via CALL considering the benefits of knowing a second language and the ability to work internationally. However, I know there was a lot of tension there after 9/11 and it took many years for things to settle. I feel like the recent law- suit against Saudi Arabia for 9/11 probably stirred things up as well as the human rights issues that have been publicized. Despite this, it was promising when the Saudi schools implemented CALL into their educational programming and the students as well as the communities attitude about English went from negative to positive. It also showed positive effects when students were excited to use the programs and develop their English language in the process. I think when attitudes change, language learning becomes the main focus.

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Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety and Study Abroad

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Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety and Study Abroad

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This article explored the impacts of anxiety of SLA while studying abroad. The study showed that while time went on, learners became more relaxed and more comfortable in their foreign language classrooms, at the onset they often experienced significant amounts of stress and anxiety which hindered their capacity for learning initially.  According to the research those with lower levels of proficiency had higher amounts of stress and anxiety at the onset, and thus preformed lower than usual at the beginning of the study abroad term. This supports some of the idea in Loewen which argue that study abroad has both positive and negative impacts, and that proper preparation prior to departure is a crucial component to helping learners achieve their greatest success in a study abroad context.

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Wide Range of SLA results when Studying Abroad

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Wide Range of SLA results when Studying Abroad

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The article I read gave an overview of multiple studies on SLA and studying abroad. In this article, there were a wide range of results. Some studies showed that oral fluency skills improved more when studying abroad. Students spoke with more fluency, speed, grammatical correctness, pronunciation, and gained a richer vocabulary. In one study, students were able to use a greater variety of structures and tenses in their discourse. As expected, some of these things were improved due to interactions with native speakers. Another study looking at students learning in immersion schools versus students studying abroad concluded that time spent using the L2 outside of the classroom determined progress in fluency. Interestingly enough, a study showed that students who studied abroad did not make significant gains in grammar, while those who studied in the home country showed better mastery in lexical and grammatical aspects.

The article also made note that learners developed significant intercultural sensitivity and cultural adaptation the longer they lived abroad. On the other hand, oral fluency did not usually seem to require as much time, only about two to three weeks minimum. Of course, studying abroad over a year built more confidence in students’ linguistic knowledge, which presumably led to more academic success.

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Cammarata & Tedick found the first thing for immersion teachers is to consider themselves as both content as well as language teachers.  With such mentality, immersion teachers will plan and include both content and language elements in the lesson plans.  However it would be difficult and challenging because in order to differentiate instruction, teachers need to find materials for both language and content areas.  With limited time and resources, teachers found it almost impossible to achieve a balance on both.  Most language teachers find that the lack of support from peer teachers.  They always feel they are isolated in both teaching experience or shared attitude toward the language and content connections.

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The article and study from Cammarata & Tedick was extremely interesting for me because teaching language through content is something that I believe in, strongly. The article touches on content teachers' feelings and lived experiences, and they are perspectives I hear all the time: "I'm a history teacher- how can I teach Imperialism to someone who doesn't speak English?" or "I don't have time in the curriculum to also teach language- what about my observations, what will it look like if I'm teaching basic vocabulary instead of something more rigorous?" These are worries that I hear often, and they are exactly what Cammarata and Tedick discuss. So, I wasn't surprised hearing this or seeing this  as an outcome to research; but I appreciated the article for adding perspective for me. I realize the need for increased programmatic support- across content- but previous to this, I had not considered teacher identity as being part of the puzzle. As I read deeper into this article, I'm starting to realize that my approach, in pushing a content based  instructional model, will need to start from a different starting point, and first address the worries of working with ELL students. (KS)

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The library isn’t allowing me to connect, and so I can only look at the book, not any research articles.  So I’ll just compare it to my own experiences.  I’m looking at the immersion/CLIL section because I taught that for a year to 5 and 6 year olds, teaching students subject matter via English in 100% immersion.  We had 25 hours with the students/week, and there was everything: reading, phonics, grammar, science, history, economics, cooking, art, music, mini-speeches, gym, and the like.  However, everyone had

Students all had the same L1, and were learning the L2.  However I’m not sure if, as Cammarata and Tedick (2012) stated, we used to the language as a vehicle to teach the subject matter, or the subject matter as a vehicle to teach the language.  Maybe we were doing both, but students gained English skills quite rapidly.  Cammarata and Tedick (2012) said there were problems with teachers viewing themselves as primarily language or primarily content teachers.  I feel that we alternated based on the specific task, since we were teaching all subjects.  And to be fair, we were teaching kids, so they were little sponges and we didn’t have to do subject matter in depth.

A lot of the other issues in Loewen’s book weren’t that big a deal, since the students were so young.  When setting up learning goals it was easy to focus on forms, for example (Tan, 2011).  In cooking class we would teach imperatives by emphasizing over and over what students should do, have them read the instructions, model them, and then have the students copy the instructions into the work book.  A lot of it came quite natural, as we used caretaker language since they were little kids., with lots of repetition and the like.

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Elementary Immersion Programs and Cognitive Benefits

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Elementary Immersion Programs and Cognitive Benefits

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Something that surprised me from the Lowen reading was the study by Diaz-Campos (2004) that looked at pronunciation of students who studied abroad vs. studied at home. The results were nearly the same, which I could hardly believe. I always thought that going abroad naturally influenced the way you heard and spoke the language, since you are surrounded by it and perhaps more willing to take on a more native-like sound/accent. Seeing that even learners who study in their home countries can achieve such results really blew my mind and changed my way of thinking a bit. Reading this made me wonder if it is similar for all languages, or if this is specific for English. There are so many resources available for English learners, but for languages that are not as internationally prevalent/perhaps have less resources available to study things such as pronunciation, is it the same? I suppose I would now assume it is the same, but it is sort of crazy to think about.

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Even though the research I found does not depict a ful picture because 99% of participants dropped off the experiment because of decreased motivation but this reearch article aligns with this week readings.
First of all, CALL is not a panacea for language learning but it has to be accompanied by instructors to provide guidance and feedback.
Secondly, peer interaction is needed to apply and master language skills in the sociaty.
Thirdly, it is important to create materials that will interest learners.
And it enhances vocabulary acquisition.
I personally see CALL as a very powerfull tool because it does not force learners to be in classrooms, it gives more L2 exposure, it enhances vocabulary learning and improves pronunciation, it`s interactive. But I totally agree with researchers that learners need instruction, feedback and interaction. So, I see it as a perfect complimentary tool for learning which can be used outside a classroom.
At the same time, there is a big issue of making it individualised. I believe, in order to create a good software a very careful research of target audience has to take place.

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Immersion and the Tension Between Focus on Content and Language Skills. (ET)

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Immersion and the Tension Between Focus on Content and Language Skills. (ET)

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Immersion Math Class | Piktochart Visual Editor

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Immersion learning for 2-6 year olds (NW)

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Immersion learning for 2-6 year olds (NW)